
Is Mankey Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Red version only. Fighting types are rare this early, and Mankey gives you a real answer to Brock right from Route 22. Fragile but hits hard. Primeape is the goal.
Brock's typing presses Mankey's defenses.
Misty's typing presses Mankey's defenses.
Mankey has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's typing presses Mankey's defenses.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's team hits Primeape's weaknesses hard.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Mankey on Route 5 (walking, Lv 10-16, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM17FightingSubmissionPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 25Celadon Department Store
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 39NormalThrashPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
Evolve Mankey to Primeape
Mankey evolves into Primeape at Level 28. Your Mankey should hit Level 28 before you reach Koga, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Lt. Surge
- TM17FightingSubmissionPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 25Celadon Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM05NormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Celadon Department Store
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 46NormalThrashPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
How to Get Mankey in Red & Blue
The Red counterpart to Blue's Meowth, common across four central routes. Mankey fills that grass on the Red side, and Blue trainers have to trade for one.
4 locations to catch Mankey
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Mankey in RB
Mankey is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 10-20 across 4 total spots in the chain.
Step 2Evolve into Primeape
Not landing the catch? Calculate Mankey catch rates for Red & Blue by ball, status, and HP.
Mankey Weakness
Mankey is weak to Flying and Psychic. Not many exploitable gaps in the Fighting typing defensive chart. Mankey's Fighting typing only leaves 2 gaps to cover.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug, Rock |
- 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 Mankey Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Mankey
Kadabra Psychic | B | |
Butterfree Bug | C | |
Spearow Normal | C | |
Pidgey Normal | D | |
Zubat Poison | D | |
Mankey Evolutions
Mankey evolves into Primeape, but can't breed. At 295 stats as a Fighting type, evolution is the only path. Evolving adds up to 160 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Mankey Best Moveset
Fighting pre-evolution with 80 Attack and 70 Speed, not terrible but the Fighting type is a liability when Psychic dominates the top. Physical attacks toward Primeape while hoping to avoid Psychic matchups.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Submission
- Karate Chop
- Dig
- Body Slam
Moves List
Most of Mankey's flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Submission and Karate Chop, but Normal and Ground and the rest of the TM pool push it from predictable to genuinely threatening.
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
Extremely quick to anger. It could be docile one moment then thrashing away the next instant.
Mankey Red & Blue Guide
In Red & Blue, for a casual playthrough, Mankey works as a placeholder. Fighting coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Primeape. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Mankey appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Mankey have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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 Mankey.