Is Shellder Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
Fishing encounter in postgame waters. AbilitySkill Link guarantees multi-hit moves always strike five times. Water Stone evolves Shellder into Cloyster, where Skill Link turns MoveIcicle Spear into one of the hardest-hitting Ice moves available. Postgame timing limits story impact.
Shellder has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Shellder has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Crasher Wake's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Shellder has the type edge here and should clean up Byron's team.
Candice's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Volkner's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Cloyster resists most of Bertha's coverage and hits back hard.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Flint's team.
Cloyster trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Cloyster resists most of Jupiter's coverage and hits back hard.
Cloyster has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Cloyster trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Shellder on Route 205 (Super Rod fishing, Lv 20-40, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM64NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Given by the coin clerk at the Veilstone Game Corner once you string together ten bonus rounds in a row on the slot machines
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- After Fantina
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Ravaged Path
- LV 44WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 49IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Shellder to Cloyster
Shellder evolves into Cloyster with a Water Stone. You can pick up the Water Stone in Route 213. Use the Water Stone in the post-game, after you beat Cynthia.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 49)
- LV 49IceAurora BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Gardenia
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Lake Acuity
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 216
- TM64NormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Given by the coin clerk at the Veilstone Game Corner once you string together ten bonus rounds in a row on the slot machines
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- After Crasher Wake
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Celestic Town
- TM55WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10Prize for defeating Crasher Wake
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Shellder in Diamond & Pearl
Shellder bites the Super Rod at three water spots, uncommon at level 20 to 40. You need the best rod to reach it, so the lesser rods will not pull one up no matter how long you fish.
Wild Shellder may be holding when caught:
Pearl (50% chance) A somewhat-small pearl that sparkles in a pretty silver color. It can be sold cheaply to shops.
Big Pearl (5% chance) A quite-large pearl that sparkles in a pretty silver color. It can be sold at a high price to shops.3 locations to catch Shellder
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5Where To Catch Shellder in DP
The line opens with Shellder at Lv. 20-40 via fishing encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
- Step 2Evolve into CloysterBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Shellder egg.
Bring the right balls: check Shellder catch odds in the Diamond & Pearl Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Shellder in Diamond & Pearl
Shellder pairs with a foreign-language parent at the Day Care, so its Masuda eggs shine at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Shellder odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Shellder Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
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 | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Shellder in the Diamond & Pearl Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Shellder Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Shellder
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Torterra GrassGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Turtwig (Lake Verity Gift) | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Leafeon Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
 Snover GrassIce | D | |
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 Water 3 egg group. Pass egg moves like Barrier, Bubble Beam, Icicle Spear and 4 more to offspring.
DP Shellder Best Moveset
100 Defense is impressive, but 25 Special Defense means any special attack ends it. Evolve into Cloyster to build a moveset that actually threatens opponents.
Best Build
Shellder best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Revenge Killer Moveset
- Rock Blast
- Explosion
- Icicle Spear
- Rapid Spin
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Barrier and Bubble Beam aren't available any other way for Shellder, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Surf and Brine 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
24 of 25 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It swims backward by opening and closing its two shells. Its large tongue is always kept hanging out.
Shellder Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Shellder in Diamond & Pearl can hold Pearl (50%) or Big Pearl (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Pearl.
In Diamond & Pearl, Shellder has 305 BST and evolves into Cloyster. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Shellder is not available during the main story. It can only be obtained after entering the Hall of Fame. Shellder becomes available after the main story is complete in Diamond & Pearl.
Game Availability
Shellder has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 20 titles across all 9 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 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 Shellder.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List