Is Sandshrew Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Sandshrew appears in Sinnoh with a LeafGreen cartridge in the GBA slot. AbilitySand Veil raises evasion in sandstorm, and Hippowdon's AbilitySand Stream generates sandstorm automatically. Ground coverage for Volkner and Flint.
Sandshrew has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Volkner's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Sandslash resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Sandshrew in Wayward Cave (walking, Lv 16, rare). Pokémon LeafGreen in GBA slot.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Lost Tower
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Oreburgh Gate (basement)
- After Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- HM08NormalRock ClimbPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20Route 217
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Sandshrew to Sandslash
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash at Level 22. Your Sandshrew should hit Level 22 before you reach Maylene, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM28GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Maniac Tunnel
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Fantina
- TM84PoisonPoison JabPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 212
- After Byron
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Wayward Cave (secret entrance under bike path)
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Oreburgh Gate
- After Volkner
- TM71RockStone EdgePower 100Accuracy 80%PP 5Victory Road
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl
Sandshrew is locked behind dual-slot mode, spawning in Wayward Cave only when LeafGreen is in the GBA slot. Even then it is a rare level 16 find in that hidden cave.
Wild Sandshrew may be holding when caught:
Quick Claw (5% chance) Held: Holder has a 3/16 (18.75%) chance to move first.1 location to catch Sandshrew
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 2Where To Catch Sandshrew in DP
The line opens with Sandshrew at Lv. 16-17 via walking encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into Sandslashor evolve from Sandshrew (Step 1)
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Diamond & Pearl for Sandshrew.
How to Get Shiny Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl
Sandshrew burrows through Wayward Cave, and a careful PokeRadar chain is what lowers its shiny odds fast. Compare Shiny Sandshrew odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Sandshrew Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Diamond & Pearl shiny odds for Sandshrew.
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.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Sandshrew Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Sandshrew
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Leafeon Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Wormadam BugGrass | C | |
 Grotle Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Turtwig (Lake Verity Gift) | ||
 Lombre WaterGrass | D | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Lombre builds →Solar Beam 2x173-205%KO Ice Beam 2x92-109%KO Water Pulse 2x90-106%KO | ||
 Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift | ||
 Budew GrassPoison | C | |
 Gastrodon WaterGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Gastrodon builds →Ice Beam 2x127-149%KO Water Pulse 2x122-144%KO | ||
 Floatzel Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Floatzel builds →Ice Beam 2x120-142%KO Water Pulse 2x115-137%KO | ||
 Prinplup Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Piplup (Lake Verity Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Prinplup builds →Bubble Beam 2x119-141%KO Ice Beam 2x114-134%KO | ||
 Bibarel NormalWater | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Bibarel builds →Ice Beam 2x87-104%KO Water Pulse 2x84-99% | ||
 Omanyte RockWater | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Omanyte builds →Brine 2x129-152%KO Ice Beam 2x124-147%KO | ||
 Surskit BugWater | D | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandshrew View Surskit builds →Solar Beam 2x103-122%KO Bubble Beam 2x86-103%KO Ice Beam 2x81-96% | ||
Sandshrew Evolutions
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 take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 150 total stats over Sandshrew. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Sandshrew easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Counter, Crush Claw, Flail and 6 more to offspring.
DP Sandshrew Best Moveset
Ground typing pairs with 85 Defense for some physical bulk, but 40 Speed and 20 Sp. Atk mean the moveset is limited to slow physical Ground attacks. Nothing here justifies using it over Sandslash. Sandslash takes over from here.
Best Build
Sandshrew best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Hazard Setter Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
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.
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
37 of 38 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
To protect itself from attackers, it curls up into a ball. It lives in arid regions with minimal rainfall.
Sandshrew Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Sandshrew in Diamond & Pearl can hold Quick Claw (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Quick Claw.
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.
Sandshrew has an Alolan form that swaps the typing and reshuffles the stats. Introduced in Gen 7. Worth checking if the original version doesn't fit your team.
Game Availability
Sandshrew first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 20 games across 9 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
- 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 7SMAlolan
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 Sandshrew.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List