In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Don't let Ninjask's 456 base stat total fool you. Speed Boost is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it C-Tier as a pivot. U Turn with Choice Band is the standard set.

What is Ninjask weak to?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, watch for Golem (Rock), Charizard (Fire), and Raikou (Electric) when using Ninjask. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Golem is the most dangerous since Rock moves deal 4x damage. Ice and Flying-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter. Ninjask's base 160 Speed lets it outpace many threats and strike first, which matters more than trying to tank hits.

What is the best ability for Ninjask?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Run Speed Boost on Ninjask. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Ninjask also gets Infiltrator, but they don't compare.

What role does Ninjask play in battle?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Ninjask fills the pivot role. It's leaning toward the physical side (base 90 Attack). Base 160 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's fragile, can't afford to take many hits.

What are the best moves for Ninjask?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, run U Turn, Leechlife, Dualwingbeat, and Nightslash on Ninjask. U Turn is the most common pick at 22% usage. This set covers the pivot role with a mix of damage and utility.

Ninjask - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Utility

Pivot

CTier

160Speed · Extreme

Stats & Training

Ninjask's all-in on Speed at the expense of Defense. The physical lean is obvious from the bars. Yields 2 Speed EVs and follows a standard growth curve.

Base Stats

Above

HP61

Attack90

Defense45

Sp. Atk50

Sp. Def50

Speed160

Total456

Details

Catch Rate

Moderate120 / 255

Growth Rate

Erratic600,000 XP

Height0.8 m

Weight12.0 kg

Base XP160

Abilities

Speed BoostPopular

Raises Speed one stage after each turn.

InfiltratorHAPopular

Bypasses light screen, reflect, and safeguard.

EV Yield

HPAtkDefSpASpDSpe+2

Speed training target

Pokedex Entries

Because they move so quickly, they sometimes become unseeable. They congregate around tree sap.

Ninjask Weakness

Ninjask's Bug/Flying typing leaves it vulnerable to Rock, Fire, Electric, Ice, and Flying. Rock hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. It shrugs off Ground-type attacks completely. At base 160 Speed, Ninjask outspeeds most threats and doesn't need to tank what it can outrun.

Ninjask Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
4x (Critical)	Rock
2x (Weak)	Fire, Electric, Ice, Flying
0.5x (Resist)	Bug
0.25x (Resist)	Grass, Fighting
0x (Immune)	Ground

Type ChartVulnerable

5Weak

3Resist

1Immune

Score-4

4xCritical

Rock

2xWeak

Fire Electric Ice Flying

½xResist

Bug

¼xResist

Grass Fighting

0xImmune

Ground

STAB (5)

Grass Psychic Dark Fighting Bug

How to Beat Ninjask in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl (Best Counters)

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Weavile threatens a KO with Ice Shard (88-104%).

Heatran FireSteel	S
Recommended Build AbilityFlashfire ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves Earth Power Magma Storm Stealth Rock TauntUtility View Heatran builds →
Weavile DarkIce	A
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemHeavy-Duty Boots NatureJolly Moves Knock Off Ice Shard Triple Axel Swords Dance Damage vs Ninjask Knock Off 71-84% Ice Shard 2x 88-104%KO View Weavile builds →

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Evolution

Out of 2 evolutions from Nincada, Ninjask comes from the level-up path. The method you use determines which form you end up with. Breed through Nincada to get eggs. Stat-wise, Ninjask comes out 220 points ahead of Shedinja, mostly thanks to a bigger Speed gain. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Evolutions

#290Nincada

#291NinjaskLevel 20

#292ShedinjaLevel 20

Stat Comparison 3 Stages

Nincada

BugGround

Ninjask

BugFlying

Shedinja

BugGhost

61+30

1-30

ATK

90+45

DEF

45-45

SP.ATK

50+20

SP.DEF

50+20

SPE

160+120

BST

266D-Tier

456C-Tier+190

236C-Tier-30

ROLE

Balanced

Pivot

Trick Room

TYPE

Utility

Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed with Ninjask to get Nincada eggs easily using 48 partners from the Bug egg group. Notable egg moves include Bug Bite, Final Gambit, Flail and 2 more.

Egg Groups

Bug

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

15 cycles·3,855 steps

Quick~4 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

5moves

Breed With (best first)

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Ninjask Best Moveset

You commit to a move every time Ninjask comes in. Choice Band gives raw power at the cost of move flexibility, and Infiltrator adds to that. Max Attack and Speed EVs make sure the locked move actually hurts. The remaining moves covers the rest.

Best Build

Experimental

Ability

Infiltrator

Item

Choice BandPOWER

Best Nature for Ninjask

Jolly+SPE

Ninjask best EVs are Attack and Speed

EVs

Atk

Def

Spe

Physical Sweeper Moveset

U TurnSTAB
Leech LifeSTAB
Dual WingbeatSTAB
Night Slash

Recommended Teammates

MespritGood

RegisteelGood

HitmonleeGood

Moves

You'll want to breed for Bug Bite and Final Gambit on Ninjask. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Bug Buzz and X-Scissor, they expand what Ninjask can actually threaten in practice.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Aerial Ace

C60—20Flying

Lv 1

Baton Pass

S——40Normal

Lv 1

Dig

C8010010Ground

Lv 1

Double Team

———15Normal

Lv 1

False Swipe

D4010040Normal

Lv 1

Fury Cutter

—409520Bug

Lv 1

Harden

———30Normal

Lv 1

Metal Claw

D509535Steel

Lv 1

Mud-Slap

D2010010Ground

Lv 1

Sand Attack

D—10015Ground

Lv 1

Scratch

—4010035Normal

Lv 1

Screech

D—8540Normal

Lv 15

Agility

C——30Psychic

Lv 23

Absorb

—2010025Grass

Lv 29

Bug Bite

C6010020Bug

Lv 36

Fury Swipes

—188015Normal

Lv 43

Mind Reader

———5Normal

Lv 50

Slash

C7010020Normal

Lv 57

Swords Dance

S——20Normal

Lv 64

X-Scissor

C8010015Bug

TM Moves

TM40

Aerial Ace

C60—20Flying

TM62

Bug Buzz

C9010010Bug

TM93

Cut

—509530Normal

TM97

Defog

C——15Flying

TM28

Dig

C8010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM58

Endure+4

C——10Normal

TM42

Facade

C7010020Normal

TM54

False Swipe

D4010040Normal

TM70

Flash

——10020Normal

TM19

Giga Drain

D7510010Grass

TM68

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

TM17

Protect+4

S——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM51

Roost

C——10Flying

TM37

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM30

Shadow Ball

D8010015Ghost

TM82

Sleep Talk

C——10Normal

TM22

Solar Beam

C12010010Grass

TM90

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM87

Swagger

D—8515Normal

TM75

Swords Dance

S——20Normal

TM46

Thief

D6010025Dark

TM89

U-turn

S7010020Bug

TM81

X-Scissor

C8010015Bug

Egg Moves

Egg

Bug Bite

C6010020Bug

Egg

Final Gambit

D—1005Fighting

Egg

Flail

D—10015Normal

Egg

Gust

D4010035Flying

Egg

Night Slash

A7010015Dark

Tutor Moves

Ninjask can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Ninjask in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Ninjask doesn't appear wild. Catch Nincada instead, it shows up at decent rates. Evolve it at level 20 to get Ninjask. The 2-stage line is mapped in the step cards below.

How to Obtain Ninjask in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

To get Ninjask, start by catching Nincada through walking and special encounters at Lv. 10-63. The chain covers 1 catchable stage before reaching the final form.

Step 1Catch Nincada
Eterna Forest
Brilliant DiamondUsing PokeRadar Lv.10-12 Forest
22%Early
Eterna Forest
Shining PearlUsing PokeRadar Lv.10-12 Forest
22%Early
Grassland Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Grassland Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Riverbank Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Riverbank Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Still-Water Cavern
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Still-Water Cavern
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Sunlit Cavern
Shining PearlGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Sunlit Cavern
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.58-63 Cave
Post
Post-game
Train until Level 20
Step 2Ninjask ✓

Ninjask Guide

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Don't let Ninjask's 456 base stat total fool you. Speed Boost is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it C-Tier as a pivot. U Turn with Choice Band is the standard set.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, watch for Golem (Rock), Charizard (Fire), and Raikou (Electric) when using Ninjask. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Golem is the most dangerous since Rock moves deal 4x damage. Ice and Flying-type attackers are also a problem. With 5 weakness types, most competitive teams carry at least one counter. Ninjask's base 160 Speed lets it outpace many threats and strike first, which matters more than trying to tank hits.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Run Speed Boost on Ninjask. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Ninjask also gets Infiltrator, but they don't compare.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Ninjask fills the pivot role. It's leaning toward the physical side (base 90 Attack). Base 160 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's fragile, can't afford to take many hits.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, run U Turn, Leechlife, Dualwingbeat, and Nightslash on Ninjask. U Turn is the most common pick at 22% usage. This set covers the pivot role with a mix of damage and utility.

Game Availability

Ninjask first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 14 games across 8 generations. Obtainable through wild encounters in most titles where it appears.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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