Mid-stage Pokemon like Zubat rarely see competitive play outside of special formats. It's a waypoint on the road to Crobat, which is where the real potential kicks in. Part of the Gen 1 roster. Ground moves can't touch it, which offsets the 4 weaknesses somewhat.
You won't find a real weakness in Zubat's stat line. It's well-rounded for the Bat Pokemon, and what it does with that depends on moveset and items. Yields 1 Speed EV, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.
Makes its home in gloomy caves. Atrophied eyes have left this Pokémon blind, so it scans its surroundings via sound waves that it emits from its mouth as it flies.
Zubat Weakness
ExcellentElectric, Ice, Psychic, and Rock-type moves hit Zubat for super-effective damage. The upside? Ground-type moves can't touch it at all. The Poison/Flying typing picks up 5 resistances to work with.
Zubat kicks off a three-stage evolution line through Golbat all the way to Crobat. For breeding, quick to hatch with a decent partner pool via one egg group. The evolved forms gain up to 290 total stats over Zubat.
How to Evolve
Breed Zubat easily with 16 breeding partners from the Flying egg group.
Best Build
Legends: Arceus uses different battle mechanics.
Competitive build content is not applicable for this game. Select a main series game for builds.
A compact toolkit overall. The offense runs through Sludge Bomb and Air Slash for Zubat, with Dark and Bug coverage and more doing what it can. Don't expect versatility from this one.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Zubat appears at decent spawn rates across 7 spots in mid-game routes. Sort by Best below if you want the highest rate, or Earliest if you want the quickest access point in your playthrough.
Best Locations
Walking encounters at walking across 7 spots for Zubat. Sorted by progression so you can see what's reachable at your current point in the game.
At 245 BST, Zubat is firmly in pre-evolution territory. Evolve it into Golbat before bringing it to any serious fight.
Zubat evolves into Golbat at level 22. Zubat is the base form in a 3-stage evolutionary line.
Inner Focus prevents flinching — that's the one you want on Zubat. Infiltrator is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses.
Zubat is leaning toward the physical side (base 45 Attack). Fragile — can't afford to take many hits, too. But the speed tells the real story — at base 55 Speed, it won't be moving first often.
Zubat appears in 21 games, including Yellow, Red & Blue, and Gold & Silver.
Present since Red & Blue, Zubat appears in 21 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Zubat have the longest track record of availability in the series.
- Gen IY
Yellow - Gen IRBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen IIGS
Gold & Silver - Gen IIC
Crystal - Gen IIIRS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen IIIFRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen IIIE
Emerald - Gen IVPt
Platinum - Gen IVHGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen IVDP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen VBW
Black & White - Gen VB2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen VIXY
X & Y - Gen VIORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen VIIUSUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen VIISM
Sun & Moon - Gen VIILGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen VIIISwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen VIIIPLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen VIIIBDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen IXSV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen IXLZA
Legends: Z-A