Is Nincada Good in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Playthrough?
Bug/Ground from early routes. Evolves at 20 into Ninjask, and if you have an empty party slot, Shedinja appears too. The split evolution is one of the most unique mechanics in any Pokemon game. Nincada itself is forgettable. The evolutions aren't.
Nincada trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Nincada trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Nincada trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Flannery's team hits Ninjask's weaknesses hard.
Flannery's team hits Shedinja's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Flannery:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Norman's team hits Shedinja's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Norman:
Winona's team hits Ninjask's weaknesses hard.
Winona's team hits Shedinja's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Winona:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Shedinja trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Tate & Liza:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Wallace's typing presses Shedinja's defenses.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Wallace:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Shedinja trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Sidney:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Shedinja trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Phoebe:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Glacia's team hits Shedinja's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Glacia:
Drake's team hits Ninjask's weaknesses hard.
Drake's team hits Shedinja's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Drake:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Shedinja trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Steven:
Catch Nincada on Route 116 (walking, Lv 6-8, common).
Your Nincada should hit Level 20 before you reach Flannery, at typical leveling pace.
Your Nincada should hit Level 20 before you reach Flannery, at typical leveling pace.
How to Get Nincada in Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Nincada's scattered across 4 spots in early-game routes with high spawn rates. Check the list below for the closest location to wherever you are in the game. This one's quick.
Where To Catch Nincada in ORAS
The path to Nincada starts with Nincada at Lv. 4-8 via walking encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
Nincada Weakness
Type-wise, Nincada takes extra damage from Fire, Water, Ice, and Flying. Electric moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. Nincada's physical bulk (base 90 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Water, Ice, Flying |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fighting, Poison, Ground |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
What is Nincada Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Nincada
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Aerodactyl builds →Wing Attack 2x71-86% Fire Fang 2x54-64% Ice Fang 2x54-64% | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Vaporeon builds →Surf 2x232-273%KO Aurora Beam 2x111-132%KO | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Archen Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
 Prinplup Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Piplup (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Prinplup builds →Surf 2x182-214%KO Peck 2x23-29% | ||
 Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Combusken builds →Overheat 2x274-323%KO Aerial Ace 2x42-49% | ||
 Skarmory Steel | B | |
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Monferno builds →Overheat 2x258-305%KO Aerial Ace 2x38-46% | ||
Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Flareon Fire | C | |
Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Combusken builds →Overheat 2x277-326%KO Aerial Ace 2x43-52% | ||
Skarmory Steel | B | |
Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Monferno builds →Overheat 2x258-304%KO Aerial Ace 2x39-46% | ||
 Clamperl Water | C | |
Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Skarmory Steel | B | |
Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Aerodactyl builds →Fly 2x111-132%KO Fire Fang 2x55-66% Ice Fang 2x55-66% | ||
Combusken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Combusken builds →Overheat 2x282-333%KO Aerial Ace 2x44-52% | ||
Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Monferno builds →Overheat 2x262-308%KO Aerial Ace 2x41-49% | ||
Clamperl Water | C | |
 Archeops Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Archen (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Blaziken builds →Overheat 2x364-428%KO Aerial Ace 2x56-67% | ||
Skarmory Steel | B | |
 Infernape FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Infernape builds →Overheat 2x348-409%KO Aerial Ace 2x51-60% | ||
 Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Archeops Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Archen (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Blaziken builds →Overheat 2x356-419%KO Aerial Ace 2x55-65% | ||
Skarmory Steel | B | |
Infernape FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Infernape builds →Overheat 2x338-398%KO Aerial Ace 2x48-57% | ||
Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Emboar builds →Overheat 2x330-389%KO Scald 2x137-161%KO | ||
 Braviary Normal | C | |
 Darmanitan Fire | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Darmanitan builds →Flare Blitz 2x188-221%KO | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodSky Pillar Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Rayquaza builds →Fly 2x151-177%KO Overheat 2x321-378%KO Ice Beam 2x223-262%KO Surf 2x223-262%KO | ||
 Volcarona BugFire | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Volcarona builds →Overheat 2x440-518%KO Hurricane 2x249-293%KO | ||
Emboar FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Emboar builds →Flare Blitz 2x168-198%KO Scald 2x140-165%KO | ||
In Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, Gyarados can KO Nincada with Waterfall (95-112%). Kyurem threatens a KO with Ice Beam (214-252%). Talonflame's Flare Blitz also KOs at 97-115%.
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityIntimidate ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Gyarados builds →Waterfall 2x95-112%KO Earthquake20-23% | ||
 Kyurem DragonIce | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Kyurem builds →Ice Beam 2x214-252%KO | ||
 Talonflame Fire | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityGalewings ItemLeftovers NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Talonflame builds →Flare Blitz 2x97-115%KO | ||
 Charizard Fire | C | |
Recommended Build AbilityBlaze ItemLife Orb NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Charizard builds →Flamethrower 2x250-294%KO Air Slash 2x209-246%KO Dragon Pulse78-92% Fire Blast 2x305-358%KO | ||
Nincada Evolutions
Nincada can evolve into Ninjask and Shedinja. Nincada sits before the split, so check the evolution methods below to pick your path. Evolving adds up to 190 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
ORAS Nincada Best Moveset
Bug/Ground at 45 Attack and 90 Defense. AbilityCompound Eyes boosts accuracy. The moveset fires at pre-evolution power. Ninjask one evolution away adds 160 Speed. Shedinja offers the unique AbilityWonder Guard through alternate evolution.
Best Build
Nincada best EVs are Speed and Sp. Atk
Utility Moveset
- Bug Buzz
- X Scissor
- Dig
- Giga Drain
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Bug Bite and Bug Buzz aren't available any other way for Nincada, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Bug Buzz and Leech Life for solid options.
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
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
Nincada lives underground for many years in complete darkness. This Pokémon absorbs nutrients from the roots of trees. It stays motionless as it waits for evolution.
Nincada lives underground. It uses its sharp claws to carve the roots of trees and absorb moisture and nutrients. This Pokémon can’t withstand bright sunlight so avoids it.
Nincada Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Guide
In Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire, For a casual playthrough, Nincada works as a placeholder. Bug/Ground coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Ninjask. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Debuting in Ruby & Sapphire, Nincada appears in 14 games across 8 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through catching or hatching as a base form.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
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 7LGPE
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