Is Kadabra Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Kadabra with AbilitySynchronize has Special Attack strong enough to handle most of Emerald's mid-game alone. Carries against Brawly and contributes through the E4. Trade evolves into Alakazam, but Kadabra on its own outperforms most fully evolved Pokemon.
Roxanne's Pokemon outpace and outclass Abra here.
Kadabra resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Kadabra trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Alakazam trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Juan's team.
Alakazam trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Alakazam trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Alakazam trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Alakazam has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Catch Abra
Catch Abra on Route 116 (walking, Lv 7, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- After Tate & Liza
- TM04PsychicCalm MindPower —Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORPsychicDream EaterPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORFireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORIceIce PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
Evolve Abra to Kadabra
Abra evolves into Kadabra at Level 16. Your Abra should hit Level 16 before you reach Brawly, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- LV 21PsychicPsybeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 30PsychicFuture SightPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 15
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- LV 36PsychicPsychicPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORPsychicDream EaterPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORFireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORIceIce PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
Evolve Kadabra to Alakazam
Kadabra evolves into Alakazam when traded. Most players are ready to trade before reaching Flannery.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 24)
- LV 24PsychicPsybeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 30PsychicFuture SightPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 15
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- LV 36PsychicPsychicPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORPsychicDream EaterPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORFireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORIceIce PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORElectricThunder PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
How to Get Kadabra in Emerald
Kadabra never appears wild in Emerald. Catch an Abra in Granite Cave and level it to 16. The teleporting psychic is the only natural start to this line.
Wild Kadabra may be holding when caught:
Twisted Spoon (5% chance) A hold item that boosts PSYCHIC- type moves.Catch Abra at any of these 2 spots to eventually evolve into Kadabra.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1
Badge 2How to Obtain Kadabra in E
Abra is your first catch on the way to Kadabra. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 7-10 across 5 total spots in the chain.
How to Get Shiny Kadabra in Emerald
Kadabra comes from Abra, not the wild, so hunt a shiny Abra on Route 116 or in Granite Cave first, then level it to sixteen; your golden teleporter evolves into an equally shiny Kadabra. Compare Shiny Kadabra odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Kadabra 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Emerald with Kadabra preloaded.
Kadabra Weakness
Kadabra is weak to Bug, Ghost, and Dark. Kadabra's special bulk (base 70 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Bug, Ghost, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fighting, Psychic |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Kadabra Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kadabra
 Volbeat Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kadabra View Volbeat builds →Signal Beam 2x132-156%KO Thief 2x21-25% | ||
 Mightyena Dark | C | |
 Sableye DarkGhost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kadabra View Sableye builds →Feint Attack 2x56-68% Astonish 2x56-68% | ||
 Nuzleaf GrassDark | C | |
 Ninjask Bug | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kadabra View Ninjask builds →Leech Life 2x46-55% Thief 2x24-28% | ||
 Beautifly Bug | C | |
 Illumise Bug | C | |
 Anorith RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
Kadabra Evolutions
Sitting between Abra and Alakazam, Kadabra is part of a chain that requires a trade. Not your typical level-up setup. HP has grown the most so far (+15), but there's still another 100 stats to gain in the final evolution. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Kadabra to get Abra eggs easily using 28 partners from the Human-Like egg group. Notable egg moves include Barrier, Encore, Fire Punch and 3 more.
E Kadabra Best Moveset
Special Psychic attacker already competing at top-tier power without evolving. 120 Sp. Atk at 105 Speed fires MovePsychic before most things act. AbilitySynchronize punishes status. The moveset functions at full competitive capacity here, making the Alakazam evolution a luxury, not a requirement.
Best Build
Kadabra best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Attacker Moveset
- Trick
- Fire Punch
- Psychic
- Role Play
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Kadabra. Barrier and Encore come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Future Sight and Dream Eater and coverage across 8 types.
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
26 of 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is rumored that a boy with psychic abilities suddenly transformed into KADABRA while he was assisting research into extrasensory powers.
Kadabra Emerald Guide
Kadabra evolves into Alakazam via trade. Trade needs a Game Boy Advance link cable and a second GBA running another Gen 3 game (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald). Trade Kadabra to a friend, then have them trade it back. The 2026 Switch re-release supports the same trade through local wireless on the Pokemon Center 2F Wireless Club, with no cables required.
For Emerald, you can run Kadabra through the first few routes without issues. 400 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Alakazam as fast as you can.
In Emerald, Kadabra plays as a sweeper. It outspeeds most threats, so it can pressure opponents before they move. Psychic is the primary attack.
In Emerald, Timid is the go-to nature for Kadabra. That's +Speed / -Attack. Pair it with 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the sweeper role.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Kadabra has appeared in 21 games: nearly every mainline game. From Red & Blue through the latest titles, it's rarely been left out of a regional Pokedex.
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 Kadabra.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List