Is Ekans Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Not native to Hoenn. Poison-types have a better representative in Seviper locally. AbilityIntimidate on Ekans is interesting for lowering Attack on switch-in, but Arbok's stats aren't worth importing from FRLG.
Roxanne's typing presses Ekans's defenses.
Ekans has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Wattson's typing presses Ekans's defenses.
Ekans has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Norman's typing presses Ekans's defenses.
Winona's team hits Ekans's weaknesses hard.
Tate & Liza's team hits Ekans's weaknesses hard.
Ekans trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Ekans trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Phoebe's team hits Ekans's weaknesses hard.
Ekans trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Drake's team hits Ekans's weaknesses hard.
Steven's team hits Ekans's weaknesses hard.
Trade
Ekans cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- LV 13DarkBitePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- After Norman
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Dewford Town
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 32PoisonAcidPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Meteor Falls
How to Get Ekans in Ruby & Sapphire
The early poison slots in Hoenn go to Zubat and the Seviper or Zangoose pair, not Ekans. To get one, trade it in from another game.
How to Obtain Ekans in RS
- Step 1Ekans ✓CARTRIDGE TRADEfrom FireRed & LeafGreenAvailableCatch in FireRed & LeafGreen via Walking · Route 11, then trade to the current game via link cable.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Walking · Route 11. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Gold & SilverNot TradeableAppears in Gold & Silver via Gift · Goldenrod City · 700 Coins. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom CrystalNot TradeableAppears in Crystal via Walking · Route 42. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Diamond & PearlNot TradeableAppears in Diamond & Pearl via Walking · Route 212 · Dual-slot: FireRed. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom PlatinumNot TradeableAppears in Platinum via Walking · Route 212 · Dual-slot: FireRed. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCENot TradeableAppears in HeartGold & SoulSilver via Walking · Safari Zone. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
- Step 2Evolve into Arbok
How to Get Shiny Ekans in Ruby & Sapphire
Ekans goes unlisted in Hoenn's dex, so grab a shiny along Route 4 in FireRed and trade it home. See every game where Shiny Ekans can be hunted
Ekans Weakness
Ekans's Poison typing leaves it vulnerable to Ground and Psychic. The Poison typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Ekans's Poison typing only leaves 2 gaps to cover.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Ekans Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Ekans
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ekans View Latios builds →Psychic 2x190-224%KO Earthquake 2x119-140%KO | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ekans View Latias builds →Psychic 2x165-194%KO Earthquake 2x109-128%KO | ||
 Metagross SteelPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Beldum (Mossdeep City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ekans View Metagross builds →Earthquake 2x167-197%KO Psychic 2x146-172%KO | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Ekans View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x243-286%KO | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
 Girafarig NormalPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ekans View Girafarig builds →Psychic 2x139-164%KO Earthquake 2x109-128%KO | ||
 Chimecho Psychic | C | |
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
 Donphan Ground | B | |
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
 Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Sandslash Ground | A | |
Ekans Evolutions
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 take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 160 total stats over Ekans. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
Breeding
Breed Ekans easily with 27 breeding partners from the Dragon and Field egg groups. Pass egg moves like Beat Up, Poison Fang, Pursuit and 2 more to offspring.
RS Ekans Best Moveset
Poison pre-evolution with AbilityIntimidate cutting the opponent's Attack on switch-in, decent utility even from bad stats. Arbok gets the same ability with better numbers.
Best Build
Ekans best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Wrap
- Poison Sting
- Leer
- Bite
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Beat Up and Poison Fang from the egg pool give Ekans something extra.
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
20 of 21 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
EKANS curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. Assuming this position allows it to quickly respond to a threat from any direction with a glare from its upraised head.
Ekans Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Ekans isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Catch one in FireRed, then trade it to Ruby & Sapphire.
Game Availability
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.
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