Is Kabutops Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Faster and hits harder physically than Omastar. Kabutops is the pick if you want offense from your fossil choice. Both arrive too late for the main story, but Kabutops puts in more work against the E4 with its speed.
Brock's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Misty's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Lt. Surge's team hits Kabuto's weaknesses hard.
Erika's team hits Kabuto's weaknesses hard.
Kabuto trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Fossil Kabuto
Kabuto can be revived from a fossil obtained on Cinnabar Island. Revive Dome Fossil. Revive the Dome Fossil at the Pokemon Lab on Cinnabar Island. The Dome Fossil is found at the end of Mt. Moon. Choose between it or the Helix Fossil.
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 49WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
Evolve Kabuto to Kabutops
Kabuto evolves into Kabutops at Level 40. Your Kabuto should hit Level 40 before you reach Blaine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Koga
- TM03NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Silph Co.
- LV 53WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
How to Get Kabutops in Yellow
A level 40 Kabuto becomes Kabutops, and there's no other route to the ancient scyther. If you took the Helix Fossil instead of the Dome, you'll never see this one.
Catch Kabuto at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Kabutops.
- 1Catch Kabuto
- 2Evolve Kabutopsat Lv.40
Badge 6How to Obtain Kabutops in Y
- Step 2Kabutops ✓
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 |
- 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
What is Kabutops Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kabutops
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Parasect builds →Solar Beam 4x181-213%KO Dig 2x53-62% | ||
 Magneton Electric | C | |
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Primeape builds →Dig 2x58-68% Submission 2x70-82% Thunderbolt 2x49-58% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x83-98% Submission 2x44-52% | ||
 Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Jolteon builds →Thunderbolt 2x117-138%KO Double Kick 2x13-15% | ||
 Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Nidoking builds →Earthquake 2x83-98% Thunderbolt 2x63-74% Submission 2x45-53% | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Nidoqueen builds →Earthquake 2x77-91% Thunderbolt 2x58-68% Submission 2x41-49% | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Machoke builds →Earthquake 2x55-65% Submission 2x66-78% | ||
 Raichu Electric | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Pichu (Pallet Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Raichu builds →Thunderbolt 2x100-118%KO Submission 2x40-47% | ||
Kabutops Evolutions
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
Y Kabutops Best Moveset
115 Attack paired with MoveSlash that crits most of the time from the Speed-based critical hit formula. The crits effectively double the damage, making every Slash hit harder than the raw Attack suggests. Rock TermStab adds physical coverage. Built around one move doing double duty.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Swords Dance
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Surf
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
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.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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 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 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 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A slim and fast swimmer. It slices its prey with its sharp sickles and drinks the body fluids.
Kabutops Yellow Guide
In Yellow, use Kabutops as a wallbreaker. Splits damage between physical and special. Speed is middling, Surf is the primary attack.
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 · YellowYellow Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Yellow Tier List