
Is Magnemite Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
A small Electric-type with surprisingly high special damage output. Magnemite handles Water and Flying threats early and evolves into Magneton for more power. Fragile against Ground moves, which are everywhere. Use it for what it's good at and switch out for everything else.
Brock's typing presses Magnemite's defenses.
Misty's typing presses Magnemite's defenses.
Magnemite trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's typing presses Magnemite's defenses.
Magnemite has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Magnemite trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Magnemite trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Giovanni's team hits Magneton's weaknesses hard.
Magneton resists most of Lorelei's coverage and hits back hard.
Magneton trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Magneton has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Magneton trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Magneton trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Magnemite in the Power Plant (walking, Lv 21-23, common).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 21)
- LV 21NormalTacklePower 35Accuracy 95%PP 35
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- TM20NormalRagePower 20Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 15
- LV 25ElectricThunder ShockPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- LV 41NormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Koga
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
Evolve Magnemite to Magneton
Magnemite evolves into Magneton at Level 30. Your Magnemite should hit Level 30 before you reach Giovanni, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30ElectricThunder ShockPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- LV 38ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Koga
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
- LV 46NormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20
How to Get Magnemite in Red & Blue
The Power Plant is the only place Magnemite turns up wild, common at levels 21 to 23. Two encounters, both versions, and the building stays locked until you reach it mid-game.
1 location to catch Magnemite
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Magnemite in RB
The line opens with Magnemite at Lv. 21-23 via walking encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Magnemite ✓
Step 2Catch or Evolve into Magnetonor evolve from Magnemite (Step 1)
Bring the right balls: check Magnemite catch odds in the Red & Blue Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
Magnemite Weakness
Ground moves hit Magnemite for super-effective damage. Its Electric typing keeps the defensive matchups simple. Magnemite's special bulk (base 95 Special) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Electric, Flying |
- 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 Magnemite Weak Against
AvgMagnemite Evolutions
You'll evolve Magnemite into Magneton the traditional way. This Electric type doesn't breed despite having a chain ahead. The evolved forms gain up to 100 total stats over Magnemite. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Magnemite Best Moveset
Electric pre-evolution with 95 Special running MoveThunderbolt at reduced power compared to Magneton. The Electric TermStab works but the stats behind it aren't competitive yet.
Best Build
Support Moveset
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Rest
- Double Edge
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without TMs, Magnemite's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Normal coverage on top of Thunder and Thunderbolt 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 16 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Uses anti-gravity to stay suspended. Appears without warning and uses THUNDER WAVE and similar moves.
Magnemite Red & Blue Guide
In Red & Blue, Magnemite does the job early-game if you need a electric type on your team. Evolve it into Magneton before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
In Red & Blue, use Magnemite as a balanced. Special attacks are the main output. Not the fastest, Thunderbolt is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Magnemite has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 21 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 Magnemite.