
Is Trapinch Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Route 111 desert. AbilityArena Trap prevents opponents from switching, same as Dugtrio. The evolution chain goes through Vibrava at 35 to Flygon at 45. The grind is long but Flygon's Ground/Dragon typing and AbilityLevitate make it one of RS's strongest Pokemon. Worth the wait.
Trapinch trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Brawly's typing presses Trapinch's defenses.
Trapinch trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Trapinch has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Trapinch trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Winona's team hits Trapinch's weaknesses hard.
Vibrava trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Vibrava has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Flygon has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Flygon has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Flygon trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Flygon has the type edge here and should clean up Drake's team.
Flygon has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Catchable
Catch Trapinch on Route 111 (walking, Lv 19-21, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- After Norman
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- LV 33DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 41GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 57NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
Evolve Trapinch to Vibrava
Trapinch evolves into Vibrava at Level 35. Your Trapinch should hit Level 35 before you reach Tate & Liza, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 35)
- LV 35DragonDragon BreathPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 35DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Rusturf Tunnel
- After Norman
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 57NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
Evolve Vibrava to Flygon
Vibrava evolves into Flygon at Level 45. Your Vibrava should hit Level 45 before you reach Sidney, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 114
- After Flannery
- TM06PoisonToxicPower —Accuracy 85%PP 10Fiery Path
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- After Wallace
- TM02DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Meteor Falls
- LV 65NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Trapinch in Ruby & Sapphire
Common in desert sand, two spots at a single area, levels 19 to 21. Trapinch only turns up in that one harsh stretch, so the sandstorm zone is the place to camp for it.
Wild Trapinch may be holding when caught:
1 location to catch Trapinch
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Where To Catch Trapinch in RS
Step 1Trapinch ✓
Step 3Evolve into Flygon
Bring the right balls: check Trapinch catch odds in the Ruby & Sapphire Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Trapinch in Ruby & Sapphire
Trapinch buries itself in the desert sand of Route 111, so travel on foot and fight the wild ones as you search for a shiny. Compare Shiny Trapinch odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Trapinch 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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Trapinch in the Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Trapinch Weakness
Trapinch is weak to Water, Grass, and Ice. On the flip side, it's immune to Electric-type moves entirely. Standard number of weaknesses for the Ground typing.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Trapinch Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Trapinch
Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Pelipper builds →Ice Beam 2x104-124%KO Water Gun 2x72-85% | ||
Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Roselia builds →Magical Leaf 2x107-127%KO | ||
Lombre WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Lombre builds →Ice Beam 2x76-90% Absorb 2x28-34% | ||
Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Marshtomp builds →Ice Beam 2x76-90% Water Gun 2x49-59% | ||
Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Petalburg City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Azumarill builds →Bubble Beam 2x79-93% Ice Beam 2x76-90% | ||
Surskit BugWater | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 102 Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Trapinch View Surskit builds →Bubble Beam 2x72-85% Ice Beam 2x66-79% | ||
Treecko Grass | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 101 Gift | ||
Gloom GrassPoison | C | |
Cacnea Grass | C | |
Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
Nuzleaf GrassDark | C | |
Trapinch Evolutions
Three stages ahead. Trapinch grows into Vibrava, then pushes on to Flygon. Check the evolution methods below. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via two egg groups. Evolving adds up to 230 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Trapinch easily with 37 breeding partners from the Bug and Dragon egg groups. Pass egg moves like Focus Energy, Gust, Quick Attack to offspring.
RS Trapinch Best Moveset
100 Attack is surprisingly high for a pre-evolution, and AbilityArena Trap traps grounded opponents to prevent switches. 10 Speed means always acting last. MoveEarthquake finishes trapped targets. Vibrava and Flygon lose Arena Trap on evolution, making Trapinch's ability unique.
Best Build
Trapinch best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Wallbreaker Moveset
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power Bug
- Sunny Day
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Trapinch. Focus Energy and Gust come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Earthquake and Dig and Dark and Normal 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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
TRAPINCH’s nest is a sloped, bowl-like pit dug in sand. This POKéMON patiently waits for prey to tumble down the pit. Its giant jaws have enough strength to crush even boulders.
TRAPINCH is a patient hunter. It digs an inescapable pit in a desert and waits for its prey to come tumbling down. This POKéMON can go a whole week without access to any water.
Trapinch Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Yes. Wild Trapinch in Ruby & Sapphire can hold Soft Sand (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Soft Sand.
Game Availability
Available in 15 titles since its debut in Ruby & Sapphire, Trapinch spans 7 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in most mainline games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB

Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS

Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut

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 Trapinch.
