Is Tentacool Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Surf encounter across Hoenn's water routes. AbilityClear Body prevents stat drops. Tentacool evolves into Tentacruel at 30 for a fast Water/Poison with strong Special Defense. Wallace uses a Tentacruel on his Champion team, so you know the archetype works at the top.
Roxanne's typing presses Tentacool's defenses.
Tentacool trades roughly evenly with Brawly's team.
Wattson's team hits Tentacool's weaknesses hard.
Tentacool resists most of Flannery's coverage and hits back hard.
Norman's team hits Tentacool's weaknesses hard.
Tentacruel has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Tentacruel has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Tentacruel has the type edge here and should clean up Juan's team.
Tentacruel has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Tentacruel trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Tentacruel trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Tentacruel trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Tentacruel trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Catchable
Catch Tentacool on Route 103 (Surf, Lv 5-35, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- LV 25WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wally's father at Wally's house in Petalburg City after you defeat Norman
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Dewford Town
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wallace in Sootopolis City
- HM08WaterDivePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Steven Stone in his house in Mossdeep City
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 49WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
Evolve Tentacool to Tentacruel
Tentacool evolves into Tentacruel at Level 30. Your Tentacool should hit Level 30 before you reach Winona, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Flannery
- TM06PoisonToxicPower —Accuracy 85%PP 10Fiery Path
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wally's father at Wally's house in Petalburg City after you defeat Norman
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Dewford Town
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wallace in Sootopolis City
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 55WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
How to Get Tentacool in Emerald
Tentacool is the ocean default. With 112 encounters spanning 34 spots, it surfaces on nearly every sea route by surfing or any rod. Common almost everywhere, so you will paddle past it constantly while exploring the water.
34 locations to catch Tentacool
Encountered via fishing with a Rod, Surfing
Badge 1
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Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Tentacool in E
Tentacool is where the line starts, caught through fishing and surfing encounters at Lv. 5-35. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 1Tentacool ✓Abandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 99%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 99%Dewford TownLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Ever Grande CityLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Lilycove CityLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Mossdeep CityLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Pacifidlog TownLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 103Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 105 - OutsideLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 106Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 107Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 108Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 109Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 110Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 115Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 118Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 119Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 121Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 122Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 123Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 124Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 125Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 126Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 127Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 128Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 129Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 130Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 131Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 132Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 133Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Route 134Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Seafloor Cavern - EntranceLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Seafloor Cavern - Room 6Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Seafloor Cavern - Room 7Lv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 1, High TideLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 2, High TideLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Slateport CityLv.5-35Surfing on waterRate 60%Abandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.10-30Good RodRate 40%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.10-30Good RodRate 40%Abandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Dewford TownLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Ever Grande CityLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Lilycove CityLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Mossdeep CityLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Pacifidlog TownLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 103Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 105 - OutsideLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 106Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 107Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 108Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 109Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 110Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 115Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 118Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 119Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 121Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 122Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 123Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 124Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 125Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 126Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 127Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 128Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 129Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 130Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 131Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 132Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 133Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Route 134Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Seafloor Cavern - EntranceLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Seafloor Cavern - Room 6Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Seafloor Cavern - Room 7Lv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 1, High TideLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 2, High TideLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Slateport CityLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Sootopolis CityLv.5-10Old RodRate 30%Dewford TownLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Lilycove CityLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Mossdeep CityLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Pacifidlog TownLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 103Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 105 - OutsideLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 106Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 107Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 108Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 109Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 110Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 115Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 118Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 119Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 121Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 122Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 123Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 124Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 125Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 126Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 127Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 129Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 130Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 131Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 132Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 133Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Route 134Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Seafloor Cavern - EntranceLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Seafloor Cavern - Room 6Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Seafloor Cavern - Room 7Lv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 1, High TideLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Shoal Cave - 1F Room 2, High TideLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Slateport CityLv.10-30Good RodRate 20%Abandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.25-35Super RodRate 80%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.25-35Super RodRate 80%
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into TentacruelAbandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.20-35Super RodRate 20%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.20-35Super RodRate 20%Abandoned Ship - Cabins B1FLv.30-35Surfing on waterRate 1%Abandoned Ship - B2FLv.30-35Surfing on waterRate 1%or evolve from Tentacool (Step 1)
Not landing the catch? Calculate Tentacool catch rates for Emerald by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Tentacool in Emerald
Tentacool drifts through nearly every stretch of Hoenn sea, so Surf the waves around the Abandoned Ship on Route 108 or drop any rod, cutting through the swarm until one jellyfish glows shining. Compare Shiny Tentacool odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Tentacool 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Emerald with Tentacool preloaded.
Tentacool Weakness
Tentacool is weak to Electric, Ground, and Psychic. 7 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that. Tentacool's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Fighting, Poison, Bug, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Tentacool Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Tentacool
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Tentacool View Gardevoir builds →Psychic 2x109-129%KO Thunderbolt 2x77-91% | ||
 Grumpig Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Tentacool View Grumpig builds →Psychic 2x84-99% Shock Wave 2x38-46% | ||
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Tentacool View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x138-163%KO Shock Wave 2x47-56% | ||
 Electrode Electric | B | |
 Plusle Electric | C | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Sandslash Ground | A | |
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Camerupt FireGround | C | |
 Trapinch Ground | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
Tentacool Evolutions
Tentacool evolves into Tentacruel. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 180 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Tentacool easily with 19 breeding partners from the Water 3 egg group. Pass egg moves like Aurora Beam, Confuse Ray, Haze and 3 more to offspring.
E Tentacool Best Moveset
Water/Poison pre-evolution with AbilityClear Body blocking stat drops. 100 Sp. Def is impressive for the stage. One evolution from Tentacruel's elite special tank moveset.
Best Build
Tentacool best EVs are HP and Speed
Bulky Support Moveset
- Toxic
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
- Rapid Spin
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Tentacool. Aurora Beam and Confuse Ray come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Hydro Pump and Sludge Bomb and Normal and Ice coverage and more.
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 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its body is almost entirely composed of water. It ensnares its foe with its two long tentacles, then stabs with the poison stingers at their tips.
Tentacool Emerald Guide
In Emerald, Tentacool does the job early-game if you need a Water/Poison type on your team. Evolve it into Tentacruel before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Tentacool has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 21 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 Tentacool.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List