Physical
Balanced
288Low
55Slow
DTier

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, Psychic, and Bug. 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.

Base Stats
288Below
HP35
F
Attack60
C
Defense44
D
Sp. Atk40
D
Sp. Def54
D
Speed55
D
Total288
Low <60
Avg 60-89
High 90-149
Top 150+
EV YieldDefeating Ekans yields +1 Atk
HPAtk+1DefSpASpDSpe
Details
Catch255Guaranteed•Medium Fast1M XP•2m / 6'07"•6.9kg / 15.2 lbs•58Base XP
Pokedex Entries

The older it gets, the longer it grows. At night, it wraps its long body around tree branches to rest.

Yellow

Ekans Weakness

Vulnerable

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

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
4xCriticali
None
2xWeaki
GroundPsychicBug
½xResisti
GrassFightingPoison
¼xResisti
None
0xImmunei
None
STAB (2)i
GrassBug
3Weak
3Resist
0Immune
Scorei-3
SpikesGrounded — up to 25%
Toxic SpikesAbsorbs on switch
Abilities
IntimidateLowers opponents' Attack one stage upon entering battle.
Shed SkinHas a 33% chance of curing any major status ailment after each turn.
UnnerveHAPrevents opposing Pokémon from eating held Berries.

A Poison type with 288 stats, Ekans has a chain leading to Arbok. Breeding won't work. The evolved forms gain up to 160 total stats over Ekans.

How to Evolve

2 Forms
Ekans
#023Ekans
22
Level 22
Arbok
#024Arbok
Stat Comparison 2 Stages
Ekans
Poison
Arbok
Poison
HP
35
60+25
ATK
60
95+35
DEF
44
69+25
SP.ATK
40
65+25
SP.DEF
54
79+25
SPE
55
80+25
BST
288C-Tier
448C-Tier+160
ROLE
Balanced
Balanced
TYPE
Physical
Physical
Breeding not available · Introduced in Gen 2

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.

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
158520Normal
Lv 10
Poison Sting
1510035Poison
Lv 17
Bite
6010025Normal
Lv 24
Glare
—7530Normal
Lv 31
Screech
—8540Normal
Lv 38
Acid
4010030Poison

TM Moves

Src
TM34
Bide+1
——10Normal
TM08
Body Slam
8510015Normal
TM28
Dig
10010010Ground
TM32
Double Team
——15Normal
TM10
Double-Edge
12010015Normal
TM26
Earthquake
10010010Ground
TM27
Fissure
—305Ground
TM21
Mega Drain
4010010Grass
TM31
Mimic
——10Normal
TM20
Rage
2010020Normal
TM44
Rest
——10Psychic
TM48
Rock Slide
759010Rock
TM40
Skull Bash
10010010Normal
HM04
Strength
8010015Normal
TM50
Substitute
——10Normal
TM09
Take Down
908520Normal
TM06
Toxic
—9010Poison

Egg Moves

Ekans doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Ekans can't learn any Tutor moves

Ekans doesn't appear in Yellow. Transfer it from Red, Gold, or Brilliant Diamond to add it to your collection. Check the source games below for encounter details.

Ekans is not available as a wild encounter in this game.

Catch in the wild in:

RedWalking · Route 9

Then trade to Yellow.

Also found in:

GoldCrystalFireRedDiamondPlatinumHeartGold

  • At 288 BST, Ekans is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Arbok before bringing it to any serious fight.

  • Watch for Rhydon (Ground), Alakazam (Psychic), and Pinsir (Bug) when using Ekans. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB.

  • Ekans evolves into Arbok at level 22. Ekans is the base form of this evolutionary line.

  • 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.