Is Cubone Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Cubone evolves into Marowak at 28 with AbilityRock Head for recoil-free attacks. Ground handles Wattson. Marowak's Attack is enough for the E4. Competes with native Flygon and Claydol for the Ground slot, and both are easier to get.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Winona's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Tate & Liza's Pokemon outpace and outclass Cubone here.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Juan's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Wallace's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Trade
Cubone cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 45NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORFireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Battle Frontier
How to Get Cubone in Emerald
The lonely bone-keeper never appears on any Emerald route or cave, so Cubone comes in by trade to begin the line.
How to Obtain Cubone in E
- Step 1Cubone ✓CARTRIDGE TRADEfrom FireRed & LeafGreenAvailableCatch in FireRed & LeafGreen via Walking · Pokémon Tower, then trade to the current game via link cable.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Walking · Pokémon Tower · Not catchable. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom YellowNot TradeableAppears in Yellow via Walking · Safari Zone. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Gold & SilverNot TradeableAppears in Gold & Silver via Walking · Rock Tunnel. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom CrystalNot TradeableAppears in Crystal via Walking · Rock Tunnel. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Diamond & PearlNot TradeableAppears in Diamond & Pearl via Walking · Route 203 · Swarm active. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom PlatinumNot TradeableAppears in Platinum via Walking · Route 203 · Swarm (daily, announced in Sandgem Town). Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
- Step 2Evolve into Marowak
How to Get Shiny Cubone in Emerald
Cubone gets no Hoenn route slot, so trade one in from FireRed or LeafGreen, where it haunts the upper floors of Pokemon Tower, and keep the shine on arrival. See every game where Shiny Cubone can be hunted
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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Cubone Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Cubone
 Kyogre Water | S | |
Obtain MethodMarine Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Kyogre builds →Hydro Pump 2x267-314%KO Ice Beam 2x141-166%KO | ||
 Tropius Grass | C | |
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Pelipper builds →Hydro Pump 2x180-212%KO Ice Beam 2x95-112%KO | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Ludicolo builds →Solar Beam 2x173-204%KO Surf 2x137-161%KO Ice Beam 2x91-108%KO | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (Littleroot Town Gift) | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Walrein builds →Surf 2x143-168%KO Ice Beam 2x143-168%KO | ||
 Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
Cubone Evolutions
Cubone is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Marowak. Check the evolution method below. A decent partner pool 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 49 breeding partners from the Monster egg group. Pass egg moves like Ancient Power, Belly Drum, Perish Song and 4 more to offspring.
E Cubone Best Moveset
Ground pre-evolution with AbilityRock Head for recoil-free moves. The moveset only becomes relevant when Held ItemThick Club transforms Marowak into the format's hardest physical hitter.
Best Build
Cubone best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Attacker Moveset
- Bonemerang
- Swords Dance
- Focus Punch
- Ancient Power
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 9 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
All 26 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull it wears are from its tears.
Cubone Emerald Guide
No. Cubone isn't catchable in Emerald. Catch one in FireRed or LeafGreen, then trade it over.
In Emerald, Cubone has 320 BST and evolves into Marowak. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
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 · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List