
Is Paras Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Paras is one of the slowest Pokemon in the game, and the Bug/Grass typing creates a painful list of weaknesses. MoveSpore is the one saving grace. 100% accuracy sleep is powerful for catching legendaries. Outside of that, Paras doesn't contribute much to a team.
Brock's typing presses Paras's defenses.
Paras trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Paras has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Parasect has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Parasect trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Parasect has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Parasect trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Parasect resists most of Giovanni's coverage and hits back hard.
Parasect has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Parasect has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Parasect trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Lance's typing presses Parasect's defenses.
Parasect trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Paras in Mt. Moon (walking, Lv 8, rare).
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- TM21GrassMega DrainPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Celadon Gym Leader Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 34NormalSlashPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Sabrina
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Pokémon Mansion
Evolve Paras to Parasect
Paras evolves into Parasect at Level 24. Your Paras should hit Level 24 before you reach Erika, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM08NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15S.S. Anne
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM09NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Silph Co.
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 30GrassSporePower —Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Sabrina
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Pokémon Mansion
How to Get Paras in Red & Blue
Paras keeps to Mt. Moon and the Safari Zone, uncommon at all ten spots in both versions. Steady but never plentiful, with no single standout location.
2 locations to catch Paras
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Paras in RB
Paras is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 8-64 across 18 total spots in the chain.
Step 2Catch or Evolve into ParasectSafari Zone - EastLv.25FloorRate 5%Safari Zone - CenterLv.30FloorRate 5%Cerulean Cave - B1FLv.64CaveRate 10%Cerulean Cave - 1FLv.52CaveRate 5%or evolve from Paras (Step 1)
To plan your throws, open the Red & Blue catch rate calculator with Paras preloaded.
Paras Weakness
Type-wise, Paras takes extra damage from Fire, Poison, Flying, Ice, Bug, and Rock. Watch out for Fire, Poison, and Flying attacks, those deal 4x damage. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Fire, Poison, Flying |
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Bug, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Fighting |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Ground |
- 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 Paras Weak Against
FragileParas Evolutions
Paras starts a line toward Parasect. Can't breed this Bug/Grass type (295 stats), so keep the evolution path going. Evolving adds up to 110 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Paras Best Moveset
Bug/Grass pre-evolution with MoveSpore (100%% accurate sleep) but stats too frail to survive long enough to use it reliably. Four weaknesses to Fire don't help. The one move worth having on a frame that can't support it.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Leech Life
- Skull Bash
- Solar Beam
- Double Edge
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
TMs carry this one. Paras learns Solar Beam and Leech Life naturally for STAB, but the offensive range comes almost entirely from technical machines. Normal and Ground and beyond give it real matchup play.
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 17 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Burrows to suck tree roots. The mushrooms on its back grow by drawing nutrients from the bug host.
Paras Red & Blue Guide
- How do I catch Paras in the Red & Blue Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Paras 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 Paras from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Paras easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
For Red & Blue, you can run Paras through the first few routes without issues. 295 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Parasect as fast as you can.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Paras 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 Paras.