Parasect is an orange, insectoidPokémon that has been completely overtaken by the parasitic mushroom on its back. It has a small head with pure white eyes and a segmented body that is mostly hidden by the mushroom. It has three pairs of legs with the foremost pair forming large pincers. The fungus growing on its back has a large red cap with yellow spots throughout.
The insect has been drained of nutrients and is now under the control of the fully-grown tochukaso. Removing the mushroom will cause Parasect to stop moving. It can thrive in dark forests with a suitable amount of humidity for growing fungi. Swarms of this Pokémon have been known to infest trees. The swarm will drain the tree of nutrients until it dies and will then move on to a new tree. It has been known to fight with Shiinotic over territory. Prior to Generation III, Spore was its signature move.
In The Problem with Paras, Cassandra's Parasect was initially a very weak Paras. Cassandra needed it to evolve into a Parasect so she can use its giant mushroom to aid her in her medical research. After battles with most of Ash's Pokémon and Team Rocket, Paras evolved.
Six Parasect appeared in The Power of Us, with four under the ownership of Trainers and the other two being wild.
Three Parasect appeared in Securing the Future!, with two under the ownership of different Trainers and the third being wild. They joined the rest of Alola in showering Necrozma with light so it could return to its true form.
Crystal has a Parasect nicknamed Parasee, which first appeared in Slugging It Out With Slugma. She uses it extensively in her Pokémon catching, using its Spore attack to put targets to sleep. Parasect is capable of increasing the radius of its Spore attack to at least 3 kilometers. In Lively Larvitar, the origin of Crystal's Parasect is revealed: it, along with Crystal's Natu, Hitmonchan, and Cubone, were wild Pokémon living in Mt. Mortar and had fought with a local Arcanine that had gone berserk from a severe eye injury. Parasect was able to create medicinal spores to help Arcanine heal and Crystal recover from her fractured arms. In Lugia and Ho-Oh on the Loose, Part 1, Crystal reveals yet another ability of Parasect: it is able to use the powder attacks it possesses to combine into a wider range of spores, including one for corroding metals.
Parasect is known to infest large trees en masse and drain nutrients from the lower trunk and roots. When an infested tree dies, they move onto another tree all at once.
Parasect are known to infest the roots of large trees en masse and drain nutrients. When an infested tree dies, they move onto another tree all at once.
Parasect is known to infest large trees en masse and drain nutrients from the lower trunk and roots. When an infested tree dies, they move onto another tree all at once.
Mushroom-lacking specimens of this Pokémon lie unmoving in the forest, lending credence to the hypothesis that the large mushroom is in control of Parasect's actions.
In Generation I, Poison-type attacks were super effective against Bug-type Pokémon, making Parasect and Paras the only Pokémon to have ever had three 4× weaknesses.
No other Pokémon has the same Egg Group combination as Parasect and its pre-evolution.
In Pokémon GO, they all give more Stardust than most other Pokémon upon capture.
Parasect can be seen as a counterpart to Shiinotic. Both share the Grass type, the same base stat total of 405, evolve at Level 24, both are mushroom-based Pokémon and thus can learn Spore, and both appeared as trial Pokémon of the Lush Jungle in Pokémon Sun and Moon depending on the game version, with Parasect being found in Pokémon Sun and Shiinotic in Pokémon Moon.
Parasect resembles a cicadanymph. It may also be based on a hermit crab with a mushroom for a shell. In concept, it could be inspired by ants that are infected with mushroom spores that take control of the host ant's brain and sprout from its head or back.
The fungus on Parasect is identified as tochukaso. Tochukaso is the Japanese name of the real-world fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, an endoparasitoid that replaces the host tissue and can affect its behavior. It may also draw inspiration from Massospora, a genus of fungi which include species that specifically infect cicadas.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Gold Leaf (100%)
TinyMushroom (23%)
Big Mushroom (2%)
For other sprites and images, please see Parasect images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
