Is Sandslash Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilitySand Veil makes Sandslash harder to hit in sandstorm, and Hoenn's Route 111 provides natural sand. Ground-type attacks handle Wattson, Flannery doesn't threaten it, and the physical bulk holds up through the late game. Native to RS and worth the catch.
Roxanne's typing presses Sandshrew's defenses.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Sandshrew trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Winona's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Tate & Liza's team hits Sandslash's weaknesses hard.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Sandslash has the type edge here and should clean up 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 typing presses Sandslash's defenses.
Sandslash trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Catch Sandshrew
Catch Sandshrew on Route 113 (walking, Lv 14-16, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Meteor Falls
Evolve Sandshrew to Sandslash
Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash at Level 22. Your Sandshrew should hit Level 22 before you reach Flannery, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- TM31FightingBrick BreakPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Meteor Falls
How to Get Sandslash in Ruby & Sapphire
Catch a Sandshrew on the desert routes and level it to 22, and you get Sandslash. The evolved stage never appears on its own.
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 3How to Obtain Sandslash in RS
Sandshrew is your first catch on the way to Sandslash. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 14-21 across 4 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Sandslash ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Sandshrew egg.
How to Get Shiny Sandslash in Ruby & Sapphire
Sandslash isn't found in the wild here, so catch a shiny Sandshrew on Route 111 or Route 113 and evolve it at level 22. Compare Shiny Sandslash odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire 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 Ruby & Sapphire 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 2x75-89% Water Gun 2x49-58% | ||
 Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
 Lombre WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Lombre builds →Ice Beam 2x53-64% Absorb 2x19-24% | ||
 Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Marshtomp builds →Ice Beam 2x53-64% Water Gun 2x38-44% | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Surskit BugWater | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 102 Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Surskit builds →Bubble Beam 2x49-58% Ice Beam 2x48-57% | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Petalburg City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sandslash View Azumarill builds →Bubble Beam 2x58-68% Ice Beam 2x53-64% | ||
 Treecko Grass | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 101 Gift | ||
 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.
RS Sandslash Best Moveset
MoveSwords Dance doubles Attack for MoveEarthquake sweeps, and AbilitySand Veil boosts evasion in sandstorm. MoveRapid Spin clears hazards. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Sandstorm teammate that sets up, spins, and hits hard after boosting.
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 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. 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
SANDSLASH’s body is covered by tough spikes, which are hardened sections of its hide. Once a year, the old spikes fall out, to be replaced with new spikes that grow out from beneath the old ones.
SANDSLASH can roll up its body as if it were a ball covered with large spikes. In battle, this POKéMON will try to make the foe flinch by jabbing it with its spines. It then leaps at the stunned foe to tear wildly with its sharp claws.
Sandslash Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Sandslash is obtained in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire by evolving Sandshrew under specific conditions.
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 · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List