
Is Squirtle Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
The smoothest starter experience in Red and Blue. Water typing gives you answers to Rock, Ground, and Fire threats throughout the entire game, and Squirtle is tough enough to survive hits that would KO the other starters at this stage. You won't have many fights where Squirtle feels like the wrong choice.
Squirtle resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Misty's typing presses Wartortle's defenses.
Wartortle has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's team hits Wartortle's weaknesses hard.
Blastoise has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Blastoise trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Blastoise resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Blastoise resists most of Giovanni's coverage and hits back hard.
Blastoise trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Blastoise resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Blastoise has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Blastoise trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Blastoise has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Starter
Squirtle is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 35NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 42WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
Evolve Squirtle to Wartortle
Squirtle evolves into Wartortle at Level 16. Your Squirtle should hit Level 16 before you reach Misty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 39NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- LV 47WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
Evolve Wartortle to Blastoise
Wartortle evolves into Blastoise at Level 36. Your Wartortle should hit Level 36 before you reach Koga, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brock
- TM28GroundDigPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Returned by the Team Rocket thief after you defeat him in Cerulean City
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 42NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Silph Co.
- LV 52WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
How to Get Squirtle in Red & Blue
The third Pallet Town starter, handed over by Professor Oak at level 5. Choose Squirtle and the other two are gone for good. No wild ones exist in either version.
1 location to catch Squirtle
How to Obtain Squirtle in RB
Squirtle Weakness
Squirtle's Water typing leaves it vulnerable to Electric and Grass. Few weaknesses and 3 resistances make the typing clean. Just 2 weak spots to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Squirtle Weak Against
AvgSquirtle Evolutions
A Water type with 300 stats, Squirtle has a chain leading to Blastoise. Breeding won't work. The evolved forms gain up to 230 total stats over Squirtle. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Squirtle Best Moveset
Water pre-evolution with 65 Special. MoveSurf at reduced power heading toward Blastoise. Blastoise puts that Special stat and bulk to real competitive use.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Skull Bash
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Level-up moves are just the starting point for Squirtle. TMs unlock Normal and Dark coverage and more and turn a straightforward STAB kit around Hydro Pump and Surf into something with actual range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. Powerfully sprays foam from its mouth.
Squirtle Red & Blue Guide
For Red & Blue, you can run Squirtle through the first few routes without issues. 300 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Wartortle as fast as you can.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Squirtle has appeared in 21 games: nearly every mainline game. From Red & Blue through the latest titles, it's rarely been left out of a regional Pokedex.
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 Squirtle.