
Is Shellder Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Shellder evolves into Cloyster with a Water Stone. AbilityShell Armor blocks critical hits. Trade import from FRLG. Cloyster adds Ice typing for massive Defense and Drake coverage. One of the highest physical Defense stats in the game paired with the Ice type the endgame needs.
Roxanne's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Wattson's Pokemon outpace and outclass Shellder here.
Flannery's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Norman's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Juan's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Sidney's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Shellder trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Glacia's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Drake's typing presses Shellder's defenses.
Wallace's team hits Shellder's weaknesses hard.
Trade
Shellder cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wally's father at Wally's house in Petalburg City after you defeat Norman
- TUTORNormalExplosionPower 250Accuracy 100%PP 5Pacifidlog Town
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Tate & Liza
- HM08WaterDivePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Steven Stone in his house in Mossdeep City
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- After Juan
- TM03WaterWater PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Juan
- LV 49IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
How to Get Shellder in Emerald
There is no wild clam on the local beaches or sea routes, so Shellder has to be traded in to begin the line.
How to Obtain Shellder in E
Step 1Shellder ✓LATER APPEARANCEfrom Red & BlueNot TradeableAppears in Red & Blue via Super rod · Route 11. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom YellowNot TradeableAppears in Yellow via Super rod · Route 18. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.LATER APPEARANCEfrom Gold & SilverNot TradeableAppears in Gold & Silver via Super rod · Route 26. Forward-only transfer — no path back to this game from a later one.
Step 2Evolve into Cloyster
How to Get Shiny Shellder in Emerald
Shellder clams up outside Emerald, so trade one from FireRed alone, where a Super Rod cast off Cinnabar Island or inside Icefall Cave can turn one up; reel the shining bivalve there first, then bring it over. See every game where Shiny Shellder can be hunted
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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Shellder Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Shellder
Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Sunflora Grass | C | |
Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (Littleroot Town Gift) | ||
Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
Ampharos Electric | C | |
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Tropius Grass | C | |
Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
Manectric Electric | C | |
Pikachu Electric | C | |
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 19 breeding partners from the Water 3 egg group. Pass egg moves like Barrier, Bubble Beam, Icicle Spear and 3 more to offspring.
E Shellder Best Moveset
Water pre-evolution with AbilityShell Armor blocking critical hits. 100 Defense is notable but 30 HP negates it entirely. Competitive moveset value begins at Cloyster.
Best Build
Shellder best EVs are HP and Defense
Bulky Support Moveset
- Explosion
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Icy Wind
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 Dive 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
All 17 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
At night, it burrows a hole in the seafloor with its broad tongue to make a place to sleep. While asleep, it closes its shell, but leaves its tongue hanging out.
Shellder Emerald Guide
No. Shellder isn't catchable in Emerald. Catch one in FireRed, then trade it over.
In Emerald, Shellder has 305 BST and evolves into Cloyster. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
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.
