Is Sandshrew Good in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Playthrough?
Let's Go Pikachu exclusive. Sandshrew from Routes 3 and 4 gives you an early Ground-type. Evolve it into Sandslash for a physical hitter that handles Blaine and Giovanni without flinching.
Not available yet. You cannot get Sandshrew before this fight.
Misty's team hits Sandshrew's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Erika's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Lance's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Trace's team.
This is the Let's Go Eevee team. In Let's Go Pikachu, Trace brings Jolteon Lv 57 in place of Raichu Lv 57.
Catchable
In Let's Go Pikachu, catch Sandshrew on Route 3 (walking, Lv 3-8). Let's Go Eevee has no wild Sandshrew, so trade one in from Let's Go Pikachu.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TMNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 20GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TMSteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15
- TMFightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15
- TMNormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Erika
- TMPoisonPoison JabPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 20
- TMBugX-ScissorPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 36GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Sandshrew to Sandslash
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash at Level 22. Your Sandshrew should hit Level 22 before you reach Lt. Surge, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TMNormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
- TMSteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15
- TMFightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Erika
- TMGroundDrill RunPower 120Accuracy 95%PP 10
- TMPoisonPoison JabPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 20
- TMBugX-ScissorPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 52GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Sandshrew in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
Decent spawn rates for Sandshrew across 2 locations in early-game routes. Nothing complicated. Check the sorted list below, compare the top few options, and head to whichever is closest.
2 locations to catch Sandshrew
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1Where To Catch Sandshrew in Let's Go
- Step 2Evolve into Sandslash
How to Get Shiny Sandshrew in Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee
In Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee, the strongest route to a Shiny Sandshrew is Catch Combo, which reaches about 1 in 274 at full boosts. Pick a method and tune your setup below to see live odds. Compare Shiny Sandshrew odds across every game
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Shiny Sandshrew Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Catch Combo at full boosts, about 1 in 274 on each try. Tune it below.
Catch Combo: Catch one species back-to-back. A Lure stacks on top of a 31-plus combo.
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 |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 29 |
| 25%one in four | 79 |
| 50%coin flip | 190 |
| 90%very likely | 630 |
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 Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee 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 |
Sandshrew Evolutions
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. The evolved forms gain up to 150 total stats over Sandshrew. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Let's Go Sandshrew Best Moveset
Ground pre-evolution at 75 Attack and 85 Defense. The moveset can't threaten through these numbers. Evolve to Sandslash for the 100 Attack and physical bulk that give Ground TermStab some presence.
Best Build
Sandshrew Candy
Tough Candy+DEFImpish raises Defense and lowers Sp. Atk. Madam Celadon sets this nature when you pick Yellow, then Blue. It costs 10,000 Pokedollars and lasts for the rest of the day.
Candy for Sandshrew
- Sandshrew Candy
- Tough Candy
Tough Candy L
Tough Candy XL
Sandshrew Candy raises every stat, but only Sandshrew and Sandslash can eat it. The stat candy that goes with Sandshrew is Tough Candy (Defense), and any Pokemon can eat it; Tough Candy L needs level 30 and Tough Candy XL needs level 60 or higher.
Alolan Form
- Alolan Sandshrew
Alolan Sandshrew (Ice/Steel type) has 50 HP, 75 Attack, 90 Defense, 10 Sp. Atk, 35 Sp. Def and 40 Speed, 300 in total. Weak to Fire (4x), Fighting (4x) and Ground. Resists Ice (1/4), Normal, Grass, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Dragon and Fairy. Immune to Poison. Alolan Sandshrew is not found in the wild in Let's Go. In Let's Go Pikachu, give a Sandshrew to a person in Celadon City to get a level 27 Alolan Sandshrew. Best nature for Alolan Sandshrew: Impish (Madam Celadon: Yellow, then Blue). Stat candy: Tough Candy (Defense). Pokedex: Its ice-covered body lets it slide across the ground with bullet-like speed, sending its enemies flying when it hits them.
Alolan Sandshrew learns by level up: Defense Curl and Scratch (Lv 1); Bide (Lv 4); Ice Shard (Lv 8); Swift (Lv 12); Mirror Coat (Lv 16); Fury Swipes (Lv 20); Ice Punch (Lv 24); Swords Dance (Lv 28); Slash (Lv 32); Blizzard (Lv 36). TM moves: Blizzard, Brick Break, Dig, Earthquake, Facade, Headbutt, Ice Beam, Ice Punch, Iron Tail, Poison Jab, Protect, Rest, Rock Slide, Seismic Toss, Stealth Rock, Substitute, Toxic and X-Scissor.
Master Trainer
Paul battles with one level 70 Sandshrew that knows Poison Jab, Seismic Toss and Sand Attack. It takes extra damage from Water, Grass and Ice moves. Win to earn the Sandshrew Master title. Find Paul on Route 11.
Moves List
Without TMs, Sandshrew's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Normal and Poison coverage and more on top of Earthquake and Dig for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
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 15 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its body is dry. When it gets cold at night, its hide is said to become coated with a fine dew.
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
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