Almost nobody uses Ekans in battle. It exists to evolve into Arbok, which is a completely different story. Get it there and you won't regret it. Only weak to Ground and Psychic. Known as the Snake Pokemon.
You won't find a real weakness in Ekans's stat line. It's well-rounded for the Snake Pokemon, and what it does with that depends on moveset and items. Yields 1 Attack EV, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.
It sneaks through grass without making a sound and strikes unsuspecting prey from behind.
Ekans Weakness
AvgEkans's Poison typing leaves it vulnerable to Ground and Psychic moves. The Poison typing picks up 4 resistances to work with.
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
Ekans is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Arbok. Check the evolution method below. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs are average hatch time. The evolved forms gain up to 160 total stats over Ekans.
Breed Ekans easily with 30 breeding partners from the Dragon and Ground egg groups. Pass egg moves like Beat Up, Disable, Poison Fang and 5 more to offspring.
Best Build
No build content available for this Pokemon in Gen 4.
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The natural movepool does the job, but Beat Up and Disable from the egg pool give Ekans something extra. Pair those with Gunk Shot and Sludge Bomb for STAB and coverage across 7 types for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Finding Ekans at moderate rates takes patience. 1 spots are available in mid-game routes, but the rate difference between them matters. Lock in the top one from the sorted list below.
Best Locations
At 288 BST, Ekans is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Arbok before bringing it to any serious fight.
Ekans evolves into Arbok at level 22. Ekans is the base form of this evolutionary line.
Ekans gets Intimidate, Shed Skin, and Unnerve. But Intimidate is the one that matters — it's the centerpiece of every viable set. Build around that.
Ekans is a physical attacker with base 60 Attack. Fragile — can't afford to take many hits, too. But the speed tells the real story — at base 55 Speed, it won't be moving first often.
Ekans appears in 20 games, including Yellow, Red & Blue, and Gold & Silver.
Present since Red & Blue, Ekans appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Ekans have the longest track record of availability in the series.
- Gen IY
Yellow - Gen IRBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen IIGS
Gold & Silver - Gen IIC
Crystal - Gen IIIRS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen IIIFRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen IIIE
Emerald - Gen IVPt
Platinum - Gen IVHGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen IVDP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen VBW
Black & White - Gen VB2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen VIXY
X & Y - Gen VIORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen VIIUSUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen VIISM
Sun & Moon - Gen VIILGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen VIIISwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen VIIIPLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen VIIIBDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen IXSV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen IXLZA
Legends: Z-A