Is Forretress Good in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Playthrough?
Forretress shows up wild in Hoenn. Bug/Steel with 140 Defense absorbs physical hits all day. AbilitySturdy guarantees surviving one attack. Useful for setting MoveStealth Rock and MoveSpikes against the E4, but the 4x Fire weakness means keep it away from Flannery.
Pineco has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Flannery's team hits Pineco's weaknesses hard.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Winona's team hits Pineco's weaknesses hard.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Forretress has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Forretress trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Forretress trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Drake's team hits Forretress's weaknesses hard.
Forretress trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Catch Forretress on Mirage Spots (walking, Lv 36-38, common).
How to Get Forretress in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
high spawn rates for Forretress across 10 locations in late-game routes. Nothing complicated. Check the sorted list below, compare the top few options, and head to whichever is closest.
Where To Catch Forretress in ORAS
The path to Forretress starts with Pineco at Lv. 36-38 via walking encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Obtain Pineco
Step 2Forretress ✓Mirage SpotsLv.36-38GrassRate 80%Mirage Spots - Area 17Lv.36-38GrassRate 30%Mirage Spots - Area 18Lv.36-38GrassRate 30%Mirage Spots - Area 19Lv.36-38GrassRate 30%Mirage Spots - Area 20Lv.36-38GrassRate 30%or evolve from Pineco (Step 1)
Forretress Weakness
Fire moves hit Forretress for super-effective damage. Fire hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. The upside? Poison-type moves can't touch it at all. With 8 resistances, the defensive profile is strong. Forretress's physical bulk (base 140 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Fire |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Ice, Psychic, Bug, Dragon, Steel, Fairy |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Poison |
What is Forretress Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Forretress
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Combusken builds →Flame Charge 4x58-70% | ||
 Pignite FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Quilava Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Infernape FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Flareon Fire | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Flareon builds →Flare Blitz 4x176-207%KO | ||
 Typhlosion Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Infernape FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Flareon Fire | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Flareon builds →Flare Blitz 4x168-199%KO | ||
Typhlosion Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Darmanitan Fire | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Darmanitan builds →Flare Blitz 4x181-213%KO | ||
 Heatran FireSteel | A | |
Obtain MethodScorched Slab Interact Encounter | ||
 Volcarona BugFire | B | |
Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Emboar builds →Flare Blitz 4x161-190%KO | ||
Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Move Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Blaziken builds →Flare Blitz 4x159-187%KO | ||
In Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Zapdos's Heat Wave also KOs at 141-166%.
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilityMold Breaker ItemLeftovers NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Excadrill builds →Earthquake24-28% Rapid Spin6-7% | ||
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilityRough Skin ItemRocky Helmet NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Garchomp builds →Earthquake23-27% | ||
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityStatic ItemLeftovers NatureBold Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Zapdos builds →Heat Wave 4x141-166%KO Volt Switch26-31% | ||
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityFlashfire ItemLeftovers NatureCalm Moves View Heatran builds →
| ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityMagnetpull ItemChoice Scarf NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Forretress View Magnezone builds →Flash Cannon18-22% Volt Switch32-38% Thunderbolt42-49% | ||
Forretress Evolutions
Evolved from Pineco. Forretress is the final form in this two-stage line. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. Defense grew the most through evolution (+50 over Pineco), and Forretress peaks at 465 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Forretress to get Pineco eggs easily using 68 partners from the Bug egg group. Notable egg moves include Counter, Double-Edge, Endure and 8 more.
ORAS Forretress Best Moveset
Bug/Steel at 140 Defense with AbilitySturdy surviving any single hit. Sets MoveStealth Rock, MoveSpikes, and MoveToxic Spikes on one Pokemon. MoveRapid Spin clears opponent hazards. The moveset earns A-tier by doing more hazard work in one slot than any other Pokemon.
Best Build
Forretress best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Tank Moveset
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Forretress misses out on Counter and Double-Edge. That's 11 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Flash Cannon and Signal Beam, with coverage across 8 types rounding things out.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
Forretress conceals itself inside its hardened steel shell. The shell is opened when the Pokémon is catching prey, but it does so at such a quick pace that the shell’s inside cannot be seen.
Forretress Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Guide
For Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, we rate Forretress C-Tier: a niche pick in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire's meta. At 465 BST, it fits the hazard setter role. Rapid Spin with Leftovers is the standard set.
In Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, watch for Arcanine (Fire) when using Forretress. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Arcanine is the most dangerous since Fire moves deal 4x damage. Only 1 weakness means fewer dedicated counters to worry about. At base 40 Speed, Forretress won't outrun any of these threats so switching to a resist is usually the safer play.
Sturdy prevents being KOed from full HP, leaving 1 HP instead. That's the one you want on Forretress. Overcoat is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses.
Base 40 Speed is low. Priority moves or Trick Room are the way to go. On offense, Forretress is a physical attacker with base 90 Attack. Defensively? Enough bulk to take a hit or two. Best used as a hazard setter.
In Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, run Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes on Forretress. Rapid Spin is the most common pick at 0% usage. This set covers the hazard setter role with a mix of damage and utility.
Game Availability
Available in 16 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Forretress spans 9 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in most mainline games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
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 7LGPE
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