Is Nincada Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Transfer-only Bug/Ground from Hoenn. Evolution at 20 produces both Ninjask and Shedinja simultaneously. AbilityCompound Eyes boosts accuracy. Two Pokemon from one evolution.
Nincada trades roughly evenly with Roark's team.
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Gardenia:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Maylene:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Crasher Wake:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Fantina:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Byron's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Byron:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Candice:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Volkner:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Aaron:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Bertha:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Flint:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Lucian:
Ninjask trades roughly evenly with Mars's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Mars:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Jupiter:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Saturn:
Ninjask has the type edge here and should clean up Cynthia's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Cynthia:
Catchable
Catch Nincada in Eterna Forest (Poké Radar, Lv 10-12, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Department Store
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 213
- After Crasher Wake
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 210
- LV 45GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Nincada to Ninjask
Nincada evolves into Ninjask at Level 20. Your Nincada should hit Level 20 before you reach Gardenia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20BugBug BitePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Gardenia
- TM89BugU-turnPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Veilstone Game Corner
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 213
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Department Store
- LV 25NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30
- LV 52BugX-ScissorPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Nincada to Shedinja
Nincada evolves into Shedinja at Level 20. Your Nincada should hit Level 20 before you reach Gardenia, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- After Fantina
- TM81BugX-ScissorPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 221
- TM65GhostShadow ClawPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Gym Leader Fantina at Hearthome City
- After Candice
- TM85PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Valor Lakefront
- LV 59GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Nincada in Diamond & Pearl
Nincada chains off the Poke Radar in Eterna Forest, common at level 10 to 12. When it evolves at level 20 it becomes Ninjask, and a spare slot plus an empty Poke Ball also nets you a free Shedinja.
1 location to catch Nincada
Badge 1Where To Catch Nincada in DP
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Diamond & Pearl for Nincada.
How to Get Shiny Nincada in Diamond & Pearl
Nincada digs beneath the Eterna Forest grass, where a PokeRadar chain is what brings its shiny within striking range. Compare Shiny Nincada odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Nincada Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
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 | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Diamond & Pearl shiny odds for Nincada.
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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Nincada Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Nincada
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMt Coronet Surfing | ||
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Lake Verity Gift) | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Aerodactyl builds →Wing Attack 2x73-87% Ice Fang 2x52-62% Fire Fang 2x52-62% | ||
 Growlithe Fire | C | |
 Doduo Normal | C | |
 Murkrow Dark | C | |
 Staravia Normal | C | |
 Vespiquen Bug | C | |
 Prinplup Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Piplup (Lake Verity Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Prinplup builds →Water Pulse 2x117-138%KO Pluck 2x35-42% | ||
 Omanyte RockWater | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift | ||
 Beautifly Bug | C | |
 Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Drifloon Ghost | C | |
Obtain MethodValley Windworks Interact Encounter | ||
 Masquerain Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Nincada View Masquerain builds →Water Pulse 2x90-108%KO Gust 2x92-110%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
Breeding
Breed Nincada easily with 48 breeding partners from the Bug egg group. Pass egg moves like Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Endure and 4 more to offspring.
DP Nincada Best Moveset
Bug/Ground with AbilityCompound Eyes for accuracy boosts, but 45 Attack and 40 Speed leave the moveset useless. Evolves into both Ninjask and Shedinja simultaneously. Produces both Ninjask and Shedinja.
Best Build
Nincada best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Hidden Power Ice
- Giga Drain
- Shadow Ball
- Bug Buzz
Recommended Teammates
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
24 of 25 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It grows underground, sensing its surroundings using antennae instead of its virtually blind eyes.
Nincada Diamond & Pearl Guide
In Diamond & Pearl, 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 7 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 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 Nincada.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List