Deerling has four forms: Spring Form, Summer Form, Autumn Form, and Winter Form. Deerling changes forms depending on the location the game was loaded in. In Paldea, Spring Form corresponds to South Province, Summer Form to East Province, Autumn Form to West Province, and Winter Form to North Province.
When it debuted, Deerling's form changed based on the season. From Generation VI to VIII, its form could not be changed at all, and only the Spring Form could be found in the wild, with the other forms being obtainable exclusively via transfer from a Generation V game or from Pokémon GO.
Deerling is a Pokémon that resembles a deer fawn. The upper side of its body is pink in the spring, green in the summer, orange in the autumn, and brown in the winter. Deerling has a yellow-patterned rim, and its underside is peach. It sports a yellow floral tuft on its head with small antlers hidden underneath, and similar yellow coloration on the insides of its tapering ears. The tips of its limbs are colored black and its pink tail is small.
If Deerling senses animosity, it will hide in tall grass. It moves in herds, as it is timid around humans. Despite this, Deerling does whatever it wants, even around humans. Deerling will take a liking towards anyone who feeds it. It will playfully headbutt anyone it likes, even if headbutts are a little painful. It dwells in sparsely populated areas, away from humans. It is herbivorous. Despite their innocent and adorable appearance, Deerling are considered pests by farmers, as they tend to eat all of their plant shoots. Because of this, and because Lycanroc is a natural enemy of Deerling, farmers often use Lycanroc to guard their fields from Deerling.
Forms
Deerling has four forms: Spring Form, Summer Form, Autumn Form, and Winter Form.
Aside from differing in coloration, Deerling also has different scents depending on the season. During spring, its scent is delicate, sweet, and calming. During summer, it has a distinct grassy scent. During autumn, it has a softly sweet scent. During winter, Deerling has no scent.
Spring Form Deerling in the animeSummer Form Deerling in the anime
Major appearances
Multiple Spring Form Deerling appeared in Enter Iris and Axew!. Ash attempted to catch one, but as he had not weakened it, it was able to deflect the Poké Ball and fled with the rest of the herd.
In Sewaddle and Burgh in Pinwheel Forest!, a Sewaddle accidentally latched onto a wild Spring Form Deerling with String Shot, startling it. This caused it to buck and thrash around wildly through the forest in an effort to get Sewaddle off, but this put Sewaddle in serious danger.
In Lost at the Stamp Rally!, a Spring Form Deerling was seen performing in a Pokémon Musical show. Multiple other Deerling also appeared in the same episode.
Five Deerling appeared in Team Plasma's Pokémon Power Plot!, with one under the ownership of a Trainer, two being wild, and the other two appearing in a flashback.
Darlene, a female Deerling, was captured by White during her preparation for the Battle Subway trial in Growing Pains. She was seen in her Summer, Autumn, and Winter Forms.
Deerling have different appearances depending on the season. They usually stick close to Sawsbuck, but because they’re so curious, they sometimes wander off on their own and get lost.
Deerling have different appearances depending on the season. They usually stick close to Sawsbuck, but because they’re so curious, they sometimes wander off on their own and get lost.
Deerling have different appearances depending on the season. They usually stick close to Sawsbuck, but because they’re so curious, they sometimes wander off on their own and get lost.
Deerling have different appearances depending on the season. They usually stick close to Sawsbuck, but because they’re so curious, they sometimes wander off on their own and get lost.
Form data
This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Needs more Gen 9 details (how exactly the form changes, breeding, etc.)
Deerling has four different forms based on the four seasons. These forms are interchangeable in Generation V and Generation IX but not in other games. They are purely cosmetic.
When the month is January, May, or September, the season is spring, and it becomes Spring Form.
When the month is February, June, or October, the season is summer, and it becomes Summer Form.
When the month is March, July, or November, the season is autumn, and it becomes Autumn Form.
When the month is April, August, or December, the season is winter, and it becomes Winter Form.
Generations VI to VIII
From Generation VI to VIII, with the abandonment of seasons as a mechanic, Deerling is unable to change forms. All wild and NPC Trainer-owned Deerling are Spring Form, while bred Deerling are in the same form as their mother, or the same form as the Deerling or Sawsbuck parent if bred with Ditto. The Summer, Autumn, and Winter forms are only obtainable via transfer from a Generation V game or from Pokémon GO.
Generation IX
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Deerling is once again able to change forms, but the form it will become is now based on the location that the game was loaded in rather than the season. Wild Deerling vary in form based on location. In Paldea, Spring Form corresponds to South Province, Summer Form to East Province, Autumn Form to West Province, and Winter Form to North Province.
Deerling's Autumn Form has, to date, only ever been released as a Pokémon card once; because this card was never released outside of Japan, Autumn Form Deerling has never appeared in the International Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Deerling's Winter Form is its only form that has not appeared in the anime yet.
Origin
Deerling may be based on a sika deer fawn with a yellow flower on top of its head.
The colors of its four different seasonal forms may be visual references to the colors of trees and bushes during the four seasons: with pink representing blossoms in the spring, green representing fully grown leaves in the summer, orange representing the changing leaves in the autumn, and brown representing the bare, leafless tree and bush branches in the winter. Deerling's design was worked backwards from Sawsbuck's design.[1]
Name origin
Deerling may be a combination of deer and darling or yearling (young animal between the age of one to two years old), with -ling being a common suffix to denote something that is small or immature; it may also reference the 1938 novel The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn.
Shikijika may be a combination of 四季 shiki (four seasons) and 鹿 shika (deer).
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.
For other sprites and images, please see Deerling images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
