Is Nidoking Good in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Playthrough?
Nidoking's best gym matchup is Erika, and it holds even with Sabrina and Blaine, but Koga and Giovanni are hard fights for it. It hits hard, moves fast enough to outpace most trainers, and has the coverage to trade evenly with Lorelei and Bruno, though Agatha and Lance are tough.
Brock's typing presses Nidoran♂ (male)'s defenses.
Nidorino trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Nidoking resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Trace's team.
This is the Let's Go Eevee team. In Let's Go Pikachu, Trace brings Jolteon Lv 57 in place of Raichu Lv 57.
Catch Nidoran♂ (male)
Catch Nidoran M on Route 22 (walking, Lv 3-4).
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TMGroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 24PoisonPoison JabPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TMElectricThunderboltPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Erika
- TMGroundDrill RunPower 80Accuracy 95%PP 10
- After Sabrina
- TMPoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- TMElectricThunderPower 110Accuracy 70%PP 10
- TMIceIce BeamPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Giovanni
- TMIceBlizzardPower 110Accuracy 70%PP 5
Evolve Nidoran♂ (male) to Nidorino
Nidoran♂ (male) evolves into Nidorino at Level 16. Your Nidoran♂ (male) should hit Level 16 before you reach Misty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TMGroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TMElectricThunderboltPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Erika
- TMGroundDrill RunPower 80Accuracy 95%PP 10
- LV 39PoisonPoison JabPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Sabrina
- TMPoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- TMElectricThunderPower 110Accuracy 70%PP 10
- TMIceIce BeamPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Giovanni
- TMIceBlizzardPower 110Accuracy 70%PP 5
Evolve Nidorino to Nidoking
Nidorino evolves into Nidoking with a Moon Stone. You can find the Moon Stone hidden in Mt. Moon. 1 other location is also available.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 19)
- LV 19NormalThrashPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Misty
- TMGroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TMNormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
- After Erika
- TMPoisonPoison JabPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Sabrina
- TMPoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Giovanni
- TMGroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- TMDragonOutragePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- TMFightingSuperpowerPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Nidoking in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
Nidoking tops out at low spawn rates across 1 location in late-game routes. The encounters below are sorted by rate so you can see exactly what you're working with.
1 location to catch Nidoking3 locations to catch Nidorino
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6Catch Nidorino at any of the 3 locations below, then use moon stone, and it evolves into Nidoking.
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5 Badge 6Where To Catch Nidoking in Let's Go
To get Nidoking, start by catching Nidoran♂ (male) through walking encounters at Lv. 3+. The chain covers 3 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve Nidorinoor evolve from Nidoran♂ (male) (Step 1)
How to Get Shiny Nidoking in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
In Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, the strongest route to a Shiny Nidoking is Catch Combo, which reaches about 1 in 274 at full boosts. Pick a method and tune your setup below to see live odds. Compare Shiny Nidoking odds across every game
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Shiny Nidoking Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Catch Combo at full boosts, about 1 in 274 on each try. Tune it below.
Catch Combo: Catch one species back-to-back. A Lure stacks on top of a 31-plus combo.
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 |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 29 |
| 25%one in four | 79 |
| 50%coin flip | 190 |
| 90%very likely | 630 |
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 Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee with Nidoking preloaded.
Nidoking Weakness
Type-wise, Nidoking takes extra damage from Water, Ice, Ground, and Psychic. Electric moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ice, Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fighting, Bug, Rock, Fairy |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Poison |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
What is Nidoking Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Nidoking
 Marowak Ground | C | |
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x83-98% Confusion 2x47-56% | ||
 Kingler Water | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodSilph Co Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Lapras builds →Surf 2x73-86% Ice Beam 2x73-86% | ||
 Vaporeon Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 2x110-130%KO Aurora Beam 2x44-52% | ||
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Magikarp (Route 4 Gift) | ||
 Hypno Psychic | C | |
 Golduck Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Golduck builds →Surf 2x81-96% Psybeam 2x39-47% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Jynx builds →Psychic 2x95-112%KO Blizzard 2x115-136%KO | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
 Kadabra Psychic | B | |
 Dugtrio Ground | B | |
 Omanyte RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodCinnabar Island Gift | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Nidoking Evolutions
Getting Nidoking requires an evolution item, not just grinding levels. The chain starts at Nidoran♂ (male). Attack grew the most through evolution (+45 over Nidoran M), and Nidoking peaks at 505 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Let's Go Nidoking Best Moveset
102 Attack and 85 Sp. Atk at 85 Speed behind Poison/Ground dual TermStab. In standard play, AbilitySheer Force plus Held ItemLife Orb turned Nidoking into a wallbreaker that took no recoil. Without either tool, the mixed offenses still threaten through sheer TermType Coverage. The moveset hits most of the format super-effectively from both sides.
Best Build
Nidoran♂ Candy
Mighty Candy+ATKNaughty raises Attack and lowers Sp. Def. Madam Celadon sets this nature when you pick Red, then Green. It costs 10,000 Pokedollars and lasts for the rest of the day.
Candy for Nidoking
- Nidoran♂ Candy
- Mighty Candy
Mighty Candy L
Mighty Candy XL
Nidoran♂ Candy raises every stat, but only Nidoran♂, Nidorino and Nidoking can eat it. The stat candy that goes with Nidoking is Mighty Candy (Attack), and any Pokemon can eat it; Mighty Candy L needs level 30 and Mighty Candy XL needs level 60 or higher.
Master Trainer
Carlton battles with one level 80 Nidoking that knows Horn Drill, Drill Run and Ice Punch. It takes extra damage from Water, Ice, Ground and Psychic moves. Win to earn the Nidoking Master title. Find Carlton on Route 23.
Moves List
Hard to wall, honestly. Nidoking threatens 12 types beyond its own STAB, with Fighting and Flying standing out. Pair that with Earthquake and Sludge Bomb and switchins need to think twice.
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
36 of 37 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its steel-like hide adds to its powerful tackle. Its horns are so hard, they can pierce a diamond.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Nidoking has appeared in 19 games: most mainline games. 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
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