At 385 BST, Onix is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Steelix before bringing it to any serious fight.

What is Onix weak to?

In Ruby & Sapphire, watch for Starmie (Water), Exeggutor (Grass), and Cloyster (Ice) when using Onix. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Starmie is the most dangerous since Water moves deal 4x damage. Fighting, Ground, and Steel-type attackers are also a problem. With 6 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.

What is the best ability for Onix?

Rock Head protects against recoil damage. That's the one you want on Onix. Weak Armor is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses. Sturdy works too if your team needs something different.

What role does Onix play in battle?

Onix is a physical attacker with base 45 Attack. Enough bulk to take a hit or two, too. Speed tells the real story. Base 70 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many.

In Ruby & Sapphire, For a casual playthrough, Onix works as a placeholder. Rock/Ground coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Steelix . That's where the stats start mattering.

Onix - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Balanced

DTier

70Speed · Below Avg

Stats & Training

The stat bars tell the story: Defense carries everything and Sp. Atk's dead weight. But this Rock Snake Pokemon still yields 1 Defense EV per fight on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

Avg

HP35

Attack45

Defense160

Sp. Atk30

Sp. Def45

Speed70

Total385

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging45 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height8.8 m

Weight210.0 kg

Base XP77

Abilities

Rock Head

Protects against recoil damage.

Sturdy

Prevents being KOed from full HP, leaving 1 HP instead. Protects against the one-hit KO moves regardless of HP.

Weak ArmorHANot in game

Raises Speed and lowers Defense by one stage each upon being hit by a physical move.

EV Yield

HPAtkDef+1SpASpDSpe

Defense training source

Pokedex Entries

ONIX has a magnet in its brain. It acts as a compass so that this POKéMON does not lose direction while it is tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother.

Onix Weakness

Onix's Rock/Ground typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. Water and Grass hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. It shrugs off Electric-type attacks completely. The Rock/Ground typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Onix's physical bulk (base 160 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Onix Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
4x (Critical)	Water, Grass
2x (Weak)	Ice, Fighting, Ground, Steel
0.5x (Resist)	Normal, Fire, Flying, Rock
0.25x (Resist)	Poison
0x (Immune)	Electric

Type ChartFragile

6Weak

5Resist

1Immune

Score-7

Gen III Type Chart

Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move

4xCritical

Water Grass

2xWeak

Ice Fighting Ground Steel

½xResist

Normal Fire Flying Rock

¼xResist

Poison

0xImmune

Electric

STAB (8)

Fire Ice Flying Bug Electric Poison Rock Steel

How to Beat Onix in Ruby & Sapphire (Best Counters)

In Ruby & Sapphire, Starmie threatens a KO with Surf (437-515%). Claydol deals 73-87% with Earthquake.

Magneton ElectricSteel	A
Recommended Build AbilityMagnetpull ItemMagnet NatureModest Moves ThunderboltSTAB Hidden Power Fire ToxicUtility Thunder Wave View Magneton builds →
Starmie WaterPsychic	A
Recommended Build AbilityNatural Cure ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves Rapid Spin Ice Beam Thunderbolt SurfSTAB Damage vs Onix Rapid Spin 4-5% Ice Beam 2x 145-172%KO Surf 4x 437-515%KO View Starmie builds →
Claydol GroundPsychic	A
Recommended Build AbilityLevitate ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves Rapid Spin EarthquakeSTAB Explosion PsychicSTAB Damage vs Onix Rapid Spin 6-7% Earthquake 2x 73-87% Explosion 30-36% Psychic 61-72% View Claydol builds →
Heracross BugFighting	B
Recommended Build AbilitySwarm ItemSalacberry NatureJolly Moves MegahornSTAB Rock Slide Swords Dance SubstituteUtility Damage vs Onix Megahorn 60-71% Rock Slide 12-15% View Heracross builds →
Breloom GrassFighting	B
Recommended Build AbilityEffect Spore ItemLeftovers NatureJolly Moves SporeUtility Focus Punch Mach Punch Sky Uppercut Damage vs Onix Mach Punch 2x 42-50% View Breloom builds →

Ruby & Sapphire Evolution

To get Steelix from Onix, you need a trade. The evolution method matters here. The evolved forms gain up to 125 total stats over Onix. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#095Onix

Trade + Metal Coat

#208Steelix

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Onix

RockGround

Steelix

SteelGround

75+40

ATK

85+40

DEF

160

200+40

SP.ATK

55+25

SP.DEF

65+20

SPE

30-40

BST

385C-Tier

510C-Tier+125

ROLE

Balanced

Trick Room

TYPE

Utility

Physical

Breeding

Easy

Breed Onix easily with 23 breeding partners from the Mineral egg group. Pass egg moves like Block, Explosion, Flail and 1 more to offspring.

Egg Groups

Mineral

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

25 cycles·6,425 steps

Moderate~6 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

4moves

Breed With (best first)

Ruby & Sapphire Onix Best Moveset

Best Build

No build content available for this Pokemon in Gen 3.

Try selecting a different game/generation filter, or check back later.

Moves

The natural movepool does the job, but Block and Explosion from the egg pool give Onix something extra. Pair those with Earthquake and Dig for STAB and Normal and Steel coverage for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Screech

D—8540Normal

Lv 1

Tackle

—3510035Normal

Lv 9

Bind

—157520Normal

Lv 13

Rock Throw

—509015Rock

Lv 21

Harden

D——30Normal

Lv 25

Rage

—2010020Normal

Lv 33

Sandstorm

———10Rock

Lv 37

Slam

—807520Normal

Lv 45

Iron Tail

D1007515Steel

Lv 49

Sand Tomb

—358515Ground

Lv 57

Double-Edge

D12010015Normal

TM Moves

TM45

Attract

——10015Normal

TM28

Dig

—6010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM26

Earthquake

C10010010Ground

TM42

Facade

D7010020Normal

TM21

Frustration

——10020Normal

TM10

Hidden Power

—6010015Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

D1007515Steel

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM27

Return

D—10020Normal

TM05

Roar-6

C——20Normal

HM06

Rock Smash

—2010015Fighting

TM39

Rock Tomb

—609510Rock

TM37

Sandstorm

———10Rock

TM43

Secret Power

—7010020Normal

HM04

Strength

—8010015Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM12

Taunt

C—10020Dark

TM41

Torment

D—10015Dark

TM06

Toxic

C—8510Poison

Egg Moves

Egg

Block

———5Normal

Egg

Explosion

C2501005Normal

Egg

Flail

D—10015Normal

Egg

Rock Slide

D759010Rock

Tutor Moves

Onix can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Onix in Ruby & Sapphire

Onix can't be caught in Ruby & Sapphire. Bring it over from Red, Yellow, or FireRed instead. The encounter info below covers the source games.

Onix is not available as a wild encounter in this game.

Catch in the wild in:

FireRedWalking · Rock Tunnel

Then trade to Ruby & Sapphire.

Also found in:

Red Yellow Gold Crystal

Onix Guide

At 385 BST, Onix is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Steelix before bringing it to any serious fight.
In Ruby & Sapphire, watch for Starmie (Water), Exeggutor (Grass), and Cloyster (Ice) when using Onix. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Starmie is the most dangerous since Water moves deal 4x damage. Fighting, Ground, and Steel-type attackers are also a problem. With 6 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter.
Rock Head protects against recoil damage. That's the one you want on Onix. Weak Armor is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses. Sturdy works too if your team needs something different.
Onix is a physical attacker with base 45 Attack. Enough bulk to take a hit or two, too. Speed tells the real story. Base 70 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many.
In Ruby & Sapphire, For a casual playthrough, Onix works as a placeholder. Rock/Ground coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Steelix. That's where the stats start mattering.

Game Availability

Present since Red & Blue, Onix appears in 21 games spanning 10 generations. Gen 1 originals like Onix have the longest track record of availability in the series.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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