In Red & Blue, Kabutops has a 500 base stat total and ranks as C-Tier: a niche pick in Red & Blue's meta. It works best as a wallbreaker. Swords Dance anchors the moveset.

What is Kabutops weak to?

In Red & Blue, watch for Exeggutor (Grass), Raikou (Electric), and Machamp (Fighting) when using Kabutops. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Exeggutor is the most dangerous since Grass moves deal 4x damage. Ground-type attackers are also a problem.

What role does Kabutops play in battle?

In Red & Blue, Kabutops fills the wallbreaker role. It's a mixed attacker with base 115 Attack and 70 Special. Base 80 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.

What are the best moves for Kabutops?

In Red & Blue, run Swords Dance, Slash, Hyper Beam, and Surf on Kabutops. Swords Dance is the most common pick at 22% usage. Surf provides reliable STAB damage.

What counters Kabutops?

For Red & Blue, Kabutops has answers, but so do you. Status moves (Toxic, Will-O-Wisp) wear it down. Setup sweepers can use it as a boost opportunity. Special attackers bypass its physical bulk.

Kabutops - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Mixed

Wallbreaker

CTier

80Speed · Above Avg

Stats & Training

Kabutops's spread isn't flashy. Attack leads, HP trails, 3 stats clear the bar. Tough to catch and worth 2 Attack stat exp, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

High

HP60

Attack115

Defense105

Sp. Atk70

Sp. Def70

Speed80

Total500

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging45 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height1.3 m

Weight40.5 kg

Base XP173

Abilities

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

Swift Swim

Doubles Speed during rain.

Battle Armor

Protects against critical hits.

Weak ArmorHA

Raises Speed and lowers Defense by one stage each upon being hit by a physical move.

EV Yield

HPAtk+2DefSpASpDSpe

Attack training target

Pokedex Entries

Its sleek shape is perfect for swimming. It slashes prey with its claws and drains the body fluids.

Kabutops Weakness

Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Ground moves hit Kabutops for super-effective damage. Grass hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. It resists 5 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Kabutops's physical bulk (base 105 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Kabutops Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
4x (Critical)	Grass
2x (Weak)	Electric, Fighting, Ground
0.5x (Resist)	Normal, Ice, Poison, Flying
0.25x (Resist)	Fire

Type ChartVulnerable

4Weak

5Resist

0Immune

Score-4

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

Grass

2xWeak

Electric Fighting Ground

½xResist

Normal Ice Poison Flying

¼xResist

Fire

0xImmune

None

STAB (6)

Fire Ice Flying Bug Ground Rock

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

In Red & Blue, Jolteon can KO Kabutops with Thunderbolt (108-128%). Golem threatens a KO with Earthquake (93-110%).

Jolteon Electric	A
Recommended Build Moves ThunderboltSTAB Thunder Wave Double Kick Pin Missile Damage vs Kabutops Thunderbolt 2x 108-128%KO Pin Missile 5-6% View Jolteon builds →
Golem RockGround	B
Recommended Build Moves EarthquakeSTAB Explosion Rock Slide Body Slam Damage vs Kabutops Earthquake 2x 93-110%KO Explosion 38-45% Rock Slide 35-41% Body Slam 13-16% View Golem builds →
Victreebel GrassPoison	C
Recommended Build Moves Razor Leaf Wrap Sleep Powder Stun Spore Damage vs Kabutops Wrap 2-3% View Victreebel builds →
Machamp Fighting	C
Recommended Build Moves Earthquake Body Slam SubmissionSTAB Low Kick Damage vs Kabutops Earthquake 2x 67-79% Body Slam 14-16% Submission 2x 80-94% View Machamp builds →

Red & Blue Evolution

You get Kabutops from Kabuto at level 40. This Rock/Water-type hits 500 total stats and can't produce eggs. Evolving from Kabuto gave Kabutops the biggest boost in Attack (+35), bringing the total to 500 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#140Kabuto

Level 40

#141Kabutops

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Kabuto

RockWater

Kabutops

RockWater

60+30

ATK

115+35

DEF

105+15

SP.ATK

65+10

SP.DEF

70+25

SPE

80+25

BST

355D-Tier

495C-Tier+140

ROLE

Balanced

Wallbreaker

TYPE

Physical

Breeding not available · Introduced in Gen 2

Red & Blue Kabutops Best Moveset

Best Build

Experimental

Utility

Ability

Not in Gen 1

Item

Not in Gen 1

Nature

Not in Gen 1

Utility Moveset

Swords Dance
SlashCoverage
Hyper Beam
SurfSTAB

Recommended Teammates

TaurosGood

SnorlaxGood

ChanseyDecent

Moves

Without TMs, Kabutops's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Grass and Normal coverage and more on top of Hydro Pump and Surf for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Absorb

—2010020Grass

Lv 1

Harden

D——30Normal

Lv 1

Scratch

—4010035Normal

Lv 34

Absorb

—2010020Grass

Lv 39

Slash

S7010020Normal

Lv 46

Leer

——10030Normal

Lv 53

Hydro Pump

C120805Water

TM Moves

TM34

Bide+1

———10Normal

TM14

Blizzard

B110905Ice

TM08

Body Slam

C8510015Normal

TM11

Bubble Beam

C6510020Water

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM10

Double-Edge

B12010015Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

S150905Normal

TM13

Ice Beam

C9510010Ice

TM05

Mega Kick

C120755Normal

TM31

Mimic

———10Normal

TM20

Rage

—2010020Normal

TM02

Razor Wind

—8010010Normal

TM33

Reflect

C——20Psychic

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM19

Seismic Toss

D—10020Fighting

TM40

Skull Bash

B10010010Normal

TM17

Submission

C808025Fighting

TM50

Substitute

C——10Normal

HM03

Surf

S9510015Water

TM03

Swords Dance

S——30Normal

TM09

Take Down

—908520Normal

TM06

Toxic

C—9010Poison

TM12

Water Gun

D4010025Water

Egg Moves

Kabutops doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Kabutops can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Kabutops in Red & Blue

No wild encounters for Kabutops. The 2-stage line runs through Kabuto, which you can catch but it's a rare spawn from the locations below. Evolve at level 40 once you've got the levels.

How to Obtain Kabutops in Red & Blue

Step 1Catch Kabuto
Cinnabar Island - Pokémon Lab
RedGift from NPC Lv.30 Water
LimitedMid
Revive Dome Fossil
Cinnabar Island - Pokémon Lab
BlueGift from NPC Lv.30 Water
LimitedMid
Revive Dome Fossil
Train until Level 40
Step 2Kabutops ✓

Kabutops Guide

In Red & Blue, Kabutops has a 500 base stat total and ranks as C-Tier: a niche pick in Red & Blue's meta. It works best as a wallbreaker. Swords Dance anchors the moveset.
In Red & Blue, watch for Exeggutor (Grass), Raikou (Electric), and Machamp (Fighting) when using Kabutops. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Exeggutor is the most dangerous since Grass moves deal 4x damage. Ground-type attackers are also a problem.
In Red & Blue, Kabutops fills the wallbreaker role. It's a mixed attacker with base 115 Attack and 70 Special. Base 80 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.
In Red & Blue, run Swords Dance, Slash, Hyper Beam, and Surf on Kabutops. Swords Dance is the most common pick at 22% usage. Surf provides reliable STAB damage.
For Red & Blue, Kabutops has answers, but so do you. Status moves (Toxic, Will-O-Wisp) wear it down. Setup sweepers can use it as a boost opportunity. Special attackers bypass its physical bulk.

Game Availability

Kabutops has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 19 titles across all 10 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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