Is Nidoking Good in X & Y Playthrough?
Moon Stone on Nidorino. Poison/Ground with AbilityPoison Point. Hits harder than Nidoqueen and handles Clemont, Malva, and Wikstrom through Ground. Wide TM coverage keeps it relevant all the way through Diantha.
Nidorino has the type edge here and should clean up Viola's team.
Nidorino trades roughly evenly with Grant's team.
Nidorino trades roughly evenly with Korrina's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Ramos's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Clemont's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Valerie's team.
Olympia's team hits Nidoking's weaknesses hard.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Wulfric's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Malva's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Wikstrom's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Drasna's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Siebold's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Diantha's team.
Catch Nidorino
Catch Nidorino on Route 11 (walking, Lv 21, rare).
Evolve Nidorino to Nidoking
Nidorino evolves into Nidoking with a Moon Stone. You can pick up the Moon Stone in Reflection Cave. 1 other location is also available.
How to Get Nidoking in X & Y
You're catching Nidoran♂ (male) first, not Nidoking. Nidoran♂ (male) appears at decent rates in the encounters below. The step cards map the full 3-stage chain with evolution methods between each stage.
How to Obtain Nidoking in XY
To get Nidoking, start by catching Nidoran♂ (male) through special and walking encounters at Lv. 11-21. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve Nidorinoor evolve from Nidoran♂ (male) (Step 1)
- Step 3Nidoking ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Nidoran♂ (male) egg.
How to Get Shiny Nidoking in X & Y
Nidoking caps the male Nidoran line; chain a Nidorino on Route 11 with the Poke Radar and evolve the shiny using a Moon Stone. Compare Shiny Nidoking odds across every game
X & Y Shiny Nidoking Calculator
4 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 100 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
Horde Encounter: Every horde throws five Pokemon at you at once, so each battle rolls five shiny chances in one encounter.
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 |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 11 |
| 25%one in four | 29 |
| 50%coin flip | 69 |
| 90%very likely | 230 |
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 X & Y 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
 Mewtwo Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodUnknown Dungeon Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Mewtwo builds →Future Sight 2x160-188%KO Ice Beam 2x80-94% Earthquake 2x65-76% | ||
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Gliscor builds →Earthquake 2x87-102%KO Ice Fang 2x38-45% | ||
 Marowak Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x74-88% Ice Beam 2x32-38% | ||
 Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Garchomp builds →Earthquake 2x113-133%KO Surf 2x46-54% | ||
 Reuniclus Psychic | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Reuniclus builds →Future Sight 2x133-156%KO | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | C | |
 Gardevoir PsychicFairy | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x133-156%KO | ||
 Lunatone RockPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Lunatone builds →Future Sight 2x105-124%KO Ice Beam 2x53-62% Earthquake 2x38-45% | ||
 Krookodile GroundDark | B | |
 Sigilyph Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Sigilyph builds →Synchronoise 2x113-133%KO Ice Beam 2x57-67% | ||
 Delphox FirePsychic | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Delphox builds →Future Sight 2x123-145%KO | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x128-151%KO | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x113-133%KO Ice Beam 2x30-35% Surf 2x30-35% | ||
 Gothitelle Psychic | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nidoking View Gothitelle builds →Future Sight 2x105-124%KO | ||
Nidoking Evolutions
Getting Nidoking requires an evolution item, not just grinding levels. The chain starts at Nidoran♂ (male). Breed this form to get Nidoran♂ (male) eggs (average hatch time). 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
Breeding
Breed with Nidoking to get Nidoran M eggs using 200 partners from the Field and Monster egg groups. Notable egg moves include Amnesia, Beat Up, Chip Away and 11 more.
XY Nidoking Best Moveset
Fairy types arriving gave Poison/Ground TermStab new super-effective targets that didn't exist in Gen 5. AbilitySheer Force at zero Held ItemLife Orb HP cost fires MoveEarth Power, MoveSludge Wave, and coverage into the expanded threat list. The moveset hits more types super-effectively now than in any previous generation.
Best Build
Nidoking best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Hard to wall, honestly. Nidoking threatens 14 types beyond its own STAB, with Fighting and Bug standing out. Pair that with Earthquake and Sludge Wave 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.
- 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
It is recognized by its rock-hard hide and its extended horn. Be careful with the horn, as it contains venom.
One swing of its mighty tail can snap a telephone pole as if it were a matchstick.
Nidoking X & Y Guide
In X & Y, Sheer Force is the hidden ability. It strengthens moves with extra effects to 1.3× their power, but prevents their extra effects. Worth hunting for if you want Nidoking to compete at a higher level.
In X & Y, Nidoking plays as a attacker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
In X & Y, Nidoking pairs best with Excadrill, Heracross Mega, and Azumarill. Excadrill has Good synergy and covers what Nidoking can't handle on its own.
In X & Y, Timid is the go-to nature for Nidoking. That's +Speed / -Attack. Pair it with 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the attacker role.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Nidoking.
Keep playing · X & YX & Y Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee X & Y Tier List