In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Don't let Rapidash's 500 base stat total fool you. Flash Fire is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it C-Tier as a sweeper. Flare Blitz with Choice Band is the standard set.

What is Rapidash weak to?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Rapidash's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Rhydon (Ground), and Golem (Rock), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Rapidash's base 105 Speed lets it outpace many threats and strike first, which matters more than trying to tank hits.

What is the best ability for Rapidash?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Run Flash Fire on Rapidash. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Rapidash also gets Run Away and Flame Body, but they don't compare. With base 105 Speed, Flash Fire gives Rapidash an edge before opponents can react.

What role does Rapidash play in battle?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Rapidash fills the sweeper role. It's a physical attacker with base 100 Attack. Base 105 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.

What counters Rapidash?

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the best way to handle Rapidash: Priority moves (Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard) bypass its speed. Bulky walls that resist its STAB also shut it down.

Rapidash - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Sweeper

CTier

105Speed · Fast

Stats & Training

Rapidash's built around mixed offense. Speed leads the charge, HP pays for it. Moderately hard to find, worth 2 Speed EVs. Follows a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

High

HP65

Attack100

Defense70

Sp. Atk80

Sp. Def80

Speed105

Total500

Details

Catch Rate

Challenging60 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height1.7 m

Weight95.0 kg

Base XP175

Abilities

Run Away

Ensures success fleeing from wild battles.

Flash FireTop Pick

Protects against fire moves. Once one has been blocked, the Pokémon's own Fire moves inflict 1.5× damage until it leaves battle.

Flame BodyHANiche

Has a 30% chance of burning attacking Pokémon on contact.

Flash Fire grants Fire immunity

EV Yield

HPAtkDefSpASpDSpe+2

Speed training target

Pokedex Entries

It gallops at nearly 150 mph. With its mane blazing ferociously, it races as if it were an arrow.

Rapidash Weakness

Type-wise, Rapidash takes extra damage from Water, Ground, and Rock. 6 resistances give it solid defensive coverage on top of that. Flash Fire grants an additional Fire immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Rapidash leans offensive (base 100 Atk) rather than trying to tank its weaknesses.

Rapidash Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Water, Ground, Rock
0.5x (Resist)	Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel, Fairy

Type ChartAvg

3Weak

6Resist

1Immune

Score0

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Water Ground Rock

½xResist

Fire Grass Ice Bug Steel Fairy

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

Fire

STAB (4)

Grass Ice Bug Steel

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

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Slowking's Scald hits Rapidash for 77-91%. Garchomp threatens a KO with Earthquake (162-190%).

Slowking WaterPsychic	A
Recommended Build AbilityRegenerator ItemColbur Berry NatureRelaxed Moves ScaldSTAB TeleportUtility Slack Off Future Sight Damage vs Rapidash Scald 2x 77-91% View Slowking builds →
Garchomp DragonGround	A
Recommended Build AbilityRough Skin ItemLeftovers NatureJolly Moves EarthquakeSTAB Swords Dance Scale Shot Stealth Rock Damage vs Rapidash Earthquake 2x 162-190%KO View Garchomp builds →

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Evolution

Rapidash is the evolved form of Ponyta. Breeding produces Ponyta eggs, and they're average hatch time. Evolving from Ponyta gave Rapidash the biggest boost in HP (+15), bringing the total to 500 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#077Ponyta

Level 40

#078Rapidash

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Ponyta

Fire

Rapidash

Fire

65+15

ATK

100+15

DEF

70+15

SP.ATK

80+15

SP.DEF

80+15

SPE

105+15

BST

410D-Tier

500C-Tier+90

ROLE

Balanced

Sweeper

TYPE

Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed with Rapidash to get Ponyta eggs easily using 131 partners from the Ground egg group. Notable egg moves include Ally Switch, Charm, Double Kick and 8 more.

Egg Groups

Ground

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

20 cycles·5,140 steps

Quick~5 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

11moves

Breed With (best first)

Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Rapidash Best Moveset

Flare Blitz is the safe click most turns. Choice Band locks Rapidash into it but rewards with raw power at the cost of move flexibility. Jolly nature and max Attack and Speed EVs maximize that first hit. Flashfire helps on the margins.

Best Build

Experimental

Ability

Flash Fire

Item

Choice BandPOWER

Best Nature for Rapidash

Jolly+SPE

Rapidash best EVs are Attack and Speed

EVs

Atk

Def

Spe

Physical Sweeper Moveset

Flare BlitzSTAB
High Horsepower
Wild Charge
MegahornCoverage

Recommended Teammates

SlowkingDecent

Moves

Breeding's the move. Ally Switch and Charm give Rapidash options it can't learn any other way, and coverage across 7 types already covers a decent range on top of Overheat and Flare Blitz. The egg moves push it further.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Ember

D4010025Fire

Lv 1

Growl

——10040Normal

Lv 1

Megahorn

A1208510Bug

Lv 1

Poison Jab

C8010020Poison

Lv 1

Quick Attack+1

D4010030Normal

Lv 1

Smart Strike

C70—10Steel

Lv 1

Tackle

D4010035Normal

Lv 1

Tail Whip

——10030Normal

Lv 15

Flame Charge

S5010020Fire

Lv 20

Agility

C——30Psychic

Lv 25

Flame Wheel

C6010025Fire

Lv 30

Stomp

—6510020Normal

Lv 35

Fire Spin

D358515Fire

Lv 43

Take Down

C908520Normal

Lv 49

Inferno

—100505Fire

Lv 56

Fire Blast

S110855Fire

Lv 63

Flare Blitz

S12010015Fire

TM Moves

TM45

Attract

C—10015Normal

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM58

Endure+4

C——10Normal

TM42

Facade

C7010020Normal

TM38

Fire Blast

S110855Fire

TM35

Flamethrower

C9010015Fire

TM68

Giga Impact

B150905Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

C150905Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

C1007515Steel

TM50

Overheat

B130905Fire

TM84

Poison Jab

C8010020Poison

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM82

Sleep Talk

C——10Normal

TM22

Solar Beam

C12010010Grass

TM96

Strength

—8010015Normal

TM90

Substitute

C——10Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

B——5Fire

TM87

Swagger

D—8515Normal

TM75

Swords Dance

A——20Normal

TM61

Will-O-Wisp

C—8515Fire

Egg Moves

Egg

Ally Switch+2

C——15Psychic

Egg

Charm

C—10020Fairy

Egg

Double Kick

D3010030Fighting

Egg

Double-Edge

B12010015Normal

Egg

Flame Wheel

C6010025Fire

Egg

High Horsepower

A959510Ground

Egg

Horn Drill

——305Normal

Egg

Hypnosis

C—6020Psychic

Egg

Low Kick

D—10020Fighting

Egg

Morning Sun

S——5Normal

Egg

Thrash

B12010010Normal

Tutor Moves

Rapidash can't learn any Tutor moves

How to Get Rapidash in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

No wild encounters for Rapidash. The 2-stage line runs through Ponyta, which you can catch at solid rates from the locations below. Evolve at level 40 once you've got the levels.

How to Obtain Rapidash in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

To get Rapidash, start by catching Ponyta through walking encounters at Lv. 13-29. The chain covers 1 catchable stage before reaching the final form.

Step 1Catch Ponyta
Route 206
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.14-16 Route
45%Early
Day
Route 206
Shining PearlGrass Lv.14-16 Route
45%Early
Day
Route 206
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.14-16 Route
35%Early
Morning
Route 206
Shining PearlGrass Lv.14-16 Route
35%Early
Morning
Route 206
Shining PearlGrass Lv.14-16 Route
25%Early
Night
Route 206
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.14-16 Route
25%Early
Night
Route 211 - West
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.13 Route
10%Early
Route 211 - West
Shining PearlGrass Lv.13 Route
10%Early
Route 210 - South
Shining PearlGrass Lv.18-20 Route
50%Mid
Day
Route 210 - South
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.18-20 Route
50%Mid
Day
Route 215
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.21-22 Route
40%Mid
Day
Route 215
Shining PearlGrass Lv.21-22 Route
40%Mid
Day
Route 214
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.23-24 Route
35%Mid
Morning/day
Route 214
Shining PearlGrass Lv.23-24 Route
35%Mid
Morning/day
Route 210 - South
Shining PearlGrass Lv.18-20 Route
30%Mid
Morning/night
Route 210 - South
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.18-20 Route
30%Mid
Morning/night
Route 215
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.21-22 Route
30%Mid
Morning
Route 215
Shining PearlGrass Lv.21-22 Route
30%Mid
Morning
Route 214
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.23-24 Route
25%Mid
Night
Route 214
Shining PearlGrass Lv.23-24 Route
25%Mid
Night
Route 215
Shining PearlGrass Lv.21 Route
20%Mid
Night
Route 215
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.21 Route
20%Mid
Night
Route 211 - East
Shining PearlGrass Lv.26-28 Route
15%Mid
Morning/day
Route 211 - East
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.26-28 Route
15%Mid
Morning/day
Sandsear Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.25-29 Desert
Mid
Requires Strength
Sandsear Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.25-29 Desert
Mid
Requires Strength
Typhlo Cavern
Shining PearlGrass Lv.25-29 Cave
Mid
Requires Strength
Typhlo Cavern
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.25-29 Cave
Mid
Requires Strength
Volcanic Cave
Shining PearlGrass Lv.25-29 Volcano
Mid
Requires Strength
Volcanic Cave
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.25-29 Volcano
Mid
Requires Strength
Route 211 - East
Shining PearlGrass Lv.27-28 Route
5%Mid
Night
Route 211 - East
Brilliant DiamondGrass Lv.27-28 Route
5%Mid
Night
Train until Level 40
Step 2Rapidash ✓

Rapidash Guide

In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Don't let Rapidash's 500 base stat total fool you. Flash Fire is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it C-Tier as a sweeper. Flare Blitz with Choice Band is the standard set.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Rapidash's biggest threats include Gyarados (Water), Rhydon (Ground), and Golem (Rock), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Rapidash's base 105 Speed lets it outpace many threats and strike first, which matters more than trying to tank hits.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Run Flash Fire on Rapidash. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Rapidash also gets Run Away and Flame Body, but they don't compare. With base 105 Speed, Flash Fire gives Rapidash an edge before opponents can react.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Rapidash fills the sweeper role. It's a physical attacker with base 100 Attack. Base 105 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the best way to handle Rapidash: Priority moves (Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard) bypass its speed. Bulky walls that resist its STAB also shut it down.

Game Availability

Rapidash first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 20 games across 10 generations. It later gained a Galarian form in Generation 8, adding new dimensions to its competitive identity.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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