
Is Nidoran♂ (male) Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
The offensive counterpart to Nidoran-F. Evolves at level 16 into Nidorino, Moon Stone immediately, and Nidoking carries you through most of the game. The male version trades some bulk for more hitting power.
Brock's typing presses Nidoran♂ (male)'s defenses.
Nidoran♂ (male) trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Nidoran♂ (male) trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Nidoran♂ (male) trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Koga's typing presses Nidoran♂ (male)'s defenses.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Nidoking resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up 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 trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Nidoking trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Nidoking has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Nidoran M in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 22, common).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22NormalHorn AttackPower 65Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Koga
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Kanto Power Plant
Evolve Nidoran♂ (male) to Nidoking
Nidorino evolves into Nidoking with a Moon Stone. You can pick up the Moon Stone in Mt. Moon. 3 other locations are also available.
Recommended Moves
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Silph Co.
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
How to Get Nidoran♂ (male) in Red & Blue
The version-rarity flips for the male: common in Red, rare in Blue. Nidoran-M sits in the Safari Zone plus Route 22, eight spots between the two games.
2 locations to catch Nidoran♂ (male)
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Nidoran♂ (male) in RB
Nidoran♂ (male) is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking and gift encounters from Lv. 2-33 across 15 total spots in the chain.
Step 1Nidoran♂ (male) ✓
Step 2Catch or Evolve into NidorinoSafari Zone - NorthLv.30FloorRedRate 10%Safari Zone - NorthLv.30FloorBlueRate 5%Celadon City - Game CornerLv.17Game Corner PrizeBlueLimitedPurchase: 1,200 coinsSafari Zone - CenterLv.31FloorRedRate 10%or evolve from Nidoran♂ (male) (Step 1)
Step 3Evolve into Nidoking
Bring the right balls: check Nidoran♂ (male) catch odds in the Red & Blue Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
Nidoran♂ (male) Weakness
Nidoran♂ (male) is weak to Ground, Psychic, and Bug. Not too many gaps in the chart, 3 weaknesses to account for.
| 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 Nidoran♂ (male) Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Nidoran♂ (male)
Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorino (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Nidorina (Celadon City Gift) | ||
Graveler RockGround | C | |
Rhyhorn GroundRock | C | |
Hypno Psychic | C | |
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Kadabra Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoran♂ (male) View Kadabra builds →Psychic 2x193-228%KO Dig 2x59-70% | ||
Marowak Ground | C | |
Dugtrio Ground | B | |
Onix RockGround | C | |
Parasect BugGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoran♂ (male) View Parasect builds →Dig 2x118-140%KO Leech Life 2x40-47% | ||
Venomoth BugPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nidoran♂ (male) View Venomoth builds →Psychic 2x102-120%KO Leech Life 2x30-36% | ||
Butterfree Bug | C | |
Beedrill BugPoison | C | |
Nidoran♂ (male) Evolutions
Nidoran♂ (male) evolves into Nidoking, but can't breed. At 273 stats as a Poison type, evolution is the only path. Evolving adds up to 232 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Nidoran♂ (male) Best Moveset
Poison pre-evolution on the path to Nidoking's wider movepool. No competitive use before evolving twice.
Best Build
Gen 1 build content has limited support (no abilities, held items, or natures).
Try selecting a different game/generation filter, or check back later.
Moves List
Most of Nidoran♂ (male)'s flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Poison Sting, but Normal and Fighting 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 16 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Stiffens its ears to sense danger. The larger its horns, the more powerful its secreted venom.
Nidoran♂ (male) Red & Blue Guide
- How do I catch Nidoran♂ (male) in the Red & Blue Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Nidoran♂ (male) in Red & Blue.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Nidoran♂ (male) from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Nidoran♂ (male) easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
In Red & Blue, Nidoran♂ (male) has 273 BST, so weigh it against what your team already covers.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Nidoran♂ (male) appears in 19 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Nidoran♂ (male) 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 Nidoran♂ (male).