Is Bonsly Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Baby Rock from breeding or Route 209. Bonsly learns MoveMimic to evolve into Sudowoodo. AbilityRock Head removes recoil. The evolution requires specific move knowledge. Neither form stands out in Sinnoh.
Roark's typing presses Bonsly's defenses.
Bonsly trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Maylene's team hits Sudowoodo's weaknesses hard.
Sudowoodo trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Sudowoodo trades roughly evenly with Byron's team.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Bertha's team hits Sudowoodo's weaknesses hard.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Sudowoodo trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Sudowoodo has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Sudowoodo resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Sudowoodo trades roughly evenly with Saturn's team.
Cynthia's team hits Sudowoodo's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Bonsly on Route 209 (walking, Lv 16, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM64NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Given by the coin clerk at the Veilstone Game Corner once you string together ten bonus rounds in a row on the slot machines
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Oreburgh Gate (basement)
- LV 33RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10
- After Byron
- TM69RockRock PolishPower —Accuracy 100%PP 20Mt. Coronet
- LV 41DarkSucker PunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 5
- LV 46NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Bonsly to Sudowoodo
Usually ready to evolve before you reach Maylene, at typical party pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22GrassWood HammerPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Gardenia
- TM64NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Given by the coin clerk at the Veilstone Game Corner once you string together ten bonus rounds in a row on the slot machines
- LV 33RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- LV 46NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 49FightingHammer ArmPower 100Accuracy 90%PP 10
- After Volkner
- TM71RockStone EdgePower 150Accuracy 80%PP 5Victory Road
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Bonsly in Diamond & Pearl
Bonsly stands on two routes by day and night, plus a rarer Trophy Garden slot in Diamond. The bare tree baby is a common find on its routes, and learning Mimic is what lets it grow into Sudowoodo.
3 locations to catch Bonsly
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 2
Badge 3Where To Catch Bonsly in DP
Bonsly is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 16-30 across 8 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into Sudowoodoor evolve from Bonsly (Step 1)
Bring the right balls: check Bonsly catch odds in the Diamond & Pearl Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Bonsly in Diamond & Pearl
Bonsly appears on Route 209 and Route 210 and in the Trophy Garden, where a PokeRadar chain brings its shiny in reach. Compare Shiny Bonsly odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Bonsly Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Bonsly in the Diamond & Pearl Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Bonsly Weakness
Type-wise, Bonsly takes extra damage from Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Bonsly's physical bulk (base 95 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Steel |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Bonsly Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Bonsly
 Marowak Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x84-99% Focus Punch 2x81-96% | ||
 Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Heracross builds →Focus Punch 2x173-205%KO Earthquake 2x78-94% | ||
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x113-133%KO Rock Smash 2x32-38% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Sandslash builds →Focus Punch 2x96-114%KO Earthquake 2x100-118%KO | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 2x144-171%KO Earthquake 2x66-78% | ||
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Gliscor builds →Earthquake 2x96-114%KO Brick Break 2x49-58% Steel Wing 2x44-53% | ||
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Lake Verity Gift) | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Shiftry builds →Solar Beam 2x184-216%KO Focus Blast 2x122-144%KO | ||
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Gastrodon WaterGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Gastrodon builds →Earthquake 2x86-103%KO Water Pulse 2x96-114%KO Rock Smash 2x25-30% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Graveler builds →Earthquake 2x96-114%KO Focus Punch 2x94-111%KO | ||
 Probopass RockSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Probopass builds →Earthquake 2x43-51% Magnet Bomb 2x42-49% Rock Smash 2x19-23% | ||
 Leafeon Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Leafeon builds →Solar Beam 2x135-159%KO Rock Smash 2x29-35% | ||
 Gabite DragonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Bonsly View Gabite builds →Earthquake 2x90-106%KO Rock Smash 2x25-30% | ||
Bonsly Evolutions
Bonsly is the baby form here. It evolves into Sudowoodo after learning Mimic, but you can't breed it directly. Hatch one by breeding the evolved forms instead. Evolving adds up to 120 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
DP Bonsly Best Moveset
Baby Sudowoodo with 80 Attack and 95 Defense but 10 Speed and 10 Sp. Def. The moveset is nonfunctional at this stage. Needs Sudowoodo's stats.
Best Build
Bonsly best EVs are Attack and Speed
Utility Moveset
- Sucker Punch
- Explosion
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Defense Curl and Harden give Bonsly options it can't learn any other way, and Normal and Fighting coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Rock Slide and Rock Tomb. 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
26 of 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It looks as if it is always crying. It is actually adjusting its body’s fluid levels by eliminating excess.
It prefers arid environments. It leaks water from its eyes to adjust its body’s fluid levels.
Bonsly Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, Bonsly does the job early-game if you need a Rock type on your team. Evolve it into Sudowoodo before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Bonsly first appeared in Diamond & Pearl and has been available in 13 games across 6 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.
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 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
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 Bonsly.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List