White-Striped Basculin returns to Pokémon Go—but it’s extremely difficult to get

You got to be kidding me.

How to catch White-Striped Basculin in Pokemon Go
Image via the Pokémon Company

White Striped Basculin is returning to Pokémon Go on Sept. 3 after last appearing during Go Tour Sinnoh in February—but it will be a pain to find.

Recommended Videos

That’s because the team at Niantic has decided to lock the rare form of Basculin behind a convoluted process where you have a slim chance to get one daily, in their infinite wisdom. That’s right trainers, White-Striped Basculin is locked behind Mateo’s 7km Eggs.

For those unfamiliar with who Mateo is in Pokémon Go, every day when you walk along a Route, you can sometimes find the NPC Mateo at the end of it. He will offer to trade you a gift that, when traded, instantly opens, and if you have a space in your Egg holster, there’s a slim chance of a 7km Egg being deposited there.

Unlike the usual 7km Egg offerings, Mateo’s Eggs house unique Pokémon you can usually only find through rare means. The Pokémon on offer from Sept. 3 include Hisuian Sneasler, Hisuian Growlithe, Deino, Pancham, and White-Striped Basculin. So not only do you need to hope the White-Striped Basculin appears from this Egg, but you also need to hope more RNG goes your way.

Currently, there is no other way to get White-Striped Basculin, and to make matters worse, it can also be found as a Shiny, so any Shiny hunters are in for an audacious task if they want to try and get this Pokémon.

Not only that, but the White-Striped Basculin’s evolution, Basculegion, is still nowhere to be found six months later. Hopefully, Niantic adds it this season, as well as an easier way to get the fish than whatever this is.

Author
Image of Adam Newell
Adam Newell
Assigning Editor. In 2015, Adam graduated from the University of Aberystwyth with a bachelor's in Media and Communications. Working in the industry for over ten years. If it has anything to do with Nintendo and Pokémon chances are you will see me talking about it, covering, and likely not sleeping while playing it.