Is Shellder Good in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Playthrough?
Underground Water-type. Cloyster with AbilitySkill Link and multi-hit moves is a strong physical attacker. Worth the Water Stone investment if you want something that hits differently from your typical Water-type.
Shellder resists most of Roark's coverage and hits back hard.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Gardenia's team.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Crasher Wake's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Fantina's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Shellder has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Volkner's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Cloyster trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Cloyster trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Shellder on Route 205 (Super Rod fishing, Lv 20-40, uncommon).
You can pick up the Water Stone in Route 213.
How to Get Shellder in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
moderate rates across 12 locations for Shellder in mid-game routes. Scroll the sorted list below and pick whichever spot sits closest to your current route. The rate differences between locations are worth comparing.
Where To Catch Shellder in BDSP
The path to Shellder starts with Shellder at Lv. 20-63 via walking and fishing encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Shellder ✓Fuego IronworksLv.20-40Super RodRate 5%Route 205 - SouthLv.20-40Super RodRate 5%Valley WindworksLv.20-40Super RodRate 5%Fountainspring CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameRiverbank CaveLv.58-63CavePost-gameStill-Water CavernLv.58-63CavePost-game
Step 2Evolve into Cloyster
Shellder Weakness
Type-wise, Shellder takes extra damage from Electric and Grass. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Shellder's physical bulk (base 100 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
What is Shellder Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Shellder
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Shellder View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 2x371-437%KO | ||
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Cacturne GrassDark | C | |
 Abomasnow GrassIce | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Shellder View Abomasnow builds →Wood Hammer 2x120-141%KO | ||
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Kartana's Knock Off hits Shellder for 45-54%. Rotom threatens a KO with Hex (117-138%).
 Kartana GrassSteel | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityBeastboost ItemChoice Scarf NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Shellder View Kartana builds →Knock Off45-54% | ||
 Rotom ElectricGhost | C | |
Recommended Build AbilityLevitate ItemStickybarb NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Shellder View Rotom builds →Hex117-138%KO | ||
Shellder Evolutions
Evolving Shellder into Cloyster takes an evolution item. It's not a simple level-up, so check the chain details below. Evolving adds up to 220 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Shellder easily with 21 breeding partners from the Water3 egg group. Pass egg moves like Aqua Ring, Bubble Beam, Icicle Spear and 6 more to offspring.
BDSP Shellder Best Moveset
100 Defense on a Water pre-evo with AbilitySkill Link from the secondary slot guaranteeing multi-hit moves always land 5 times. 65 Attack at 40 Speed can't capitalize yet. The moveset waits for Cloyster where AbilitySkill Link plus setup access reach B-tier.
Best Build
Shellder best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Icicle Spear
- Explosion
- Double Edge
- Facade
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Aqua Ring and Bubble Beam aren't available any other way for Shellder, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Hydro Pump and Surf for solid options.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It swims backward by opening and closing its two shells. Its large tongue is always kept hanging out.
Shellder Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Guide
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Shellder does the job early-game if you need a Water type on your team. Evolve it into Cloyster before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Shellder has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 20 titles across all 10 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
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 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
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