Is Muk Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Muk hits hard physically and absorbs special hits surprisingly well. The problem is the same one every Poison-type has in Red and Blue: nothing important is weak to Poison. Muk does its job but the job doesn't come up often enough to justify the team slot.
Brock's typing presses Muk's defenses.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Koga's typing presses Muk's defenses.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Agatha's Pokemon outpace and outclass Muk here.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Muk in the Pokémon Mansion (walking, Lv 37, rare).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 37)
- LV 37PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Koga
- TM36NormalSelf-DestructPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5Silph Co.
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
- After Giovanni
- TM47NormalExplosionPower 170Accuracy 100%PP 5Victory Road 3F
Catch Grimer
Catch Grimer in the Pokémon Mansion (walking, Lv 30, rare).
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM21GrassMega DrainPower 40Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Celadon Gym Leader Erika
- LV 37PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Koga
- TM36NormalSelf-DestructPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5Silph Co.
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
- After Giovanni
- TM47NormalExplosionPower 170Accuracy 100%PP 5Victory Road 3F
How to Get Muk in Red & Blue
A leveled Grimer becomes Muk at 38, which is cleaner than chasing the rare wild ones. Those sit in the deeper Pokemon Mansion rooms, eight encounters at higher levels than the Grimer floors.
1 location to catch Muk1 location to catch Grimer
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 7Catch Grimer at any of the 1 location below, then level it up to 38 — it evolves into Muk.
Badge 7Where To Catch Muk in RB
The path to Muk starts with Grimer at Lv. 30-35 via walking encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
To plan your throws, open the Red & Blue catch rate calculator with Muk preloaded.
Muk Weakness
Ground, Psychic, and Bug moves hit Muk for super-effective damage. With 105 HP and balanced defenses, Muk can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Poison |
- 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 Muk Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Muk
 Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
 Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorino (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorina (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Hypno Psychic | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
 Kadabra Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Kadabra builds →Psychic 2x91-108%KO Dig 2x25-29% | ||
 Starmie WaterPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Staryu (Route 19 Super Rod) | ||
 Marowak Ground | C | |
 Dugtrio Ground | B | |
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Parasect builds →Dig 2x50-59% Leech Life 2x16-19% | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Slowbro builds →Psychic 2x78-92% Earthquake 2x42-49% | ||
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Venomoth BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Venomoth builds →Psychic 2x48-56% Leech Life 2x13-16% | ||
Muk Evolutions
You get Muk from Grimer at level 38. This Poison type hits 465 total but remains in the Undiscovered group. The evolution from Grimer pushed Muk to 465 total stats. HP saw the largest single gain at +25. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Muk Best Moveset
105 Attack is decent but every physical Poison move is terrible offensively. MoveBody Slam and MoveEarthquake do the actual damage since the Poison TermStab doesn't threaten anything worth hitting. Physical bulk without a useful offensive type.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Explosion
- Acid Armor
- Sludge
- Body Slam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The level-up pool is slim, so TMs matter here. Muk's Normal and Fire coverage and more all comes from technical machines, built on top of Sludge for same-type damage. Explosion and Fire Blast are the payoff moves.
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 15 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Thickly covered with a filthy, vile sludge. It is so toxic, even its footprints contain poison.
Muk Red & Blue Guide
In Red & Blue, use Muk as an attacker. Physical side carries the damage. Not the fastest, Sludge is the primary attack.
Muk has an Alolan form that swaps the typing and reshuffles the stats. Introduced in Gen 7. Worth checking if the original version doesn't fit your team.
Game Availability
Available since Red & Blue, Muk appears in 19 games spanning 9 generations. Beyond its original form, it gained an Alolan form in Generation 7.
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 7SMAlolan
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 Muk.
Keep playing · Red & BlueRed & Blue Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Red & Blue Tier List