Is Poochyena Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Route 101 catch, first wild Pokemon you encounter. AbilityRun Away guarantees escape. Mightyena evolves at 18 with AbilityIntimidate, which is the real draw. Dark-type handles Phoebe at the E4. Early filler that evolves into something usable.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Brawly's team hits Poochyena's weaknesses hard.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Mightyena has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Mightyena has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Mightyena has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Mightyena has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Catch Poochyena on Route 101 (walking, Lv 2-3, uncommon).
- LV 13DarkBite90100%25
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- After Norman
- TM42NormalFacade70100%20
- LV 33NormalTake Down9085%20
- After Winona
- TM30GhostShadow Ball80100%15
- LV 41DarkCrunch120100%15
- After Wallace
- TM23SteelIron Tail10075%15
- LV 45DarkThief90100%25
Your Poochyena should hit Level 18 before you reach Wattson, at typical leveling pace.
- STARTING (Lv 18)
- LV 18DarkBite90100%25
- After Roxanne
- HM04NormalStrength80100%15
- After Wattson
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- After Winona
- TM15NormalHyper Beam15090%5
- TM30GhostShadow Ball80100%15
- LV 37NormalTake Down9085%20
- LV 47DarkCrunch120100%15
- LV 52DarkThief90100%25
How to Get Poochyena in Ruby & Sapphire
high spawn rates in early-game routes across 6 locations. Poochyena's one of the easier catches on the list. Knock it out fast and save your time for harder targets.
Where To Catch Poochyena in RS
The path to Poochyena starts with Poochyena at Lv. 2-4 via walking encounters. 1 catchable stage total, with locations listed for each one below.
Step 1Poochyena ✓Route 103Lv.2-4GrassRate 30%Route 102Lv.3-4GrassRate 15%Route 101Lv.2-3GrassRate 10%
Step 2Evolve into MightyenaBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Mightyena egg.
Poochyena Weakness
Fighting and Bug moves hit Poochyena for super-effective damage. The upside? Psychic-type moves can't touch it at all. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Ghost, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Psychic |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Poochyena Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Poochyena
 Nincada BugGround | C | |
 Makuhita Fighting | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Makuhita builds →Vital Throw 2x100-119%KO | ||
 Dustox BugPoison | C | |
Nincada BugGround | C | |
 Scizor BugSteel | B | |
Recommended Build AbilitySwarm ItemSalacberry NatureJolly Moves View Scizor builds →
| ||
Poochyena Evolutions
Poochyena evolves into Mightyena. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 200 total stats over Poochyena. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RS Poochyena Best Moveset
Dark pre-evolution heading toward Mightyena. AbilityRun Away has no competitive value. AbilityIntimidate becomes available after evolving. Stats too low for any format.
Best Build
Poochyena best EVs are HP and Defense
Bulky Support Moveset
- Roar
- Crunch
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Poochyena misses out on Astonish and Covet. That's 5 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Crunch and Bite, with Normal and Ground coverage and more rounding things out.
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
At first sight, POOCHYENA takes a bite at anything that moves. This POKéMON chases after prey until the victim becomes exhausted. However, it may turn tail if the prey strikes back.
POOCHYENA is an omnivore - it will eat anything. A distinguishing feature is how large its fangs are compared to its body. This POKéMON tries to intimidate its foes by making the hair on its tail bristle out.
Poochyena Ruby & Sapphire Guide
In Ruby & Sapphire, Poochyena does the job early-game if you need a Dark type on your team. Evolve it into Mightyena before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Poochyena first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 14 games across 8 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
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