Is Cubone Good in Platinum Playthrough?
Ground-type without wild encounters in Platinum. AbilityRock Head removes recoil damage. Marowak at level 28 with Held ItemThick Club doubles Attack, but getting Cubone requires breeding or import.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Gardenia's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Fantina'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 resists most of Byron's coverage and hits back hard.
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 has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with 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 resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Mars'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 (daily, announced in Sandgem Town).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Fantina
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lake Verity
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- TM75NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Veilstone Game Corner
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 43NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TUTORGroundEarth PowerPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Survival Area
- 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
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- After Fantina
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Byron
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TUTORGroundEarth PowerPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Survival Area
- TUTORDragonOutragePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Survival Area
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Cubone in Platinum
Cubone arrives as a daily swarm, called out on the Sandgem Town TV. On its swarm day it floods one early route common at level 4, then leaves once the swarm cycles to a new Pokemon.
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
Badge 1Where To Catch Cubone in Pt
- 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 Platinum for Cubone.
How to Get Shiny Cubone in Platinum
Cubone appears in the grass on Route 203, common enough to chain to 40 for a shiny. Compare Shiny Cubone odds across every game
Platinum 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 Platinum 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.
Pt Cubone Best Moveset
Held ItemThick Club on Marowak is the reason to invest, and Cubone's 95 Defense lets it absorb some physical hits while leveling. The moveset can't contribute at 50 Attack. Marowak with Held ItemThick Club changes everything.
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
36 of 38 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
When it thinks of its dead mother, it cries. Its crying makes the skull it wears rattle hollowly.
Cubone Platinum Guide
Yes. Wild Cubone in Platinum 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 Platinum, 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 · PlatinumPlatinum Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Platinum Tier List