Is Kabutops Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Fast and physical, but postgame-only. By the time you can revive Kabuto and evolve it, your team has beaten everything that matters. A trophy.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Chuck's team hits Kabutops's weaknesses hard.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Kabutops resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Kabutops resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Trade
Kabutops 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. Alternatively, transfer the pre-evolution and level it up to Lv 40.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- LV 40NormalSlashPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner
- TM19GrassGiga DrainPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 5Prize for defeating Erika
- LV 65RockAncient PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Kabutops in Gold & Silver
Kabutops needs a level 40 Kabuto, and Kabuto cannot be revived in Gold or Silver at all. The line only exists through a bred parent from elsewhere, putting this fossil firmly out of local reach.
How to Obtain Kabutops in GS
- Step 1Obtain KabutoLATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Gift · Cinnabar Island · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom YellowNot TradeableAppears in Yellow via Gift · Cinnabar Island · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom FireRed & LeafGreenNot TradeableAppears in FireRed & LeafGreen via Gift · Cinnabar Island · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Diamond & PearlNot TradeableAppears in Diamond & Pearl via Gift · Oreburgh City · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom PlatinumNot TradeableAppears in Platinum via Gift · Oreburgh City · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCENot TradeableAppears in HeartGold & SoulSilver via Gift · Pewter City · Revive Dome Fossil. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
- Step 2Kabutops ✓
How to Get Shiny Kabutops in Gold & Silver
Kabutops is off the table in Gold and Silver too, with no fossil to revive here, so its shiny form has to be brought in through a trade from elsewhere. See every game where Shiny Kabutops can be hunted
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.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Grass |
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Fighting, Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Ice, Poison, Flying |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fire |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Kabutops Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kabutops
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Meganium builds →Solar Beam 4x231-272%KO Earthquake 2x46-54% Rock Smash 2x10-12% | ||
 Quagsire WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 32 Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Quagsire builds →Earthquake 2x71-84% Dynamic Punch 2x48-56% | ||
 Marowak Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x67-79% Dynamic Punch 2x45-53% Thunder Punch 2x33-39% | ||
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
 Raikou Electric | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Raikou builds →Thunder 2x151-178%KO Dig 2x29-35% Rock Smash 2x11-13% | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Parasect builds →Solar Beam 4x179-211%KO Dig 2x32-38% Rock Smash 2x12-14% | ||
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x95-112%KO Rock Smash 2x14-16% | ||
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Primeape builds →Cross Chop 2x85-101%KO Dig 2x35-41% Thunder 2x59-70% | ||
 Magneton ElectricSteel | C | |
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Ampharos builds →Thunder 2x151-178%KO Dynamic Punch 2x43-51% | ||
Kabutops Evolutions
Kabutops is the evolved form of Kabuto. Breeding produces Kabuto eggs, and they are slow to hatch. Evolving from Kabuto gave Kabutops the biggest boost in Attack (+35), bringing the total to 495 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Kabutops to get Kabuto eggs using 37 partners from the Water 1 and Water 3 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Aurora Beam, Bubble Beam, Dig and 2 more.
GS Kabutops Best Moveset
115 Attack and MoveSwords Dance to double it. Physical Rock TermStab hits hard after a boost, and MoveRapid Spin clears MoveSpikes for hazard removal utility. Held ItemLeftovers sustains through setup. Swords Dance attacker that also handles hazard support.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Ancient Power
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Rapid Spin
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Kabutops misses out on Aurora Beam and Bubble Beam. That's 5 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Surf and Bubble Beam, with coverage across 7 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.
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
21 of 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
In the water, it tucks in its limbs to become more compact, then it wiggles its shell to swim fast.
With sharp claws, this ferocious, ancient POKéMON rips apart prey and sucks their body fluids.
Kabutops Gold & Silver Guide
In Gold & Silver, use Kabutops as a wallbreaker. Splits damage between physical and special. Speed is middling,
Game Availability
Kabutops has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 19 titles across all 9 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
- 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
Where to go next after Kabutops.
Keep playing · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List