Is Cubone Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Rock Tunnel and Safari Zone encounters. Ground-type with AbilityRock Head preventing recoil. Marowak at level 28 doubles its Attack with Held ItemThick Club, making it one of the hardest physical hitters available. Mostly Kanto postgame timing.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Cubone trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Morty's typing presses Cubone's defenses.
Chuck's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Marowak resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Marowak resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Cubone in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 16-17, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM75NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 43NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Cubone to Marowak
Cubone evolves into Marowak at Level 28. Your Cubone should hit Level 28 before you reach Jasmine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Cubone in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Mornings and daytime are your window for Cubone, at a couple of low-level spots. You can grab one early if you go looking, though the uncommon rates mean it is not something you trip over.
Wild Cubone may be holding when caught:
Thick Club (5% chance) An item to be held by CUBONE or MAROWAK. It is a hard bone of some sort that boosts the Attack stat.2 locations to catch Cubone
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Cubone in HGSS
The line opens with Cubone at Lv. 10-17 via walking encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into Marowakor evolve from Cubone (Step 1)
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver for Cubone.
How to Get Shiny Cubone in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Cubone hides in Rock Tunnel and the Safari Zone, but breeding it Masuda-style is the fastest way to a shiny. Compare Shiny Cubone odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Cubone Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
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 | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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 HeartGold & SoulSilver 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
AvgBest Pokemon Against Cubone
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodSafari Zone Surfing | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Tentacruel WaterPoison | B | |
Obtain MethodCherrygrove City Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Tentacruel builds →Surf 2x122-144%KO Ice Beam 2x81-96% | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Feraligatr builds →Surf 2x122-144%KO Ice Beam 2x81-96% | ||
 Bayleef Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Golduck builds →Surf 2x141-167%KO Ice Beam 2x94-111%KO | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x144-170%KO Ice Beam 2x96-114%KO | ||
 Budew GrassPoison | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Lapras builds →Surf 2x128-152%KO Ice Beam 2x128-152%KO | ||
 Floatzel Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Floatzel builds →Surf 2x128-152%KO Ice Beam 2x85-101%KO | ||
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, Detect and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Cubone Best Moveset
Ground type with 95 Defense absorbing physical hits above its level, but 50 Attack and 35 Speed provide no offensive return. AbilityRock Head removes recoil, which barely matters at these power levels. Evolve to Marowak.
Best Build
Cubone best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Tank Moveset
- Earthquake
- Double Edge
- Fire Punch
- Swords Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The TM pool is where it gets interesting. Coverage across 10 types means almost nothing walls Cubone cleanly, with Earthquake and Earth Power anchoring the STAB side. Matchup flexibility isn't a problem.
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 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
If it is sad or lonely, the skull it wears shakes and emits a plaintive and mournful sound.
It always wears the skull of its dead mother, so no one has any idea what its hidden face looks like.
Cubone HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- How do I catch Cubone in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Cubone in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Cubone from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Cubone easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
Yes. Wild Cubone in HeartGold & SoulSilver 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver, 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
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