Is Cacturne Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Grass/Dark with AbilitySand Veil. Cacturne hits hard from both sides but the Speed is so low that it rarely gets to attack first. Handles Phoebe, Tate and Liza, and Wallace if it survives the first hit. A high-risk, high-reward option that demands speed control from teammates.
Cacnea resists most of Roxanne's coverage and hits back hard.
Cacnea has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Wattson's typing presses Cacnea's defenses.
Flannery's team hits Cacnea's weaknesses hard.
Norman's typing presses Cacnea's defenses.
Winona's team hits Cacnea's weaknesses hard.
Cacturne has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Cacturne resists most of Wallace's coverage and hits back hard.
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 Steven's team.
Catch Cacnea
Catch Cacnea on Route 111 (walking, Lv 19-21, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Fortree City
- LV 29DarkFeint AttackPower 60Accuracy 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
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 37GrassNeedle ArmPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
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 Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- 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
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 41GrassNeedle ArmPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Cacturne in Ruby & Sapphire
Out in the desert sand you'll find Cacnea, never its evolved form Cacturne. Push that prickly base to level 32 and you get one, with no wild alternative on the map.
Wild Cacturne may be holding when caught:
Poison Barb (5% chance) A hold item that raises the power of POISON-type moves.Catch Cacnea at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Cacturne.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Cacnea
- 2Evolve Cacturneat Lv.32
Badge 3How to Obtain Cacturne in RS
- Step 1Catch Cacnea
- Step 2Cacturne ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Cacnea egg.
How to Get Shiny Cacturne in Ruby & Sapphire
Cacturne only grows from the Cacnea of the Route 111 desert, so hunt a shiny Cacnea there and evolve it, since Cacturne itself never appears wild. Compare Shiny Cacturne odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Cacturne 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 Ruby & Sapphire with Cacturne preloaded.
Cacturne Weakness
Cacturne is weak to Bug, Fire, Ice, Fighting, Poison, and Flying. Watch out for Bug attacks, those deal 4x damage. On the flip side, it's immune to Psychic-type moves entirely. It resists 6 types, so it can switch into a lot of moves safely.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Bug |
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Flying |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Grass, Ground, Ghost, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Psychic |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Cacturne Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Cacturne
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Breloom builds →Focus Punch 2x217-255%KO Sludge Bomb 2x86-102%KO | ||
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
 Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Combusken builds →Focus Punch 2x154-182%KO Overheat 2x144-169%KO Peck 2x24-30% | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 2x173-204%KO Flamethrower 2x45-53% | ||
 Volbeat Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Volbeat builds →Signal Beam 4x140-166%KO Focus Punch 2x90-106%KO | ||
 Swalot Poison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Swalot builds →Sludge Bomb 2x84-99% Ice Beam 2x57-68% Rock Smash 2x14-17% | ||
 Skarmory Steel | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Skarmory builds →Air Cutter 2x56-67% Rock Smash 2x16-19% | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Golbat builds →Sludge Bomb 2x89-105%KO Wing Attack 2x62-73% Leech Life 4x32-38% | ||
 Torkoal Fire | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Torkoal builds →Overheat 2x144-169%KO Sludge Bomb 2x63-74% Rock Smash 2x16-19% | ||
 Masquerain Bug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Surskit (Route 102 Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Masquerain builds →Ice Beam 2x73-87% Gust 2x35-41% | ||
 Illumise Bug | C | |
 Dustox BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Dustox builds →Sludge Bomb 2x65-77% Gust 2x19-23% | ||
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cacturne View Pelipper builds →Ice Beam 2x72-85% Wing Attack 2x43-51% | ||
 Gloom GrassPoison | C | |
Cacturne Evolutions
Cacturne is what Cacnea becomes. Breed it for Cacnea eggs (average hatch time). A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolution from Cacnea pushed Cacturne to 475 total stats. Attack saw the largest single gain at +30. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Cacturne to get Cacnea eggs easily using 35 partners from the Grass and Human-Like egg groups. Notable egg moves include Acid, Counter, Dynamic Punch and 2 more.
RS Cacturne Best Moveset
Grass/Dark with MoveSpikes for hazard setting, MoveLeech Seed for draining, and MoveGiga Drain for Grass TermStab. AbilitySand Veil boosts evasion in sandstorm for Tyranitar team synergy. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Sand-boosted hazard setter with Grass support utility.
Best Build
Cacturne best EVs are Sp. Def and Speed
Hazard Setter Moveset
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Dark
- Leech Seed
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Cacturne gets Acid and Counter exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Poison and Bug coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Solar Beam and Giga Drain.
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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
During the daytime, CACTURNE remains unmoving so that it does not lose any moisture to the harsh desert sun. This POKéMON becomes active at night when the temperature drops.
If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, CACTURNE will follow in a ragtag group. The POKéMON are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving.
Cacturne Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Cacturne is obtained in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire by evolving Cacnea under specific conditions.
Game Availability
Debuting in Ruby & Sapphire, Cacturne appears in 14 games across 7 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through wild encounters.
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 Cacturne.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List