Is Forretress Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Bug/Steel with AbilitySturdy preventing one-hit KOs. Forretress resists most types in the game and handles Tate and Liza without issue. Can set MoveSpikes for damage on switches. Defensive utility without offensive punch. One of the tankiest things available.
Roxanne's team hits Pineco's weaknesses hard.
Pineco has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Pineco trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Forretress trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Forretress has the type edge here and should clean up Juan'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 Wallace's team.
Catch Pineco
Catch Pineco in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 34, rare). Safari Zone: 500 entry fee, 30 Safari Balls, 500-step limit.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 34)
- LV 34NormalSelf-DestructPower 200Accuracy 100%PP 5
- LV 34NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by the Tunnel Man in Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- LV 36NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 50NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
Evolve Pineco to Forretress
Pineco evolves into Forretress at Level 31. You get it at Level 34, past Level 31, so it evolves into Forretress the next time it levels up. A lower-level Pineco evolves when it reaches Level 31.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 31)
- LV 31NormalSelf-DestructPower 200Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by the Tunnel Man in Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- LV 39NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 59NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
How to Get Forretress in Emerald
Forretress comes only from raising a Safari Zone Pineco, which evolves at level 31. Since Pineco is rare and the Safari limits your throws, landing the base bug is the slow part, not the evolution.
Catch Pineco at any of these 2 spots to eventually evolve into Forretress.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Pineco
- 2Evolve Forretressat Lv.31
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8How to Obtain Forretress in E
- Step 2Forretress ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Pineco egg.
How to Get Shiny Forretress in Emerald
Forretress evolves up from Pineco instead of spawning wild, so shiny hunt that prevolution in the Hoenn Safari Zone grass, then level your sparkling catch to 31; the evolution locks the shine into the finished steel shell. Compare Shiny Forretress odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Forretress Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Emerald shiny odds calculator with Forretress already selected.
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 9 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, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Poison |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Forretress Weak Against
Fortress
Forretress Evolutions
Evolved from Pineco. Forretress is the final form in this two-stage line. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. 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 37 partners from the Bug egg group. Notable egg moves include Counter, Flail, Pin Missile and 3 more.
E Forretress Best Moveset
Bug/Steel typing and AbilitySturdy let Forretress fill the hazard role on almost any team, setting MoveSpikes and spinning away opposing entry hazards in the same moveset. 140 base Defense absorbs physical hits while it works.
Best Build
Forretress best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Hazard Setter Moveset
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Earthquake
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Forretress misses out on Counter and Flail. That's 6 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Pin Missile, with Normal and Ground coverage and more 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
All 21 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It keeps itself inside its steel shell. The shell is opened when it is catching prey, but it is so quick that the shell’s inside cannot be seen.
Forretress Emerald Guide
In Emerald, use Forretress as a hazard setter. Physical side carries the damage. It's slow, so Trick Room or priority moves are key.
For Emerald, run Careful on Forretress. +Sp. Def is what matters, and the -Sp. Atk cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the hazard setter role.
Game Availability
Available in 16 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Forretress spans 8 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 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
Where to go next after Forretress.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List