Is Metapod Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Metapod follows the same FireRed Dual Slot path as Caterpie. The cocoon stage before Butterfree at 10. Quick evolution if you have the cartridge.
Roark's Pokemon outpace and outclass Caterpie here.
Butterfree resists most of Gardenia's coverage and hits back hard.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Byron's team hits Butterfree's weaknesses hard.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Butterfree resists most of Bertha's coverage and hits back hard.
Flint's team hits Butterfree's weaknesses hard.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Butterfree has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Butterfree trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Caterpie
Catch Caterpie on Route 204 (walking, Lv 6, rare). Pokémon FireRed in GBA slot.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 6)
- LV 6NormalTacklePower 35Accuracy 95%PP 35
Evolve Caterpie to Butterfree
Metapod evolves into Butterfree at Level 10. Your Caterpie should hit Level 10 before you reach Gardenia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- LV 12GrassStun SporePower —Accuracy 75%PP 30
- After Gardenia
- TM89BugU-turnPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Veilstone Game Corner
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 213
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Department Store
- LV 40BugBug BuzzPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Candice
- TM85PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Valor Lakefront
- Post-Game
- TM53GrassEnergy BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 226
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Metapod in Diamond & Pearl
Metapod shows up rarely in Eterna Forest, but only once a FireRed cart is linked through the GBA port. Otherwise just level a Caterpie to 7 and let it cocoon.
1 location to catch Metapod1 location to catch Caterpie
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1Catch Caterpie at any of the 1 location below, then level it up to 7 — it evolves into Metapod.
Badge 1Where To Catch Metapod in DP
To get Metapod, start by catching Caterpie through walking encounters at Lv. 6. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 3Evolve into ButterfreeBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Caterpie egg.
To plan your throws, open the Diamond & Pearl catch rate calculator with Metapod preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Metapod in Diamond & Pearl
Metapod hides among the trees of Eterna Forest, and a steady PokeRadar chain there is the fast lane to its shiny. Compare Shiny Metapod odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Metapod Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Diamond & Pearl shiny odds calculator with Metapod already selected.
Metapod Weakness
Metapod's Bug typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Flying, and Rock. Metapod's physical bulk (base 55 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Flying, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Ground |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Metapod Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Metapod
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Lake Verity Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Metapod View Monferno builds →Fire Blast 2x220-260%KO Rock Tomb 2x38-47% | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMt Coronet Surfing | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Metapod View Aerodactyl builds →Wing Attack 2x88-105%KO Rock Tomb 2x75-90% Fire Fang 2x62-73% | ||
 Growlithe Fire | C | |
 Vespiquen Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Metapod View Vespiquen builds →Power Gem 2x87-103%KO Gust 2x80-95% | ||
 Murkrow Dark | C | |
 Doduo Normal | C | |
 Staravia Normal | C | |
Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Masquerain Bug | C | |
 Drifloon Ghost | C | |
Obtain MethodValley Windworks Interact Encounter | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Metapod View Solrock builds →Rock Tomb 2x67-80% Fire Blast 2x115-137%KO | ||
 Anorith RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift | ||
 Beautifly Bug | C | |
Metapod Evolutions
Metapod sits between Caterpie and Butterfree in this three-stage line. Not the final form yet. For breeding, quick to hatch with a decent partner pool via one egg group. So far, Defense got the biggest boost (+20 from Caterpie). The final form adds another 190 stats on top. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Metapod to get Caterpie eggs easily using 48 partners from the Bug egg group.
DP Metapod Best Moveset
Harden and Tackle. That's the moveset. 20 Attack means nothing takes damage, and 55 Defense folds to any competent attacker. Evolve immediately.
Best Build
Metapod best EVs are Sp. Atk and Sp. Def
Utility Moveset
- Bug Bite
- String Shot
- Harden
- Iron Defense
Moves List
A compact toolkit overall. The offense runs through Bug STAB for Metapod, with Normal coverage doing what it can. Don't expect versatility from this one.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
A steel-hard shell protects its tender body. It quietly endures hardships while awaiting evolution.
Metapod Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, for a casual playthrough, Metapod works as a placeholder. Bug coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Butterfree. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Metapod appears in 19 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Metapod 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 Metapod.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List