Is Cacnea Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Cacnea with AbilitySand Veil hides in Route 111's sandstorm. Grass/Dark with Cacturne at 32 hitting hard from both sides. Terrible Speed and bulk. Handles Phoebe through Dark and the Water endgame through Grass. Dies to anything that outspeeds it.
Cacnea resists most of Roxanne's coverage and hits back hard.
Cacnea has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Cacnea trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Flannery's team hits Cacnea's weaknesses hard.
Cacnea trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Winona's team hits Cacnea's weaknesses hard.
Cacturne has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Cacturne has the type edge here and should clean up Juan's team.
Cacturne trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Cacturne has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Cacturne has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Cacturne trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Cacturne trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Catchable
Catch Cacnea on Route 111 (walking, Lv 20-22, rare).
Recommended Moves
- After Norman
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- TM19GrassGiga DrainPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5Route 123
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 37GrassNeedle ArmPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
Evolve Cacnea to Cacturne
Cacnea evolves into Cacturne at Level 32. Your Cacnea should hit Level 32 before you reach Tate & Liza, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 32)
- LV 32DarkFeint AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Norman
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- TM19GrassGiga DrainPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5Route 123
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- LV 41GrassNeedle ArmPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
How to Get Cacnea in Emerald
Cacnea is a rare Route 111 desert catch around level 20, sharing the sand with Trapinch but on a thinner slot. That desert route is its only home in Emerald, so the scarecrow cactus takes some patience to turn up.
Wild Cacnea may be holding when caught:
Poison Barb (5% chance) A hold item that raises the power of POISON-type moves.1 location to catch Cacnea
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3Where To Catch Cacnea in E
- Step 1Cacnea ✓
- Step 2Evolve into CacturneBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Cacnea egg.
Not landing the catch? Calculate Cacnea catch rates for Emerald by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Cacnea in Emerald
Cacnea lurks as a rare spawn in the Route 111 desert grass, so settle in along the sandstorm stretch and cycle patiently through encounters until its shiny coloring finally shows up. Compare Shiny Cacnea odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Cacnea Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Emerald with Cacnea preloaded.
Cacnea Weakness
Cacnea's Grass typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. 5 weaknesses means you'll want teammates that can handle the coverage gaps.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Grass, Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Cacnea Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Cacnea
 Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Combusken builds →Flamethrower 2x147-174%KO Peck 2x37-45% | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Golbat builds →Sludge Bomb 2x130-154%KO Wing Attack 2x89-107%KO Leech Life 2x22-26% | ||
 Seviper Poison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Seviper builds →Sludge Bomb 2x154-182%KO Flamethrower 2x109-129%KO | ||
 Swalot Poison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Swalot builds →Sludge Bomb 2x124-146%KO Ice Beam 2x87-103%KO | ||
 Volbeat Bug | C | |
 Dustox BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Dustox builds →Sludge Bomb 2x93-111%KO Gust 2x29-34% | ||
 Gloom GrassPoison | C | |
 Quilava Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (Littleroot Town Gift) | ||
 Torkoal Fire | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Torkoal builds →Flamethrower 2x147-174%KO Sludge Bomb 2x91-108%KO | ||
 Skarmory Steel | A | |
 Grimer Poison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Grimer builds →Sludge Bomb 2x130-154%KO Flamethrower 2x58-68% | ||
 Swellow Normal | C | |
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Pelipper builds →Ice Beam 2x107-126%KO Wing Attack 2x63-75% | ||
 Slugma Fire | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacnea View Slugma builds →Flamethrower 2x126-150%KO Smog 2x14-18% | ||
Cacnea Evolutions
One evolution ahead. Cacnea grows into Cacturne through a straightforward two-stage chain. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 140 total stats over Cacnea. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Cacnea easily with 35 breeding partners from the Grass and Human-Like egg groups. Pass egg moves like Acid, Counter, Dynamic Punch and 2 more to offspring.
E Cacnea Best Moveset
AbilitySand Veil raises evasion in sandstorm, but Cacnea's stats are too low for competitive play. The moveset should focus on physical Grass moves while leveling toward Cacturne.
Best Build
Cacnea best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Wall Moveset
- Destiny Bond
- Spikes
- Focus Punch
- Giga Drain
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
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.
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
All 18 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
CACNEA live in deserts with virtually no rainfall. It battles by swinging its thick, spiked arms. Once a year, a yellow flower blooms.
Cacnea Emerald Guide
Yes. Wild Cacnea in Emerald can hold Poison Barb (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Poison Barb.
For Emerald, you can run Cacnea through the first few routes without issues. 335 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Cacturne as fast as you can.
Game Availability
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.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
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 Cacnea.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List