Is Cubone Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Not in the Sinnoh regional dex. Transfer-only Ground from Kanto. AbilityLightning Rod draws Electric attacks in double battles. Marowak at 28 hits hard with Thick Club, but Garchomp exists.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Gardenia's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Aaron's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Mars's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Cubone on Route 203 (walking, Lv 4, common). Swarm.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lake Verity
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- TM75NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Veilstone Game Corner
- After Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 43NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Cubone to Marowak
Cubone evolves into Marowak at Level 28. Your Cubone should hit Level 28 before you reach Maylene, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lake Verity
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Cubone in Diamond & Pearl
Cubone shows up on one early route, and only on the day its Swarm rolls in at level 4. Outside that window the route holds none, so the lonely Pokemon stays a tough find.
Wild Cubone may be holding when caught:
Thick Club (5% chance) Doubles Cubone or Marowak’s Attack.1 location to catch Cubone
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Cubone in DP
- Step 1Cubone ✓
- Step 2Evolve into MarowakBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Cubone egg.
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Diamond & Pearl for Cubone.
How to Get Shiny Cubone in Diamond & Pearl
Cubone digs out during its Route 203 swarm, where a PokeRadar chain lands its lonely shiny. Compare Shiny Cubone odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Cubone 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Diamond & Pearl shiny odds for Cubone.
Cubone Weakness
Cubone is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. Lightning Rod grants an additional Electric immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Cubone's physical bulk (base 95 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Cubone Weak Against
Avg
Cubone Evolutions
Cubone is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Marowak. Check the evolution method below. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 105 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Cubone easily with 63 breeding partners from the Monster egg group. Pass egg moves like Ancient Power, Belly Drum, Double Kick and 6 more to offspring.
DP Cubone Best Moveset
95 Defense is solid for an unevolved Ground type, but offensive stats in the 40-50 range can't do anything with it. The moveset previews Marowak's physical style without the power. Marowak with Held ItemThick Club is the destination.
Best Build
Cubone best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Tank Moveset
- Earthquake
- Double Edge
- Fire Punch
- Swords Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Cubone. Ancient Power and Belly Drum come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Earthquake and Dig and coverage across 8 types.
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
37 of 38 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
When it thinks of its dead mother, it cries. Its crying makes the skull it wears rattle hollowly.
Cubone Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Cubone in Diamond & Pearl can hold Thick Club (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Thick Club.
In Diamond & Pearl, for a casual playthrough, Cubone works as a placeholder. Ground coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Marowak. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Cubone appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Cubone have the longest track record of availability in the series.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
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 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 Cubone.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List