What does Sandshrew evolve into?

Get Sandshrew to Sandslash at level 22. At 300 BST, Sandshrew is just the starting point.

At what level does Sandshrew evolve?

Level 22 gets you Sandslash . Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.

Should I use Sandshrew?

In Crystal, Sandshrew does the job early-game if you need a Ground type on your team. Evolve it into Sandslash before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.

Where can you catch Sandshrew?

You can find Sandshrew in Crystal. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Sandshrew - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Physical

Balanced

DTier

40Speed · Very Slow

Stats & Training

Sandshrew's spread isn't flashy. Defense leads, Sp. Atk trails, 1 stats clear the bar. Easy to catch and worth 1 Defense stat exp, on a medium-fast 1M XP curve.

Base Stats

Avg

HP50

Attack75

Defense85

Sp. Atk20

Sp. Def30

Speed40

Total300

Details

Catch Rate

Guaranteed255 / 255

Growth Rate

Medium Fast1M XP

Height0.6 m

Weight12.0 kg

Base XP60

Abilities

Abilities were introduced in Generation III. Shown below for reference.

Sand Veil

Increases evasion to 1.25× during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

Sand RushHA

Doubles Speed during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

EV Yield

HPAtkDef+1SpASpDSpe

Defense training source

Pokedex Entries

It prefers dry, sandy places because it uses the sand to protect itself when threatened.

Crystal

Sandshrew Weakness

Sandshrew's Ground typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Grass, and Ice. It shrugs off Electric-type attacks completely. Sandshrew's physical bulk (base 85 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.

Sandshrew Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Water, Grass, Ice
0.5x (Resist)	Poison, Rock
0x (Immune)	Electric

Type ChartAvg

3Weak

2Resist

1Immune

Score-1

Gen II Type Chart

Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Water Grass Ice

½xResist

Poison Rock

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

Electric

STAB (5)

Fire Electric Poison Rock Steel

How to Beat Sandshrew in Crystal (Best Counters)

Lapras WaterIce	C
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Move Moves Water GunLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Water Gun 2x 76-91% View Lapras builds →
Quagsire WaterGround	C
Available Move Moves Water GunLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Water Gun 2x 65-78% View Quagsire builds →
Oddish GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 37-46% View Oddish builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Available Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 72-85% View Chikorita builds →
Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 76-91% View Bellsprout builds →

Crystal Evolution

Sandshrew evolves into Sandslash. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. The evolved forms gain up to 150 total stats over Sandshrew. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

2 Forms

#027Sandshrew

Level 22

#028Sandslash

Stat Comparison 2 Stages

Sandshrew

Ground

Sandslash

Ground

75+25

ATK

100+25

DEF

110+25

SP.ATK

45+25

SP.DEF

55+25

SPE

65+25

BST

300C-Tier

450A-Tier+150

ROLE

Balanced

Attacker

TYPE

Physical

Breeding

Very Easy

Breed Sandshrew easily with 66 breeding partners from the Ground egg group. Pass egg moves like Counter, Flail, Metal Claw and 2 more to offspring.

Egg Groups

Ground

Gender

♂50.0%♀50.0%

Hatch Time

20 cycles·5,140 steps

Quick~5 min with Flame Body

Egg Moves

5moves

Breed With (best first)

Crystal Sandshrew Best Moveset

Best Build

Gen 2 build content has limited support (no abilities).

Try selecting a different game/generation filter, or check back later.

Moves

You'll want to breed for Counter and Flail on Sandshrew. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Earthquake and Dig, they expand what Sandshrew can actually threaten in practice.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Scratch

—4010035Normal

Lv 6

Defense Curl

D——40Normal

Lv 11

Sand Attack

D—10015Ground

Lv 17

Poison Sting

—1510035Poison

Lv 23

Slash

D7010020Normal

Lv 30

Swift

D60—20Normal

Lv 37

Fury Swipes

D188015Normal

Lv 45

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM Moves

TM45

Attract

D—10015Normal

TM03

Curse

C——10Ghost

HM01

Cut

—509530Normal

TM40

Defense Curl

D——40Normal

TM43

Detect+4

D——5Fighting

TM28

Dig

C6010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM01

Dynamic Punch

D100505Fighting

TM26

Earthquake

C10010010Ground

TM20

Endure+4

D——10Normal

TM21

Frustration

D—10020Normal

TM49

Fury Cutter

—109520Bug

TM02

Headbutt

D7010015Normal

TM10

Hidden Power

—6010015Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

D1007515Steel

TM31

Mud-Slap

D2010010Ground

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM44

Rest

C——10Psychic

TM27

Return

D—10020Normal

TM08

Rock Smash

—2010015Fighting

TM04

Rollout

D309020Rock

TM37

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM35

Sleep Talk

C——10Normal

TM13

Snore

—4010015Normal

HM04

Strength

C8010015Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM34

Swagger

C—8515Normal

TM39

Swift

D60—20Normal

TM46

Thief

D6010025Dark

TM06

Toxic

C—8510Poison

Egg Moves

Egg

Counter-5

D—10020Fighting

Egg

Flail

D—10015Normal

Egg

Metal Claw

D509535Steel

Egg

Rapid Spin

D5010040Normal

Egg

Safeguard

D——25Normal

Tutor Moves

Sandshrew can't learn any Tutor moves

Crystal Sandshrew Locations

high spawn rates in early-game routes across 4 locations. Sandshrew's one of the easier catches on the list. Knock it out fast and save your time for harder targets.

Best Locations to Catch Sandshrew in Crystal

Walking encounters at Lv. 6-10 across 4 spots for Sandshrew. Sorted by progression so you can see what's reachable at your current point in the game.

Union Cave - 1F

Grass Lv.6 Cave

30%Early

Morning/day

Mt. Moon - 1F

Grass Lv.8 Cave

20%Early

Morning/day

Route 3

Grass Lv.10 Route

5%Early

Morning/day

Route 4

Grass Lv.10 Route

5%Early

Morning/day

Sandshrew Guide

Get Sandshrew to Sandslash at level 22. At 300 BST, Sandshrew is just the starting point.
Level 22 gets you Sandslash. Not the fastest evolution, so consider Exp. Share or route grinding to speed it up.
In Crystal, Sandshrew does the job early-game if you need a Ground type on your team. Evolve it into Sandslash before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
You can find Sandshrew in Crystal. The Locations section has the full breakdown of routes and encounter details. It also appears in 19 other games across the series.

Game Availability

Sandshrew first appeared in Red & Blue and spans 20 games across 10 generations. It later gained an Alolan form in Generation 7, adding new dimensions to its competitive identity.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 74-91% View Bellsprout builds →
Poliwag Water	D
Obtain MethodEcruteak City Surfing Available Move Moves BubbleLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Bubble 2x 52-65% View Poliwag builds →
Hoppip GrassFlying	D
Upcoming Move Moves Mega DrainLv. 30 Learns Mega Drain at Level 30 View Hoppip builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Upcoming Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Learns Razor Leaf at Level 8 View Chikorita builds →
Totodile Water	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Upcoming Move Moves Water GunLv. 13 Learns Water Gun at Level 13 View Totodile builds →

Lapras WaterIce	C
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves BlizzardTM14 Water GunLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Blizzard 2x 204-241%KO Water Gun 2x 77-91% View Lapras builds →
Oddish GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 39-48% View Oddish builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Available Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 71-86% View Chikorita builds →
Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 77-91% View Bellsprout builds →
Smoochum IcePsychic	D
Obtain MethodRoute 34 Gift Available Moves Moves BlizzardTM14 Ice PunchTM33 Powder SnowLv. 13 Damage vs Sandshrew Blizzard 2x 204-241%KO Ice Punch 2x 141-166%KO Powder Snow 2x 77-91% View Smoochum builds →

Lapras WaterIce	C
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves BlizzardTM14 SurfHM03 Water GunLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Blizzard 2x 209-246%KO Surf 2x 175-206%KO Water Gun 2x 79-94% View Lapras builds →
Oddish GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 37-45% View Oddish builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Available Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 76-90% View Chikorita builds →
Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 76-90% View Bellsprout builds →
Sunkern Grass	D
Available Moves Moves Mega DrainLv. 10 AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 42-49% Absorb 2x 22-27% View Sunkern builds →

Hoppip GrassFlying	D
Available Move Moves Mega DrainLv. 30 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 43-52% View Hoppip builds →
Oddish GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 37-44% View Oddish builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Available Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 69-81% View Chikorita builds →
Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 75-89% View Bellsprout builds →
Sunkern Grass	D
Available Moves Moves Mega DrainLv. 10 AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 41-48% Absorb 2x 21-26% View Sunkern builds →

Hoppip GrassFlying	D
Available Move Moves Mega DrainLv. 30 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 42-51% View Hoppip builds →
Oddish GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Absorb 2x 36-43% View Oddish builds →
Chikorita Grass	D
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift Available Move Moves Razor LeafLv. 8 Damage vs Sandshrew Razor Leaf 2x 67-80% View Chikorita builds →
Bellsprout GrassPoison	D
Available Move Moves Vine WhipLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Vine Whip 2x 70-83% View Bellsprout builds →
Sunkern Grass	D
Available Moves Moves Mega DrainLv. 10 AbsorbLv. 1 Damage vs Sandshrew Mega Drain 2x 40-47% Absorb 2x 20-25% View Sunkern builds →

Vaporeon Water	B
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves GrowthSetup SurfSTAB RestRecovery Acid Armor Damage vs Sandshrew Surf 2x 215-253%KO View Vaporeon builds →
Jynx IcePsychic	B
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves Ice Beam Lovely Kiss PsychicSTAB Thief Damage vs Sandshrew Ice Beam 2x 223-263%KO Psychic 112-131%KO Thief 49-59% View Jynx builds →
Venusaur GrassPoison	C
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves Leech Seed Sleep Powder Giga Drain SynthesisRecovery Damage vs Sandshrew Giga Drain 2x 165-194%KO View Venusaur builds →