Is Sandslash Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Ground-type with AbilitySand Veil for sandstorm evasion. Sandslash handles Wattson's Electric gym and earns its place against Sidney in the E4. The Safari Zone timing is the variable. If it joins early enough, the Ground coverage stays useful all the way through Wallace.
Roxanne's typing presses Sandshrew's defenses.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Sandshrew has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Tate & Liza's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Juan's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Drake's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Catch Sandshrew
Catch Sandshrew on Route 111 (walking, Lv 19-21, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by the Tunnel Man in Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Battle Frontier
Evolve Sandshrew to Sandslash
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash at Level 22. Your Sandshrew should hit Level 22 before you reach Norman, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by the Tunnel Man in Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Battle Frontier
How to Get Sandslash in Emerald
Sandslash never spawns on its own in Emerald. Catch a desert Sandshrew on Route 111 or in Mirage Tower, then evolve it at level 22 to fill the slot.
Wild Sandslash may be holding when caught:
Quick Claw (5% chance) A hold item that occasionally allows the first strike.Catch Sandshrew at any of these 2 spots to eventually evolve into Sandslash.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Sandshrew
- 2Evolve Sandslashat Lv.22
Badge 3
Badge 4How to Obtain Sandslash in E
To get Sandslash, start by catching Sandshrew through walking encounters at Lv. 19-24. The chain covers 1 catchable stage before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Sandslash ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Sandshrew egg.
How to Get Shiny Sandslash in Emerald
Sandslash won't turn up wild, so hunt its pre-evolution Sandshrew across Route 111 and the Mirage Tower, then let a shiny one hit level 22 to carry that recolor into its final form. Compare Shiny Sandslash odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Sandslash Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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 Emerald 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
What is Sandslash Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Sandslash
 Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Pelipper builds →Ice Beam 2x73-86% Water Gun 2x47-56% | ||
 Grovyle Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Croconaw Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (Littleroot Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Croconaw builds →Ice Beam 2x52-62% Water Gun 2x36-43% | ||
 Lombre WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Lombre builds →Ice Beam 2x52-62% Absorb 2x19-23% | ||
 Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Marshtomp builds →Ice Beam 2x52-62% Water Gun 2x36-43% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Bayleef Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (Littleroot Town Gift) | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Petalburg City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Azumarill builds →Bubble Beam 2x56-66% Ice Beam 2x52-62% | ||
 Gloom GrassPoison | C | |
 Cacnea Grass | C | |
 Nuzleaf GrassDark | C | |
 Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
Sandslash Evolutions
Evolved from Sandshrew. Sandslash is the final form in this two-stage line. A massive partner pool 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 102 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Counter, Crush Claw, Flail and 5 more.
E Sandslash Best Moveset
Physical Ground tank at 110 Defense and 100 Attack. AbilitySand Veil raises evasion in sandstorm, pairing with Tyranitar teams. MoveEarthquake fires Ground TermStab from the physical side. The moveset blocks physical attacks and hits back hard, with sandstorm evasion adding a luck-based defensive layer.
Best Build
Sandslash best EVs are Defense and Attack
Bulky Support Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
- Counter
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Sandslash gets Counter and Crush Claw exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Coverage across 8 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. 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 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It curls up in a ball to protect itself from enemy attacks. It also curls up to prevent heatstroke during the daytime when temperatures rise sharply.
Sandslash Emerald Guide
In Emerald, 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.
In Emerald, Adamant is the go-to nature for Sandslash. That's +Attack / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 4 HP / 172 Atk / 252 Def EVs. Fits the attacker role.
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 · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List