Is Kabutops Good in Yellow Playthrough?
Faster and hits harder physically than Omastar. Kabutops is the pick if you want offense from your fossil choice. Both arrive too late for the main story, but Kabutops puts in more work against the E4 with its speed.
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 Kabutops in Yellow
Kabutops doesn't appear wild. Catch Kabuto instead, it shows up at solid rates. Evolve it at level 40 to get Kabutops. The 2-stage line is mapped in the step cards below.
How to Obtain Kabutops in Y
Step 1Catch KabutoCinnabar Island - Pokémon LabLv.30Gift from NPCRate 100%Revive Dome Fossil
Step 2Kabutops ✓
Kabutops Weakness
Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Ground moves hit Kabutops for super-effective damage. Grass hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. It resists 5 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Kabutops's physical bulk (base 105 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 Kabutops Weak Against
VulnerableBest Pokemon Against Kabutops
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
Obtain MethodPallet Town Gift | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Nidoqueen builds →Thunderbolt 2x54-65% Double Kick 2x19-23% | ||
 Nidoking PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Nidoking builds →Thunderbolt 2x62-73% Double Kick 2x19-23% | ||
 Sandshrew Ground | C | |
 Ivysaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Cerulean City Gift) | ||
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 4x167-198%KO | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) | ||
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Primeape builds →Dig 2x57-68% Submission 2x68-80% Thunderbolt 2x48-56% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x80-95% Submission 2x43-51% | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 4x169-200%KO | ||
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Magneton Electric | C | |
Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x82-97% Submission 2x45-53% | ||
Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Celadon City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Jolteon builds →Thunderbolt 2x114-134%KO Double Kick 2x13-16% | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 4x173-204%KO | ||
 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 | |
B | ||
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Arcanine builds →Body Slam12-15% Fire Blast10-12% Hyper Beam21-25% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Aerodactyl builds →Fire Blast7-8% Hyper Beam21-25% Double Edge16-20% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Moltres builds →Fire Blast12-15% Fire Spin4-5% Hyper Beam20-23% | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Raticate builds →Hyper Beam16-20% Blizzard12-14% | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build Moves
Damage vs Kabutops View Blastoise builds →Blizzard18-21% Hydro Pump36-42% Body Slam10-11% Surf29-34% | ||
Kabutops Evolutions
You get Kabutops from Kabuto at level 40. This Rock/Water-type hits 500 total stats and can't produce eggs. Evolving from Kabuto gave Kabutops the biggest boost in Attack (+35), bringing the total to 500 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Kabutops Best Moveset
115 Attack paired with MoveSlash that crits most of the time from the Speed-based critical hit formula. The crits effectively double the damage, making every Slash hit harder than the raw Attack suggests. Rock TermStab adds physical coverage. Built around one move doing double duty.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Swords Dance
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Surf
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without TMs, Kabutops's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Grass and Normal coverage and more on top of Hydro Pump and Surf for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
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 slim and fast swimmer. It slices its prey with its sharp sickles and drinks the body fluids.
Kabutops Yellow Guide
In Yellow, Kabutops has a 500 base stat total and ranks as C-Tier: a niche pick in Yellow's meta. It works best as a wallbreaker. Swords Dance anchors the moveset.
In Yellow, Kabutops fills the wallbreaker role. It's a mixed attacker with base 115 Attack and 70 Special. Base 80 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.
In Yellow, run Swords Dance, Slash, Hyper Beam, and Surf on Kabutops. Swords Dance is the most common pick at 0% usage. Surf provides reliable STAB damage.
For Yellow, Kabutops has answers, but so do you. Status moves (Toxic, Will-O-Wisp) wear it down. Setup sweepers can use it as a boost opportunity. Special attackers bypass its physical bulk.
Game Availability
Kabutops has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 19 titles across all 10 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
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