Is Archen Good in Sun & Moon Playthrough?
Revive from a Plume Fossil for Archen. AbilityDefeatist halves Attack and Special Attack below half HP, which is brutal. The raw power is there until you take a hit, then everything falls apart.
Archen has the type edge here and should bring the Totem Gumshoos down.
Archen has the type edge here and should clean up Hala's team.
Archen trades roughly evenly with the Totem Wishiwashi.
Archen has the type edge here and should bring the Totem Salazzle down.
Archen has the type edge here and should bring the Totem Lurantis down.
Archen trades roughly evenly with Olivia's team.
Archen has the type edge here and should bring the Totem Vikavolt down.
Archen trades roughly evenly with the Totem Mimikyu.
Archeops trades roughly evenly with Nanu's team.
Archeops trades roughly evenly with Hapu's team.
Archeops trades roughly evenly with the Totem Kommo-o.
Archeops has the type edge here and should clean up Hala's team.
Olivia's team hits Archeops's weaknesses hard.
Archeops has the type edge here and should clean up Acerola's team.
Archeops has the type edge here and should clean up Kahili's team.
Archeops trades roughly evenly with Kukui's team.
Gift
Archen is given to you as a gift on Route 8 at Lv 15. Revive Plume Fossil. Receive a restored fossil Pokemon from the woman in the Fossil Restoration Center on Route 8.
Evolve Archen to Archeops
Archen evolves into Archeops at Level 37. Your Archen should hit Level 37 before you reach Nanu, at typical leveling pace.
How to Get Archen in Sun & Moon
Archen belongs to Moon: bring the Plume Fossil to the Route 8 lab and the woman there rebuilds the ancient bird, waking it at level 15.
How to Obtain Archen in SM
- Step 2Evolve into ArcheopsBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Archen egg.
How to Get Shiny Archen in Sun & Moon
Archen is bred shiny in Moon with a foreign-language parent, giving each egg a 1 in 512 shot at the first bird. Compare Shiny Archen odds across every game
Sun & Moon Shiny Archen Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method at full boosts, about 1 in 512 on each try. Tune it below.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 54 |
| 25%one in four | 148 |
| 50%coin flip | 355 |
| 90%very likely | 1,178 |
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Sun & Moon shiny odds for Archen.
Archen Weakness
Type-wise, Archen takes extra damage from Water, Electric, Ice, Rock, and Steel. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. The Rock/Flying typing picks up 5 resistances to work with.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
What is Archen Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Archen
 Vaporeon Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Paniola Ranch Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Archen View Vaporeon builds →Scald 2x133-157%KO Aurora Beam 2x73-87% | ||
 Vikavolt BugElectric | B | |
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | B | |
 Brionne Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Popplio (Iki Town Gift) | ||
 Raichu Electric | C | |
 Azumarill WaterFairy | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Archen View Azumarill builds →Scald 2x87-103%KO Rollout 2x19-24% | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
 Croconaw Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Archen View Croconaw builds →Scald 2x84-99% Ice Fang 2x58-69% Rock Tomb 2x52-63% | ||
 Cranidos Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 8 Gift | ||
 Luxio Electric | C | |
 Magnemite ElectricSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Archen View Magnemite builds →Mirror Shot 2x99-116%KO Charge Beam 2x76-90% | ||
 Tirtouga WaterRock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 8 Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Archen View Tirtouga builds →Rock Tomb 2x79-94% Scald 2x79-94% | ||
 Horsea Water | C | |
 Carbink RockFairy | C | |
Archen Evolutions
Archen is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Archeops. Check the evolution method below. Plenty of partners for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs are slow to hatch. Evolving adds up to 166 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Archen with 58 breeding partners from the Flying and Water 3 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Ally Switch, Bite, Defog and 6 more to offspring.
SM Archen Best Moveset
Rock/Flying at 112 Attack and 74 Sp. Atk with AbilityDefeatist halving offenses below 50%% HP. The moveset fires at pre-evolution power with real Attack ruined by Defeatist. Archeops one evolution away adds 140 Attack with the same crippling ability.
Best Build
Archen best EVs are Attack and Speed
Support Moveset
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Head Smash
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Ally Switch and Bite give Archen options it can't learn any other way, and coverage across 8 types already covers a decent range on top of Head Smash and Stone Edge. The egg moves push it further.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It is the ancestor of all bird Pokémon. Archen itself could not actually fly but moved by hopping from treetop to treetop.
To all appearances flightless, it was able to glide down from tall treetops to snag its prey.
Archen Sun & Moon Guide
Receive a restored fossil Pokemon from the woman in the Fossil Restoration Center on Route 8. Archen is revived at level 5. Give it Rare Candies or experience-share if you want it ready for the late-game. Note: this fossil is only available in Moon. The other version of Sun & Moon has a different fossil.
In Sun & Moon, for a casual playthrough, Archen works as a placeholder. Rock/Flying coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Archeops. That's where the stats start mattering.
In Sun & Moon, Archen plays as a attacker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
In Sun & Moon, Jolly is the go-to nature for Archen. That's +Speed / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the attacker role.
Game Availability
Since Black & White, Archen has been obtainable in 7 games. A Generation 5 debut means a shorter history, but Archen has appeared steadily across every generation since.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BWDebut
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Archen.
Keep playing · Sun & MoonSun & Moon Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Sun & Moon Tier List