What does Sandshrew evolve into?

Get Sandshrew to Sandslash at level 22. At 300 BST, Sandshrew is just the starting point.

At what level does Sandshrew evolve?

Level 22 gets you Sandslash . Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.

Should I use Sandshrew?

In Diamond & Pearl, Sandshrew does the job early-game if you need a Ground type on your team. Evolve it into Sandslash before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.

Where can you catch Sandshrew?

You can find Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Sandshrew - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Balanced

DTier

40Speed · Very Slow

Stats & Training

Sandshrew's spread isn't flashy. Defense leads, Sp. Atk trails, 1 stats clear the bar. Easy to catch and worth 1 Defense EV, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

Avg

HP50

Attack75

Defense85

Sp. Atk20

Sp. Def30

Speed40

Total300

Details

Catch Rate

Guaranteed255 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height0.6 m

Weight12.0 kg

Base XP60

Abilities

Sand Veil

Increases evasion to 1.25× during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

Sand RushHANot in game

Doubles Speed during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

EV Yield

HPAtkDef+1SpASpDSpe

Defense training source

Pokedex Entries

To protect itself from attackers, it curls up into a ball. It lives in arid regions with minimal rainfall.

Sandshrew Weakness

Sandshrew's Ground typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Grass, and Ice. It shrugs off Electric-type attacks completely. Sandshrew's physical bulk (base 85 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Sandshrew Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Water, Grass, Ice
0.5x (Resist)	Poison, Rock
0x (Immune)	Electric

Type ChartAvg

3Weak

2Resist

1Immune

Score-1

Gen IV Type Chart

Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Water Grass Ice

½xResist

Poison Rock

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

Electric

STAB (5)

Fire Electric Poison Rock Steel

How to Beat Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl (Best Counters)

Abomasnow GrassIce	C
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 Ice PunchLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 238-281%KO Blizzard 2x 219-258%KO Ice Beam 2x 180-213%KO Ice Punch 2x 77-91% View Abomasnow builds →
Lileep RockGrass	D
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 173-205%KO Giga Drain 2x 109-129%KO Bullet Seed 2x 19-23% View Lileep builds →
Nuzleaf GrassDark	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Razor LeafLv. 1 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 173-205%KO Giga Drain 2x 109-129%KO Razor Leaf 2x 48-57% Bullet Seed 2x 25-30% View Nuzleaf builds →
Turtwig Grass	D
Obtain MethodLake Verity Gift Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Razor LeafLv. 13 Mega DrainLv. 25 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 144-171%KO Giga Drain 2x 90-106%KO Razor Leaf 2x 48-57% Mega Drain 2x 51-61% View Turtwig builds →
Budew GrassPoison	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Mega DrainLv. 13 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 154-182%KO Giga Drain 2x 96-114%KO Mega Drain 2x 54-65% Bullet Seed 2x 15-19% View Budew builds →

Diamond & Pearl Evolution

Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. The evolved forms gain up to 150 total stats over Sandshrew. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#027Sandshrew

Level 22

#028Sandslash

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Sandshrew

Ground

Sandslash

Ground

75+25

ATK

100+25

DEF

110+25

SP.ATK

45+25

SP.DEF

55+25

SPE

65+25

BST

300C-Tier

450A-Tier+150

ROLE

Balanced

Attacker

TYPE

Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed Sandshrew easily with 131 breeding partners from the Ground egg group. Pass egg moves like Counter, Crush Claw, Flail and 6 more to offspring.

Egg Groups

Ground

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

20 cycles·5,140 steps

Quick~5 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

9moves

Breed With (best first)

Diamond & Pearl Sandshrew Best Moveset

Best Build

No build content available for this Pokemon in Gen 4.

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

Moves

You'll want to breed for Counter and Crush Claw on Sandshrew. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Earthquake and Dig, they expand what Sandshrew can actually threaten in practice.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Scratch

—4010035Normal

Lv 3

Defense Curl

———40Normal

Lv 7

Sand Attack

D—10015Ground

Lv 9

Poison Sting

—1510035Poison

Lv 13

Rapid Spin

D5010040Normal

Lv 15

Swift

—60—20Normal

Lv 19

Fury Swipes

—188015Normal

Lv 21

Rollout

—309020Rock

Lv 25

Fury Cutter

—109520Bug

Lv 27

Sand Tomb

—358515Ground

Lv 31

Slash

—7010020Normal

Lv 33

Gyro Ball

D—1005Steel

Lv 37

Sandstorm

———10Rock

TM Moves

TM40

Aerial Ace

D60—20Flying

TM45

Attract

——10015Normal

TM31

Brick Break

D7510015Fighting

TM78

Captivate

——10020Normal

HM01

Cut

—509530Normal

TM28

Dig

C8010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM26

Earthquake

C10010010Ground

TM58

Endure+4

———10Normal

TM42

Facade

D7010020Normal

TM56

Fling

——10010Dark

TM01

Focus Punch-3

C15010020Fighting

TM21

Frustration

D—10020Normal

TM74

Gyro Ball

D—1005Steel

TM10

Hidden Power

—6010015Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

D1007515Steel

TM83

Natural Gift

D—10015Normal

TM84

Poison Jab

C8010020Poison

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM27

Return

D—10020Normal

HM08

Rock Climb

—908520Normal

TM80

Rock Slide

D759010Rock

HM06

Rock Smash

D4010015Fighting

TM39

Rock Tomb

D609510Rock

TM37

Sandstorm

———10Rock

TM43

Secret Power

—7010020Normal

TM65

Shadow Claw

D7010015Ghost

TM82

Sleep Talk

C——10Normal

TM76

Stealth Rock

C——20Rock

HM04

Strength

C8010015Normal

TM90

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM87

Swagger

——9015Normal

TM75

Swords Dance

C——30Normal

TM46

Thief

—6010025Dark

TM06

Toxic

C—8510Poison

TM81

X-Scissor

C8010015Bug

Egg Moves

Egg

Counter-5

D—10020Fighting

Egg

Crush Claw

—759510Normal

Egg

Flail

——10015Normal

Egg

Metal Claw

—509535Steel

Egg

Night Slash

D7010015Dark

Egg

Rapid Spin

D5010040Normal

Egg

Rock Slide

D759010Rock

Egg

Safeguard

D——25Normal

Egg

Swords Dance

C——30Normal

Tutor Moves

Sandshrew can't learn any Tutor moves

Transfer Moves

Gen

Gen 3

Body Slam

C8510015Normal

Gen 3

Double-Edge

C12010015Normal

Gen 3

Dynamic Punch

D100505Fighting

Gen 3

Mimic

———10Normal

Gen 3

Seismic Toss

D—10020Fighting

Diamond & Pearl Sandshrew Locations

moderate rates across 4 locations for Sandshrew in mid-game routes. Scroll the sorted list below and pick whichever spot sits closest to your current route. The rate differences between locations are worth comparing.

Best Locations to Catch Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl

Sandshrew appears in 4 walking locations at Lv. 16-17 across Diamond and Pearl. Not all encounters show up in every version, so check which ones match your game.

Wayward Cave - 1F

DiamondGrass Lv.16 Cave

8%Mid

Dual-slot: LeafGreen

Wayward Cave - 1F

PearlGrass Lv.16 Cave

8%Mid

Dual-slot: LeafGreen

Wayward Cave - B1F

DiamondGrass Lv.16-17 Cave

8%Mid

Dual-slot: LeafGreen

Wayward Cave - B1F

PearlGrass Lv.16-17 Cave

8%Mid

Dual-slot: LeafGreen

Sandshrew Guide

Get Sandshrew to Sandslash at level 22. At 300 BST, Sandshrew is just the starting point.
Level 22 gets you Sandslash. Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.
In Diamond & Pearl, Sandshrew does the job early-game if you need a Ground type on your team. Evolve it into Sandslash before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
You can find Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Game Availability

Sandshrew first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 20 games across 10 generations. It later gained an Alolan form in Generation 7, adding new dimensions to its competitive identity.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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Buizel Water	C
Available Move Moves Water GunLv. 6 Damage vs Sandshrew Water Gun 2x 60-71% View Buizel builds →
Turtwig Grass	D
Obtain MethodLake Verity Gift Available Moves Moves Razor LeafLv. 13 AbsorbLv. 9 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 48-57% Absorb 2x 29-36% View Turtwig builds →
Surskit BugWater	D
Available Move Moves BubbleLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Bubble 2x 52-64% View Surskit builds →
Lotad WaterGrass	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 5 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 29-36% View Lotad builds →
Shellos Water	D
Available Move Moves Water PulseLv. 7 Damage vs Sandshrew Water Pulse 2x 83-100%KO View Shellos builds →

Lileep RockGrass	D
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift TM Move Moves Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Bullet Seed 2x 17-20% View Lileep builds →
Turtwig Grass	D
Obtain MethodLake Verity Gift Available Moves Moves Razor LeafLv. 13 Bullet SeedTM09 AbsorbLv. 9 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 47-55% Bullet Seed 2x 25-30% Absorb 2x 25-30% View Turtwig builds →
Budew GrassPoison	D
Available Moves Moves Mega DrainLv. 13 Bullet SeedTM09 AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 50-60% Bullet Seed 2x 17-20% Absorb 2x 28-35% View Budew builds →
Cherubi Grass	D
Available Moves Moves Magical LeafLv. 19 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Magical Leaf 2x 85-100%KO Bullet Seed 2x 17-20% View Cherubi builds →
Surskit BugWater	D
Available Moves Moves Water PulseTM03 BubbleLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Water Pulse 2x 72-85% Bubble 2x 50-60% View Surskit builds →

Abomasnow GrassIce	C
Available Moves Moves Wood HammerLv. 36 Solar BeamTM22 BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 Damage vs Sandshrew Wood Hammer 2x 115-135%KO Solar Beam 2x 238-281%KO Blizzard 2x 219-258%KO Ice Beam 2x 177-210%KO View Abomasnow builds →
Carnivine Grass	C
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Vine WhipLv. 11 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 232-274%KO Giga Drain 2x 145-171%KO Vine Whip 2x 48-58% Bullet Seed 2x 30-35% View Carnivine builds →
Roselia GrassPoison	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Magical LeafLv. 19 Mega DrainLv. 13 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 255-300%KO Giga Drain 2x 161-190%KO Magical Leaf 2x 128-152%KO Mega Drain 2x 87-103%KO View Roselia builds →
Lileep RockGrass	D
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 175-206%KO Giga Drain 2x 110-129%KO Bullet Seed 2x 16-19% View Lileep builds →
Nuzleaf GrassDark	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Razor LeafLv. 1 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 172-203%KO Giga Drain 2x 110-129%KO Razor Leaf 2x 46-55% Bullet Seed 2x 22-26% View Nuzleaf builds →

Abomasnow GrassIce	C
Available Moves Moves Wood HammerLv. 36 Solar BeamTM22 BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 Damage vs Sandshrew Wood Hammer 2x 114-135%KO Solar Beam 2x 232-273%KO Blizzard 2x 214-252%KO Ice Beam 2x 175-207%KO View Abomasnow builds →
Carnivine Grass	C
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Vine WhipLv. 11 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 229-270%KO Giga Drain 2x 145-171%KO Vine Whip 2x 48-57% Bullet Seed 2x 28-33% View Carnivine builds →
Roselia GrassPoison	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Magical LeafLv. 19 Mega DrainLv. 13 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 249-294%KO Giga Drain 2x 158-186%KO Magical Leaf 2x 127-150%KO Mega Drain 2x 86-102%KO View Roselia builds →
Lileep RockGrass	D
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 170-201%KO Giga Drain 2x 107-126%KO Bullet Seed 2x 17-21% View Lileep builds →
Lombre WaterGrass	D
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 SurfHM03 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 168-198%KO Blizzard 2x 102-120%KO Ice Beam 2x 85-100%KO Surf 2x 127-150%KO View Lombre builds →

Abomasnow GrassIce	C
Available Moves Moves Wood HammerLv. 36 Solar BeamTM22 BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 Damage vs Sandshrew Wood Hammer 2x 114-135%KO Solar Beam 2x 231-272%KO Blizzard 2x 211-250%KO Ice Beam 2x 174-205%KO View Abomasnow builds →
Carnivine Grass	C
Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Vine WhipLv. 11 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 226-266%KO Giga Drain 2x 143-168%KO Vine Whip 2x 48-56% Bullet Seed 2x 28-34% View Carnivine builds →
Delibird IceFlying	D
Available Moves Moves BlizzardTM14 Ice BeamTM13 AvalancheTM72 Water PulseTM03 Damage vs Sandshrew Blizzard 2x 162-191%KO Ice Beam 2x 133-157%KO Avalanche 2x 40-48% Water Pulse 2x 60-71% View Delibird builds →
Roselia GrassPoison	D
Available Moves Moves Petal DanceLv. 40 Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Magical LeafLv. 19 Damage vs Sandshrew Petal Dance 2x 248-292%KO Solar Beam 2x 248-292%KO Giga Drain 2x 157-185%KO Magical Leaf 2x 126-149%KO View Roselia builds →
Lileep RockGrass	D
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves Solar BeamTM22 Giga DrainTM19 Bullet SeedTM09 Damage vs Sandshrew Solar Beam 2x 169-199%KO Giga Drain 2x 107-126%KO Bullet Seed 2x 16-20% View Lileep builds →

Empoleon WaterSteel	B
Recommended Build AbilityTorrent ItemFocus Sash NatureModest Moves Ice Beam Hydro Pump Grass Knot Aqua Jet Damage vs Sandshrew Ice Beam 2x 197-232%KO Hydro Pump 2x 361-424%KO Aqua Jet 2x 34-40% View Empoleon builds →
Roserade GrassPoison	B
Recommended Build AbilityNatural Cure ItemBlack Sludge NatureTimid Moves Toxic Spikes Hidden Power Fire SpikesHazard Sleep Powder View Roserade builds →
Weavile DarkIce	B
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemExpert Belt NatureJolly Moves Ice Shard Night Slash Low Kick PursuitSTAB Damage vs Sandshrew Ice Shard 2x 60-71% Pursuit 30-35% View Weavile builds →
Swampert WaterGround	B
Recommended Build AbilityTorrent ItemLeftovers NatureRelaxed Moves EarthquakeSTAB Stealth Rock Ice Beam WaterfallSTAB Damage vs Sandshrew Earthquake 56-66% Ice Beam 2x 115-136%KO Waterfall 2x 90-106%KO View Swampert builds →