What does Ekans evolve into?

Get Ekans to Arbok at level 22. At 274 BST, Ekans is just the starting point.

At what level does Ekans evolve?

Level 22 gets you Arbok . Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.

In Red & Blue, For a casual playthrough, Ekans works as a placeholder. Poison coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Arbok . That's where the stats start mattering.

Where can you catch Ekans?

You can find Ekans in Red & Blue. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Ekans - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Balanced

DTier

55Speed · Slow

Stats & Training

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 stat exp, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

Below

HP35

Attack60

Defense44

Sp. Atk40

Sp. Def40

Speed55

Total274

Details

Catch Rate

Guaranteed255 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height2.0 m

Weight6.9 kg

Base XP58

Abilities

Abilities were introduced in Generation III. Shown below for reference.

Intimidate

Lowers opponents' Attack one stage upon entering battle.

Shed Skin

Has a 33% chance of curing any major status ailment after each turn.

UnnerveHA

Prevents opposing Pokémon from eating held Berries.

EV Yield

HPAtk+1DefSpASpDSpe

Attack training source

Pokedex Entries

Moves silently and stealthily. Eats the eggs of birds, such as PIDGEY and SPEAROW, whole.

Ekans Weakness

Ekans's Poison typing leaves it vulnerable to Ground, Psychic, and Bug. Not too many gaps in the chart, 3 weaknesses to account for.

Ekans Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Ground, Psychic, Bug
0.5x (Resist)	Grass, Fighting, Poison

Type ChartVulnerable

3Weak

3Resist

0Immune

Score-3

Gen I Type Chart

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

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Ground Psychic Bug

½xResist

Grass Fighting Poison

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

None

STAB (2)

Grass Bug

How to Beat Ekans in Red & Blue (Best Counters)

Sandshrew Ground	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 114-136%KO View Sandshrew builds →
Geodude RockGround	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 121-143%KO View Geodude builds →
Abra Psychic	C
Upcoming Move Moves View Abra builds →
Paras BugGrass	D
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 76-90% View Paras builds →

Red & Blue Evolution

A Poison type with 274 stats, Ekans has a chain leading to Arbok. Breeding won't work. The evolved forms gain up to 174 total stats over Ekans. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#023Ekans

Level 22

#024Arbok

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Ekans

Poison

Arbok

Poison

60+25

ATK

95+35

DEF

69+25

SP.ATK

65+25

SP.DEF

79+25

SPE

80+25

BST

288C-Tier

448C-Tier+160

ROLE

Balanced

TYPE

Physical

Breeding not available · Introduced in Gen 2

Red & Blue Ekans Best Moveset

Best Build

Gen 1 build content has limited support (no abilities, held items, or natures).

Try selecting a different game/generation filter, or check back later.

Moves

The level-up pool is slim, so TMs matter here. Ekans's Normal and Dark coverage and more all comes from technical machines, built on top of Acid and Poison Sting for same-type damage. Double-Edge and Earthquake are the payoff moves.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Leer

——10030Normal

Lv 1

Wrap

D158520Normal

Lv 10

Poison Sting

—1510035Poison

Lv 17

Bite

D6010025Normal

Lv 24

Glare

D—7530Normal

Lv 31

Screech

D—8540Normal

Lv 38

Acid

D4010030Poison

TM Moves

TM34

Bide+1

———10Normal

TM08

Body Slam

D8510015Normal

TM28

Dig

—10010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM10

Double-Edge

C12010015Normal

TM26

Earthquake

C10010010Ground

TM27

Fissure

——305Ground

TM21

Mega Drain

D4010010Grass

TM31

Mimic

———10Normal

TM20

Rage

—2010020Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM48

Rock Slide

D759010Rock

TM40

Skull Bash

C10010010Normal

HM04

Strength

—8010015Normal

TM50

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM09

Take Down

—908520Normal

TM06

Toxic

C—9010Poison

Egg Moves

Ekans doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Ekans can't learn any Tutor moves

Red & Blue Ekans Locations

Easy grab on Ekans with high spawn rates across 6 locations in early-game routes. The sorted list below shows the full spread so you can pick the most convenient spot.

Best Locations to Catch Ekans in Red & Blue

You can find Ekans through 6 walking encounters at Lv. 6-26. The list is sorted by game progression, so the earliest accessible spots show up first.

Route 4

Grass Lv.6-12 Route

30%Early

Route 10

Grass Lv.11-17 Route

30%Early

Route 9

Grass Lv.11-17 Route

30%Early

Route 11

Grass Lv.12-15 Route

25%Early

Route 23

Grass Lv.26 Route

20%Mid

Route 8

Grass Lv.17-19 Route

15%Mid

Ekans Guide

Get Ekans to Arbok at level 22. At 274 BST, Ekans is just the starting point.
Level 22 gets you Arbok. Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.
In Red & Blue, For a casual playthrough, Ekans works as a placeholder. Poison coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Arbok. That's where the stats start mattering.
You can find Ekans in Red & Blue. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Game Availability

Present since Red & Blue, Ekans appears in 20 games spanning 10 generations. Gen 1 originals like Ekans have the longest track record of availability in the series.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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Rhydon GroundRock	S
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 243-286%KO Dig 2x 195-229%KO View Rhydon builds →
Dugtrio Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 195-229%KO Dig 2x 157-185%KO View Dugtrio builds →
Sandslash Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 195-229%KO Dig 2x 157-185%KO View Sandslash builds →
Nidoqueen PoisonGround	C
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorina (Celadon City Gift) TM Move Moves EarthquakeTM26 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 183-215%KO View Nidoqueen builds →
Nidoking PoisonGround	C
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorino (Celadon City Gift) TM Move Moves EarthquakeTM26 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 196-232%KO View Nidoking builds →

Dugtrio Ground	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 146-172%KO View Dugtrio builds →
Onix RockGround	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 85-101%KO View Onix builds →
Sandshrew Ground	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 119-141%KO View Sandshrew builds →
Geodude RockGround	C
TM Move Moves DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 126-150%KO View Geodude builds →
Cubone Ground	D
Available Moves Moves DigTM28 Bone ClubLv. 1 Damage vs Ekans Dig 2x 90-106%KO Bone Club 2x 75-88% View Cubone builds →

Dugtrio Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 188-221%KO Dig 2x 151-179%KO View Dugtrio builds →
Onix RockGround	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 106-125%KO Dig 2x 85-100%KO View Onix builds →
Sandshrew Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 151-179%KO Dig 2x 124-146%KO View Sandshrew builds →
Geodude RockGround	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 158-188%KO Dig 2x 126-150%KO View Geodude builds →
Cubone Ground	D
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Bone ClubLv. 1 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 113-133%KO Dig 2x 92-108%KO Bone Club 2x 74-88% View Cubone builds →

Dugtrio Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 191-225%KO Dig 2x 154-182%KO View Dugtrio builds →
Onix RockGround	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 107-126%KO Dig 2x 87-103%KO View Onix builds →
Rhyhorn GroundRock	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 167-197%KO Dig 2x 134-158%KO View Rhyhorn builds →
Sandshrew Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 150-178%KO Dig 2x 120-142%KO View Sandshrew builds →
Cubone Ground	D
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Bone ClubLv. 1 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 113-134%KO Dig 2x 93-111%KO Bone Club 2x 76-91% View Cubone builds →

Dugtrio Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 188-222%KO Dig 2x 152-179%KO View Dugtrio builds →
Onix RockGround	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 103-121%KO Dig 2x 83-98% View Onix builds →
Rhyhorn GroundRock	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 166-196%KO Dig 2x 132-156%KO View Rhyhorn builds →
Sandshrew Ground	C
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 152-179%KO Dig 2x 122-144%KO View Sandshrew builds →
Cubone Ground	D
Available Moves Moves EarthquakeTM26 DigTM28 Bone ClubLv. 1 BonemerangLv. 43 Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 113-133%KO Dig 2x 90-107%KO Bone Club 2x 73-87% Bonemerang 2x 59-69% View Cubone builds →

Slowbro WaterPsychic	B
Recommended Build Moves AmnesiaUtility RestRecovery SurfSTAB Thunder Wave Damage vs Ekans Surf 93-110%KO View Slowbro builds →
Golem RockGround	B
Recommended Build Moves EarthquakeSTAB Explosion Rock Slide Body Slam Damage vs Ekans Earthquake 2x 227-267%KO Explosion 189-222%KO Rock Slide 86-101%KO Body Slam 64-76% View Golem builds →
Pinsir Bug	B
Recommended Build Moves Swords Dance Hyper Beam Submission Bind Damage vs Ekans Hyper Beam 118-138%KO Submission 31-37% Bind 12-15% View Pinsir builds →