While most trainers evolve Cacnea into Cacturne immediately, the unevolved form has a niche with Eviolite boosting its defenses. 5 type weaknesses to keep in mind. Introduced in Gen 3. Known as the Cactus Pokemon.
Attack and Sp. Atk carry most of Cacnea's stat budget. Speed's the obvious dump stat. Common in the wild and yields 1 Sp. Atk EV. Follows a 1.06M XP medium-slow curve.
CACNEA lives in arid locations such as deserts. It releases a strong aroma from its flower to attract prey. When prey comes near, this POKéMON shoots sharp thorns from its body to bring the victim down.
The more arid and harsh the environment, the more pretty and fragrant a flower CACNEA grows. This POKéMON battles by wildly swinging its thorny arms.
Cacnea Weakness
FragileCacnea's Grass typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug moves. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
One evolution ahead. Cacnea grows into Cacturne through a straightforward two-stage chain. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs are average hatch time. The evolved forms gain up to 140 total stats over Cacnea.
How to Evolve
Breed Cacnea easily with 35 breeding partners from the Plant and Humanshape egg groups. Pass egg moves like Acid, Counter, Dynamic Punch and 2 more to offspring.
Best Build
No build content available for this Pokemon in Gen 3.
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You'll want to breed for Acid and Counter on Cacnea. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Solar Beam and Giga Drain, they expand what Cacnea can actually threaten in practice.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
A few locations for Cacnea with decent spawn rates across mid-game routes. The sort toggle below swaps between best odds and earliest access, so you can approach it based on where you are in the game.
Best Locations
Cacnea is meant to evolve into Cacturne. At 335 BST, the stats aren't there for competitive play yet. Pre-evolution Pokemon rarely hold up against fully evolved threats.
Watch for Arcanine (Fire), Walrein (Ice), and Gengar (Poison) when using Cacnea. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Flying and Bug-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter. At base 35 Speed, Cacnea won't outrun any of these threats so switching to a resist is usually the safer play.
Cacnea evolves into Cacturne at level 32. Cacnea is the base form of this evolutionary line.
Water Absorb is what you want on Cacnea. Every competitive set worth running is built with that ability in mind. The alternatives (Sand Veil) work on paper but Water Absorb is what makes Cacnea worth using.
Base 35 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Cacnea is a mixed attacker — base 85 Attack and 85 Sp. Atk. Defensively? Fragile — can't afford to take many hits. Best used as a trick room.
Cacnea appears in 14 games, including Ruby & Sapphire, FireRed & LeafGreen, and Emerald.
Available in 14 titles since its debut in Ruby & Sapphire, Cacnea spans 7 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in a solid number of games.
- Gen IY
Yellow - Gen IRB
Red & Blue - Gen IIGS
Gold & Silver - Gen IIC
Crystal - Gen IIIRSDebut
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen IIIFRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen IIIE
Emerald - Gen IVPt
Platinum - Gen IVHGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen IVDP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen VBW
Black & White - Gen VB2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen VIXY
X & Y - Gen VIORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen VIIUSUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen VIISM
Sun & Moon - Gen VIILGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen VIIISwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen VIIIPLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen VIIIBDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen IXSV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen IXLZA
Legends: Z-A