Is Sandslash Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Sandslash arrives too late to matter in the Johto story and lacks the speed to keep up in Kanto trainer battles. Ground-types that join mid-Johto have 8+ gyms of experience on their side. Sandslash gets none of that runway.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Sandslash resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Sandslash resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Sandslash resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Sandslash resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catch Sandshrew
Catch Sandshrew in Union Cave (walking, Lv 6, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- LV 23NormalSlashPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- LV 30NormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
Evolve Sandshrew to Sandslash
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash at Level 22. Your Sandshrew should hit Level 22 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- LV 24NormalSlashPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
How to Get Sandslash in Crystal
Skip the wait for the endgame and evolve a Union Cave Sandshrew at level 22. Wild Sandslash only turns up at two high-level spots, common on Route 26 and rare in Victory Road.
2 locations to catch Sandslash4 locations to catch Sandshrew
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Catch Sandshrew at any of the 4 locations below, then level it up to 22 — it evolves into Sandslash.
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7 Badge 8Where To Catch Sandslash in C
Sandshrew gets you Sandslash sooner: catch it (before Badge 2) and evolve it at Lv 22. Wild Sandslash first appears at Route 26 (after Badge 8).
- Step 2Sandslash ✓or evolve from Sandshrew (Step 1)
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Crystal for Sandslash.
How to Get Shiny Sandslash in Crystal
Sandslash prowls Kanto's Route 26 as a common morning and day spawn at level 28, with a rarer version inside Victory Road; Route 26 is the saner camp. Compare Shiny Sandslash odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Sandslash Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
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 Crystal shiny odds for Sandslash.
Sandslash Weakness
Sandslash is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. Sandslash's physical bulk (base 110 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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Sandslash Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Sandslash
 Celebi PsychicGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Interact Encounter | ||
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Gyarados builds →Hydro Pump 2x97-115%KO Blizzard 2x65-76% | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 2x157-185%KO Blizzard 2x105-124%KO | ||
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | B | |
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Golduck builds →Hydro Pump 2x140-165%KO Blizzard 2x93-110%KO | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x116-137%KO Blizzard 2x97-115%KO | ||
 Suicune Water | B | |
Obtain MethodTin Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Suicune builds →Surf 2x106-125%KO Blizzard 2x89-104%KO | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Lapras builds →Hydro Pump 2x127-150%KO Ice Beam 2x102-120%KO | ||
Sandslash Evolutions
Evolved from Sandshrew. Sandslash is the final form in this two-stage line. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. HP grew the most through evolution (+25 over Sandshrew), and Sandslash peaks at 450 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Sandslash to get Sandshrew eggs easily using 66 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Counter, Flail, Metal Claw and 2 more.
C Sandslash Best Moveset
Ground TermStab from MoveEarthquake with MoveSwords Dance boosting for sweep potential and MoveRapid Spin clearing MoveSpikes. A rare combination of offense and hazard support in one slot. Held ItemLeftovers sustains between setup turns. Hits hard after boosting and cleans the field at the same time.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- Hidden Power Bug
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Sandslash gets Counter and Flail exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Coverage across 7 types rounds out the picture alongside Earthquake and Dig.
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.
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
26 of 31 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Adept at climbing trees, it rolls into a spiny ball, then attacks its enemies from above.
Sandslash Crystal Guide
In Crystal, Sandslash plays as a attacker. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Earthquake is the primary attack.
Yes. Alolan Sandslash is a regional variant with different typing and a reworked stat spread. Introduced in Gen 7. Plays completely differently from the original.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Red & Blue, Sandslash has appeared in 20 titles over 9 generations. Along the way, it received an Alolan form in Generation 7, 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 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 Sandslash.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List