Is Cubone Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Cubone is slow with limited offensive tools. The evolution into Marowak helps, but by the time it matters, Nidoking and Dugtrio are already filling the Ground-type role better.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Misty's team hits Cubone's weaknesses hard.
Cubone has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's team hits Marowak's weaknesses hard.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Marowak has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Lorelei'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 Agatha's team.
Lance's team hits Marowak's weaknesses hard.
Marowak trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Cubone in Pokémon Tower (walking, Lv 20, rare). Needs the Silph Scope; without it every Pokemon here is an unidentified Ghost that cannot be caught.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket Grunt in Cerulean City after you defeat him
- After Lt. Surge
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Silph Co.
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
Evolve Cubone to Marowak
Cubone evolves into Marowak at Level 28. Your Cubone should hit Level 28 before you reach Erika, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket Grunt in Cerulean City after you defeat him
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Silph Co.
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
How to Get Cubone in Yellow
Cubone digs into two cave spots, 6 encounters total, rare-to-uncommon. The lonely bone Pokemon keeps a small range, all underground.
2 locations to catch Cubone
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3
Badge 4Where To Catch Cubone in Y
The line opens with Cubone at Lv. 16-24 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 Yellow for Cubone.
Cubone Weakness
Cubone is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. 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 |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Cubone Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Cubone
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Gyarados builds →Bubble Beam 2x78-93% Ice Beam 2x75-89% | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Vaporeon builds →Bubble Beam 2x126-148%KO Ice Beam 2x119-141%KO | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Wartortle Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Squirtle (Vermilion City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cubone View Wartortle builds →Bubble Beam 2x84-100%KO Ice Beam 2x79-94% | ||
 Ivysaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Cubone Evolutions
Cubone evolves into Marowak, but can't breed. At 310 stats as a Ground type, evolution is the only path. Evolving adds up to 115 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Cubone Best Moveset
MoveEarthquake in the movepool from a stat line that can't deliver competitive damage. Ground TermStab matters more after evolving into Marowak, where the Attack finally backs the typing. Pre-evolution stats doing pre-evolution things.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Water Gun
- Mega Punch
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Most of Cubone's flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Earthquake and Dig, but Normal and Ice and the rest of the TM pool push it from predictable to genuinely threatening.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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 25 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Wears the skull of its deceased mother. Its cries echo inside the skull and come out as a sad melody.
Cubone Yellow Guide
- How do I catch Cubone in the Yellow Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Cubone in Yellow.
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.
In Yellow, 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 · YellowYellow Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Yellow Tier List