For Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, we rate Aerodactyl C-Tier: a niche pick in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's meta. At 515 BST, it fits the sweeper role. Earthquake with Heavy-Duty Boots is the standard set.

Does Aerodactyl mega evolve?

Mega Evolution isn't available in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, but Aerodactyl does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Aerodactyl hits 615 BST.

What is Aerodactyl weak to?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Aerodactyl's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Raikou (Electric), and Lapras (Ice), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Rock and Steel-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.

What is the best ability for Aerodactyl?

Rock Head is the go-to ability for Aerodactyl. It protects against recoil damage. Its hidden ability Unnerve can work in specific setups. Pressure is the other option. Pick based on what your team needs.

What role does Aerodactyl play in battle?

Base 130 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. On offense, Aerodactyl is a physical attacker with base 105 Attack. Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two. Best used as a sweeper.

Aerodactyl - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Sweeper

CTier

130Speed · Extreme

Stats & Training

The stat budget goes to damage. Speed and Attack carry the offense, Sp. Atk doesn't even come close. A Fossil Pokemon on a slow 1.25M XP grind, worth 2 Speed EVs per KO.

Base Stats

High

HP80

Attack105

Defense65

Sp. Atk60

Sp. Def75

Speed130

Total515

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging45 / 255

Growth Rate

Slow1.25M XP

Height1.8 m

Weight59.0 kg

Base XP180

Abilities

Rock HeadPopular

Protects against recoil damage.

PressureNiche

Increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one.

UnnerveHA

Prevents opposing Pokémon from eating held Berries.

EV Yield

HPAtkDefSpASpDSpe+2

Speed training target

Pokedex Entries

It’s a Pokémon that roamed the skies in the dinosaur era. Its teeth are like saw blades.

Aerodactyl Weakness

Type-wise, Aerodactyl takes extra damage from Water, Electric, Ice, Rock, and Steel. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses.

Aerodactyl Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Water, Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel
0.5x (Resist)	Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying, Bug
0x (Immune)	Ground

Type ChartAvg

5Weak

5Resist

1Immune

Score-2

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Water Electric Ice Rock Steel

½xResist

Normal Fire Poison Flying Bug

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

Ground

STAB (6)

Fire Ice Flying Bug Grass Fighting

How to Beat Aerodactyl in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (Best Counters)

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Weavile's Ice Shard hits Aerodactyl for 59-70%. Slowking deals 73-87% with Scald.

Heatran FireSteel	S
Recommended Build AbilityFlashfire ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves Earth Power Magma Storm Stealth Rock TauntUtility View Heatran builds →
Weavile DarkIce	A
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemHeavy-Duty Boots NatureJolly Moves Knock Off Ice Shard Triple Axel Swords Dance Damage vs Aerodactyl Knock Off 47-56% Ice Shard 2x 59-70% View Weavile builds →
Slowking WaterPsychic	A
Recommended Build AbilityRegenerator ItemColbur Berry NatureRelaxed Moves ScaldSTAB TeleportUtility Slack Off Future Sight Damage vs Aerodactyl Scald 2x 73-87% View Slowking builds →

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Evolution

Aerodactyl is what you get. No evolutions, but it breeds through one egg group with a decent partner pool. Hatching is slow to hatch. It's got 6 egg moves worth looking into. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

No Evolution

#142AerodactylDoes not evolve

Breeding

Challenging

Breed Aerodactyl (with patience) with 31 breeding partners from the Flying egg group. Pass egg moves like Assurance, Curse, Dragon Breath and 3 more to offspring.

Egg Groups

Flying

Gender

♂87.5%♀12.5%

Hatch Time

35 cycles·8,995 steps

Slow~9 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

6moves

Breed With (best first)

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Aerodactyl Best Moveset

The game plan is straightforward: click Dragon Dance, then sweep. Heavy-Duty Boots and Rockhead support the setup turn. EVs go into max Attack and Speed so Aerodactyl hits hard once it's boosted.

Best Build

Experimental

Ability

Rock Head

Item

Heavy Duty Boots

Best Nature for Aerodactyl

Jolly+SPE

Aerodactyl best EVs are Attack and Speed

EVs

Atk

Def

Spe

Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset

EarthquakeCoverage
Stone EdgeSTAB
Dual WingbeatSTAB
Dragon Dance

Recommended Teammates

KabutopsDecent

CradilyDecent

Moves

Breeding's the move. Assurance and Curse give Aerodactyl options it can't learn any other way, and coverage across 7 types already covers a decent range on top of Stone Edge and Fly. The egg moves push it further.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Ancient Power

D601005Rock

Lv 1

Bite

C6010025Dark

Lv 5

Supersonic

D—5520Normal

Lv 10

Wing Attack

—6010035Flying

Lv 15

Scary Face

——10010Normal

Lv 20

Rock Slide

S759010Rock

Lv 25

Roar-6

C——20Normal

Lv 30

Crunch

A8010015Dark

Lv 35

Iron Head

C8010015Steel

Lv 40

Take Down

C908520Normal

Lv 45

Stone Edge

S100805Rock

Lv 50

Agility

C——30Psychic

Lv 55

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

Lv 60

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM Moves

TM40

Aerial Ace

C60—20Flying

TM45

Attract

C—10015Normal

TM83

Bulldoze

C6010020Ground

TM97

Defog

C——15Flying

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM02

Dragon Claw

C8010015Dragon

TM59

Dragon Pulse

D8510010Dragon

TM26

Earthquake

S10010010Ground

TM58

Endure+4

C——10Normal

TM42

Facade

C7010020Normal

TM38

Fire Blast

D110855Fire

TM35

Flamethrower

D9010015Fire

TM94

Fly

B909515Flying

TM68

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

C1007515Steel

TM66

Payback

D5010010Dark

TM17

Protect+4

A——10Normal

TM18

Rain Dance

C——5Water

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM05

Roar-6

C——20Normal

TM69

Rock Polish

C——20Rock

TM80

Rock Slide

S759010Rock

TM98

Rock Smash

D4010015Fighting

TM39

Rock Tomb

C609515Rock

TM51

Roost

B——10Flying

TM37

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM82

Sleep Talk

C——10Normal

TM76

Stealth Rock

A——20Rock

TM47

Steel Wing

C709025Steel

TM71

Stone Edge

S100805Rock

TM96

Strength

—8010015Normal

TM90

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM87

Swagger

D—8515Normal

TM12

Taunt

C—10020Dark

TM46

Thief

C6010025Dark

TM41

Torment

D—10015Dark

Egg Moves

Egg

Assurance

—6010010Dark

Egg

Curse

C——10Ghost

Egg

Dragon Breath

—6010020Dragon

Egg

Tailwind

C——15Flying

Egg

Whirlwind-6

D——20Normal

Egg

Wide Guard+3

C——10Rock

Tutor Moves

Aerodactyl can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Aerodactyl in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

No wild encounters for Aerodactyl in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl. It's available in Red, Yellow, or Let's Go Pikachu and can be transferred over. The details below show where to find it.

Aerodactyl is not available as a wild encounter in this game.

Also found in:

Red Yellow Gold Crystal FireRed Diamond

Aerodactyl Guide

For Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, we rate Aerodactyl C-Tier: a niche pick in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl's meta. At 515 BST, it fits the sweeper role. Earthquake with Heavy-Duty Boots is the standard set.
Mega Evolution isn't available in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, but Aerodactyl does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Aerodactyl hits 615 BST.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Aerodactyl's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Raikou (Electric), and Lapras (Ice), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Rock and Steel-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.
Rock Head is the go-to ability for Aerodactyl. It protects against recoil damage. Its hidden ability Unnerve can work in specific setups. Pressure is the other option. Pick based on what your team needs.
Base 130 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. On offense, Aerodactyl is a physical attacker with base 105 Attack. Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two. Best used as a sweeper.

Game Availability

Since debuting in Red & Blue, Aerodactyl has appeared in 20 titles over 10 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 7, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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