Is Poliwrath Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilityWater Absorb heals from Water moves, giving Poliwrath free switch-ins against Wave trainers throughout Hoenn. Water/Fighting coverage handles Roxanne, Norman, and Sidney. Trade-only but the ability and dual typing make it more unique than most imports.
Poliwrath resists most of Roxanne's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Roxanne:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Brawly:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Wattson:
Poliwrath resists most of Flannery's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Flannery:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Norman:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Winona:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Tate & Liza:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Wallace:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Sidney:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Phoebe:
Poliwrath resists most of Glacia's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Glacia:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Drake's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Drake:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Steven:
Trade
Poliwrath cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 5)
- LV 5FightingSubmissionPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 25
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Abandoned Ship
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Petalburg City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Cave of Origin
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
Breed Poliwrath
Poliwrath cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 1)
- LV 1FightingSubmissionPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 25
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Abandoned Ship
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Petalburg City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Cave of Origin
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
Breed Politoed
Politoed cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 1)
- LV 1PsychicHypnosisPower —Accuracy 60%PP 20
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Abandoned Ship
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Petalburg City
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Winona
- HM08WaterDivePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Mossdeep City
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Cave of Origin
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
How to Get Poliwrath in Ruby & Sapphire
Poliwrath needs a Water Stone on a traded Poliwhirl. The same Poliwhirl can instead become Politoed if you trade it holding a King's Rock, so the path you choose splits the line.
How to Obtain Poliwrath in RS
- Step 1Obtain PoliwagLATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Good rod · Cinnabar Island. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
- Step 2Evolve into Poliwhirl
- Step 3Poliwrath ✓
How to Get Shiny Poliwrath in Ruby & Sapphire
Import a shiny Poliwrath from FireRed or LeafGreen by trade, as Ruby & Sapphire give it no home. See every game where Shiny Poliwrath can be hunted
Poliwrath Weakness
Type-wise, Poliwrath takes extra damage from Electric, Grass, Flying, and Psychic. It resists 7 types, so it can switch into a lot of moves safely. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass, Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Bug, Rock, Dark, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Poliwrath Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Poliwrath
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Latios builds →Psychic 2x84-99% Solar Beam 2x75-88% Thunderbolt 2x60-70% Fly 2x31-37% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Latias builds →Psychic 2x73-86% Solar Beam 2x65-77% Thunderbolt 2x52-61% Fly 2x28-33% | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodSky Pillar Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Rayquaza builds →Solar Beam 2x85-100%KO Fly 2x72-85% Thunderbolt 2x67-79% | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Gardevoir builds →Future Sight 2x109-128%KO Thunderbolt 2x57-68% | ||
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Altaria builds →Sky Attack 2x75-89% Solar Beam 2x45-53% | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x104-123%KO Shock Wave 2x35-41% | ||
 Salamence Dragon | S | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Tropius Grass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Tropius builds →Solar Beam 2x70-82% Fly 2x37-44% | ||
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Xatu builds →Future Sight 2x86-102%KO Solar Beam 2x57-68% Fly 2x40-48% | ||
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Grumpig builds →Psychic 2x63-74% Shock Wave 2x28-33% Bounce 2x22-26% | ||
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Sceptile builds →Solar Beam 2x93-110%KO Aerial Ace 2x25-30% | ||
 Chimecho Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Chimecho builds →Psychic 2x65-77% Shock Wave 2x29-34% | ||
 Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
Poliwrath Evolutions
Poliwrath is one of 2 ways Poliwhirl's chain can end. This one takes the Water Stone path, while the siblings go different directions. Breed through Poliwag to get eggs. Poliwrath and Politoed share the same 500 total stats, but they're distributed differently. Check the comparison below to see where each one specializes. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Poliwrath to get Poliwag eggs easily using 58 partners from the Water 1 egg group. Notable egg moves include Bubble Beam, Haze, Ice Ball and 4 more.
RS Poliwrath Best Moveset
Water immunity through AbilityWater Absorb plus Fighting TermStab from MoveCross Chop targeting Dark and Normal types. MoveSurf for Water coverage, MoveHypnosis for sleep. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Unique defensive-offensive combination.
Best Build
Poliwrath best EVs are Attack and Sp. Atk
Physical Attacker Moveset
- Focus Punch
- Substitute
- Brick Break
- Ice Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Bubble Beam and Haze give Poliwrath options it can't learn any other way, and Normal and Ice coverage and more already covers a decent range on top of Focus Punch and Surf. The egg moves push it further.
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 29 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
POLIWRATH’s highly developed, brawny muscles never grow fatigued, however much it exercises. It is so tirelessly strong, this POKéMON can swim back and forth across the Pacific Ocean without effort.
Poliwrath Ruby & Sapphire Guide
No. Poliwrath isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Obtain one in FireRed or LeafGreen, then trade it over.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Poliwrath appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Poliwrath have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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 Poliwrath.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List