Is Kabutops Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilitySwift Swim plus strong physical Attack makes Kabutops a rain bruiser. Trade-only in RS. Under Kyogre's rain in Sapphire, Kabutops outspeeds most of the game and Rock-type moves handle Winona and Drake. The import is only justified in a rain-focused Sapphire run.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Kabutops resists most of Flannery's coverage and hits back hard.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Drake's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Steven'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 Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Abandoned Ship
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Petalburg City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Winona
- HM08WaterDivePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Mossdeep City
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Cave of Origin
- After Wallace
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Wallace
- LV 65RockAncient PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Kabutops in Ruby & Sapphire
Raise a traded Kabuto to level 40 for Kabutops. Hoenn revives Lileep and Anorith from its own fossils, not this Kanto line.
How to Obtain Kabutops in RS
- Step 1Obtain KabutoCARTRIDGE TRADEfrom FireRed & LeafGreenAvailableCatch in FireRed & LeafGreen via Gift · Cinnabar Island · Revive Dome Fossil, then trade to the current game via link cable.LATER 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 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.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Black & WhiteNot TradeableAppears in Black & White via Gift · Nacrene 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 Ruby & Sapphire
Kabutops cannot surface in Hoenn, so ship a shiny over by trading it from FireRed or LeafGreen. 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
What is Kabutops Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kabutops
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Hariyama builds →Focus Punch 2x141-165%KO Earthquake 2x63-75% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Breloom builds →Focus Punch 2x151-178%KO Solar Beam 4x179-211%KO | ||
 Heracross BugFighting | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Heracross builds →Focus Punch 2x146-172%KO Earthquake 2x65-77% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Cacturne builds →Solar Beam 4x303-357%KO Focus Punch 2x91-107%KO | ||
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Sceptile builds →Solar Beam 4x281-331%KO Focus Punch 2x70-83% Earthquake 2x48-56% | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Blaziken builds →Focus Punch 2x141-165%KO Earthquake 2x63-75% | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Machoke builds →Focus Punch 2x121-143%KO Earthquake 2x54-64% | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Shiftry builds →Solar Beam 4x248-292%KO Brick Break 2x41-49% Dig 2x33-39% | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Ludicolo builds →Solar Beam 4x248-292%KO Focus Punch 2x61-71% | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Cradily builds →Solar Beam 4x229-269%KO Earthquake 2x46-54% Rock Smash 2x10-12% | ||
 Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
 Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Swampert builds →Earthquake 2x88-104%KO Focus Punch 2x87-103%KO | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Flygon builds →Solar Beam 4x150-177%KO Earthquake 2x81-96% Rock Smash 2x12-14% | ||
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 58 partners from the Water 1 and Water 3 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Aurora Beam, Bubble Beam, Confuse Ray and 4 more.
RS Kabutops Best Moveset
115 Attack backed by MoveSwords Dance and rain-doubled Speed through AbilitySwift Swim creates one of the most explosive sweep setups available. Rock TermStab and MoveSurf benefit from rain. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Rain attacker with physical setup that overwhelms defensive lines.
Best Build
Kabutops best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- Brick Break
- Flail
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Kabutops misses out on Aurora Beam and Bubble Beam. That's 7 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Surf and Dive, 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. 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 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
KABUTOPS swam underwater to hunt for its prey in ancient times. The POKéMON was apparently evolving from being a water-dweller to living on land as evident from the beginnings of change in its gills and legs.
Kabutops Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Kabutops isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Obtain one in FireRed or LeafGreen, then trade it to Ruby & Sapphire.
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 · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List