Is Kabuto Good in Yellow Playthrough?
The physical fossil. Kabuto evolves into Kabutops at 40, which is the more aggressive Rock/Water option. Same late availability issue as Omanyte since both come from Cinnabar.
Brock's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Misty's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Lt. Surge's team hits Kabuto's weaknesses hard.
Erika's team hits Kabuto's weaknesses hard.
Kabuto trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's typing presses Kabuto's defenses.
Kabuto has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Kabutops has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Kabutops trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Kabuto can be revived from a fossil obtained on Cinnabar Island. Revive Dome Fossil. Revive the Dome Fossil at the Pokemon Lab on Cinnabar Island. The Dome Fossil is found at the end of Mt. Moon — choose between it or the Helix Fossil.
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble Beam98100%20
- TM08NormalBody Slam85100%15
- After Lt. Surge
- TM13IceIce Beam90100%10
- After Erika
- TM10NormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- LV 49WaterHydro Pump16580%5
- After Koga
- HM03WaterSurf135100%15
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzard11070%5
- After Koga
- TM09NormalTake Down9085%20
Your Kabuto should hit Level 40 before you reach Giovanni, at typical leveling pace.
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble Beam98100%20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM13IceIce Beam90100%10
- After Erika
- TM15NormalHyper Beam15090%5
- TM40NormalSkull Bash130100%10
- TM10NormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- After Koga
- HM03WaterSurf135100%15
- TM03NormalSwords Dance—100%20
- LV 53WaterHydro Pump16580%5
How to Get Kabuto in Yellow
Kabuto is handed to you at Cinnabar Island. No encounter rates or random spawns involved, so there's nothing to grind. Check the location details below for the exact conditions to trigger it.
How to Obtain Kabuto in Y
Step 1Kabuto ✓Cinnabar Island - Pokémon LabLv.30Gift from NPCRate 100%Revive Dome Fossil
Step 2Evolve into Kabutops
Kabuto Weakness
Kabuto is weak to Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Ground. Watch out for Grass attacks, those deal 4x damage. The Rock/Water typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Kabuto's physical bulk (base 90 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Grass |
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Fighting, Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Ice, Poison, Flying |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fire |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Kabuto Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kabuto
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
Obtain MethodPallet Town Gift | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Nidoqueen builds →Thunderbolt 2x93-110%KO Double Kick 2x24-29% | ||
 Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Nidoking builds →Thunderbolt 2x100-119%KO Double Kick 2x26-33% | ||
 Sandshrew Ground | C | |
 Ivysaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Primeape builds →Dig 2x80-95% Submission 2x97-115%KO Thunderbolt 2x80-95% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x112-134%KO Submission 2x62-74% | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Magneton Electric | C | |
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x117-139%KO Submission 2x64-75% | ||
Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Jolteon builds →Thunderbolt 2x196-230%KO Double Kick 2x19-23% | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Tangela Grass | C | |
Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
Tangela Grass | C | |
Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
Tangela Grass | C | |
Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
In Yellow, Jolteon can KO Kabuto with Thunderbolt (197-231%). Machamp threatens a KO with Submission (119-140%).
Jolteon Electric | A | |
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Jolteon builds →Thunderbolt 2x197-231%KO Pin Missile7-9% | ||
 Machamp Fighting | B | |
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Machamp builds →Earthquake 2x99-116%KO Body Slam21-24% Submission 2x119-140%KO | ||
Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabuto View Venusaur builds →Body Slam14-17% | ||
Kabuto Evolutions
Kabuto evolves into Kabutops, but can't breed. At 345 stats as a Rock/Water type, evolution is the only path. Evolving adds up to 150 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Kabuto Best Moveset
Decent physical stats for a pre-evolution, but too slow and too frail to survive competitive play. MoveSurf uses the low Special instead of the Attack. Kabutops improves the speed and power where it counts.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Body Slam
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Hydro Pump
Moves List
Most of Kabuto's flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Hydro Pump and Surf, but Normal and Grass and the rest of the TM pool push it from predictable to genuinely threatening.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A POKéMON that was recovered from a fossil. It uses the eyes on its back while hiding on the sea floor.
Kabuto Yellow Guide
Revive the Dome Fossil at the Pokemon Lab on Cinnabar Island. The Dome Fossil is found at the end of Mt. Moon — choose between it or the Helix Fossil.. Kabuto is revived at level 5. Give it Rare Candies or experience-share if you want it ready for the late-game. Note: this fossil is only available in Yellow. The other version of Yellow has a different fossil.
In Yellow, For a casual playthrough, Kabuto works as a placeholder. Rock/Water coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Kabutops. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Kabuto appears in 19 games spanning 10 generations. Gen 1 originals like Kabuto have the longest track record of availability in the series.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
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 7LGPE
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