Is Pinsir Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Safari Zone in Hoenn, native to RS. AbilityHyper Cutter prevents Attack drops. Bug moves are still Special in Gen 3 while Pinsir's 125 Attack is physical. The mismatch persists. Pinsir hits hard with Normal-type moves instead, but that's not what a Bug-type should be doing.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Pinsir trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Pinsir trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Pinsir trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Pinsir trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Pinsir has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Catchable
Catch Pinsir in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 27-29, rare).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- LV 31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 43FightingSubmissionPower 80Accuracy 80%PP 25
Ruby & Sapphire Pinsir Locations
Pinsir is a rare Safari Zone catch in the high 20s. That gated grass is the only place the stag beetle shows up in Hoenn, so bring patience and Safari Balls.
1 location to catch Pinsir
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6Best Locations to Catch Pinsir in Ruby & Sapphire
How to Get Shiny Pinsir in Ruby & Sapphire
Walking the Hoenn Safari Zone occasionally turns up a Pinsir, so inspect every wild one you stumble upon for a shiny. Compare Shiny Pinsir odds across every game
Shiny Pinsir Evolution
Does Not EvolveRuby & Sapphire Shiny Pinsir Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Ruby & Sapphire with Pinsir preloaded.
Pinsir Weakness
Pinsir's Bug typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Flying, and Rock. Pinsir's physical bulk (base 100 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Flying, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Pinsir Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Pinsir
 Blaziken FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pinsir View Blaziken builds →Overheat 2x165-195%KO Aerial Ace 2x39-47% Rock Tomb 2x32-39% | ||
 Camerupt FireGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pinsir View Camerupt builds →Overheat 2x159-187%KO Rock Slide 2x43-51% | ||
 Skarmory Steel | A | |
 Torkoal Fire | C | |
 Ninetales Fire | C | |
 Magcargo FireRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pinsir View Magcargo builds →Overheat 2x140-166%KO Rock Tomb 2x26-32% | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pinsir View Altaria builds →Fire Blast 2x67-79% Fly 2x45-53% | ||
 Ninjask Bug | B | |
 Dodrio Normal | B | |
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pinsir View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 2x62-74% Aerial Ace 2x41-49% | ||
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
 Swellow Normal | C | |
Pinsir Evolutions
Pinsir is what you get. No evolutions, but it breeds through one egg group with a decent partner pool. Its eggs take an average time to hatch. It's got 4 egg moves worth looking into. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Pinsir easily with 37 breeding partners from the Bug egg group. Pass egg moves like False Swipe, Feint Attack, Flail and 1 more to offspring.
RS Pinsir Best Moveset
125 Attack with MoveSwords Dance doubling it further and AbilityHyper Cutter preventing Attack drops from AbilityIntimidate. MoveEarthquake and MoveReturn from boosted Attack hit devastatingly. Held ItemLeftovers sustains setup. Bug TermStab still useless, but raw Attack overcomes the typing.
Best Build
Pinsir best EVs are Attack and Defense
Physical Attacker Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
- Hidden Power Ghost
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but False Swipe and Feint Attack from the egg pool give Pinsir something extra. Pair those with Bug STAB for STAB and Normal and Fighting coverage and more for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
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
All 23 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
PINSIR is astoundingly strong. It can grip a foe weighing twice its weight in its horns and easily lift it. This POKéMON’s movements turn sluggish in cold places.
PINSIR has a pair of massive horns Protruding from the surface of these horns are thorns. These thorns are driven deeply into the foe’s body when the pincer closes, making it tough for the foe to escape.
Pinsir Ruby & Sapphire Guide
- Where in the Ruby & Sapphire Safari Zone can I find Pinsir?
See the Locations section above for where to find Pinsir in Ruby & Sapphire.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Pinsir from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Pinsir easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Red & Blue, Pinsir has appeared in 20 titles over 9 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
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 6ORASMega
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 Pinsir.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List