Nincada is an uncommon Pokémon, found only on Route 116 in all three games.
Nincada... Nincada, Nincada, Nincada. Possibly the most unique Pokémon in existence; Nincada is the only Pokémon that evolves into TWO Pokémon at once. This page is about its regular evolution, Ninjask. Even though it may seem like a terrible Pokémon on paper, in reality it is a Pokémon who can be put to effectual use. It's not exactly the most practical Pokémon (especially during a generation where it has almost no Bug moves), but if used right it can serve you well. Plus, Baton Pass shenanigans rarely see use in Nuzlockes and can be very fun and helpful to use.
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Between Nincada's bad Attack and Roxanne's Pokémon being Rock-type, Nincada should just sit this battle out.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Nincada won't be doing much damage to anything here, but it actually fares well against Makuhita by resisting Arm Thrust. However, it will still Bulk Up, and despite Nincada's big Defense and resistance to it, it will hurt.
Rival (Route 110): Don't try to use it because its typing creates many weaknesses to the moves your rival carries.
Wally (Mauville City): Any good physical move will do, but only as Ninjask. Nincada is not strong enough to OHKO Ralts.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Hopefully you have a Ninjask by this point. And of course, it has absolutely no place in this gym. S-T-A-B S-H-O-C-K-W-A-V-E. The only way to participate in this battle is to keep Nincada a Nincada... and that's probably not a wise thing.
Tabitha/Matt (Mt. Chimney): Not too hard in Sapphire, just Fury Cutter everything. Don't fight Numel in Ruby, though.
Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena has Intimidate but can probably be Fury Cutter'd to death. Same goes for Archie's Sharpedo. Camerupt and Golbat shouldn't be attempted.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type): If you're thinking of using Ninjask here, you really should think again. Really.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): Nope, sorry. Ninjask is way too frail to take on anything here.
Courtney/Shelly (Weather Institute): Avoiding Numel might be best. The rest goes down easily to Fury Cutter with a Swords Dance or two.
Rival (Route 119): Ninjask can probably take on Grovyle easily thanks to Fury Cutter. Stay away from the others.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same as before, except if you're feeling lucky you can try to take on Combusken with Aerial Ace. You can still Fury Cutter/Aerial Ace Grovyle.
Tabitha/Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Nothing much to do in Ruby, except take down the Mightyena which... has no offensive moves. In Sapphire, it gets better, but not by a lot. Ninjask still finds it difficult to take down Sharpedo with its Slash.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Man, wouldn't it be great if this were Gen 4 and Ninjask could learn X-Scissor? Unfortunately, Fury Cutter and Shadow Ball are the best moves you're going to have by now, and neither one is going to hurt any of the murdertwins' Pokémon enough before Ninjask gets taken out.
Courtney/Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Fury Cutter may work for both Mightyena and Sharpedo in Sapphire, but remember that they also each have strong physical moves. This is risky. Camerupt? Don't. Just don't.
Maxie/Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Again, Fury Cutter for Sharpedo if you're feeling brave, but it won't off it in one go. It might be better to just rely on another move, like Slash or Return. Crobat and Camerupt are a no-go, and Mightyena's Intimidate and Take Down make it risky as well.
Groudon (Cave of Origin, Ruby only): No. Fire Blast under the sun will fry you.
Kyogre (Cave of Origin, Sapphire only): Ice Beam. That's possibly even MORE no.
Gym #8 - Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type): You may be tempted to set up Swords Dance on Luvdisc and just Aerial Ace your way through this one (Or, if you taught Giga Drain to Ninjask for some odd reason, use that), but it's rather impractical because nothing is weak to Aerial Ace. Also Water Pulse will hurt a lot and everything except Luvdisc is quite bulky.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria shouldn't be attempted. Roselia and Delcatty can be handled quite well. Magneton is a big no-no and Gardevoir will fall to a Shadow Ball but will 2HKO with Psychic.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Fury Cutter hits everything here super-effectively, or you can just Aerial Ace Shiftry and Cacturne. If you're feeling lucky, you can Swords Dance + Fury Cutter spam.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): Her first Dusclops will probably just Protect on the first turn, so take this turn to set up a Swords Dance! If you are carrying Shadow Ball this can be a clean Ninjask sweep, but if not, just Baton Pass to whatever is. Also, be careful of Curse, the Dusclops with Ice Beam and Rock Slide, the Banette with Thunderbolt, and in a really odd case, the Banette with Skill Swap because it'll steal Speed Boost from you!
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): STAB Ice Moves + Bulk = One dead Ninjask. Don't try it.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Yeah, everything is too bulky and powerful here. Also Salamence has Intimidate. Don't even try to set up on Shelgon because it has Rock Tomb.
Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type): Leave Ninjask out of here. It can't hit anything except Cradily and Claydol super-effectively, and both have Rock moves.
Post-Game: Are you seriously thinking about fighting Rayquaza with Ninjask, of all things?
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Between Nincada's bad Attack and Roxanne's Pokémon being Rock-type, Nincada should just sit this battle out.
Rival (Rustboro City,optional): Quite honestly, Nincada is too weak and everything hits too hard for Nincada to see any use here.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Nincada won't be doing much damage to anything here, but it actually fares well against Makuhita by resisting Reversal. However, it will still Bulk Up, it will still pull Reversal when at low health, and despite Nincada's big Defense and resistance to it, it will hurt. However, it can gradually cherry-tap Meditite to death as its only attack is Focus Punch; just make sure to stick to 100% accurate moves.
Rival (Route 110): Basically the same thing. Don't try to use it because its typing creates many weaknesses to the moves your rival carries.
Wally (Mauville City): Any good physical move will do, but only as Ninjask. Nincada is not strong enough to OHKO Ralts.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Hopefully you have a Ninjask by this point. And of course, it has absolutely no place in this gym. S-T-A-B S-H-O-C-K-W-A-V-E. The only way to participate in this battle is to keep Nincada a Nincada... and that's probably not a wise thing.
Tabitha (Mt. Chimney): Don't fight either of the Numel, but feel free to Fury Cutter the Poochyena to death.
Maxie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena has Intimidate but can probably be Fury Cutter'd to death. Camerupt and Zubat shouldn't be attempted.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge Town, Fire-type): If you're thinking of using Ninjask here, you really should think again. Really.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): Nope, sorry. Ninjask is way too frail to take on anything here, except the Spinda, which is easy for anything that moves.
Shelly (Weather Institute): Just Fury Cutter everything that isn't a bat to death. Swords Dance helps making it faster!
Rival (Route 119): Ninjask can probably take on Lombre/Grovyle easily thanks to Fury Cutter. Stay away from the others.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same as before, except if you're feeling lucky you can try to take on Combusken with Aerial Ace. You can still Fury Cutter/Aerial Ace Lombre and Grovyle and you can Aerial Ace Tropius but its Stomp will hurt a lot.
Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Zubat may be frail enough to be offed right away, but the rest is a problem for Ninjask. Attempting the Numel may result in a reasonable risk, which shouldn't kill it even in the event it's hit with fire, but still something to consider. Mightyena can hit hard now, so stay away as much as possible.
Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): NOPE, AWAY. Mightyena's Take Down is strong, and the other two are unapproachable for the bug's frailty and typing. Camerupt even has Rock Slide.
Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Ninjask still finds it difficult to take down Sharpedo with its Slash. Don't use it unless you really want to run a risk here.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Man, wouldn't it be great if this were Gen 4 and Ninjask could learn X-Scissor? Unfortunately, Fury Cutter and Shadow Ball are the best moves you're going to have by now, and neither one is going to hurt any of the murdertwins' Pokémon enough before Ninjask gets taken out by AncientPower.
Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): Fury Cutter the Mightyenas. Don't use it against anything else.
Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Fury Cutter may work for both, but remember that they also each have strong physical moves. This is risky.
Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Again, Fury Cutter for Sharpedo if you're feeling brave, but it won't off it in one go. It might be better to just rely on another move, like Slash or Return. Crobat is a no-go, and Mightyena's Intimidate and Take Down make it risky as well.
Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): You may be tempted to set up Swords Dance on Luvdisc and just Aerial Ace your way through this one (Or, if you taught Giga Drain to Ninjask for some odd reason, use that), but it's rather impractical because nothing is weak to Aerial Ace. Also Water Pulse will hurt a lot and everything except Luvdisc and Crawdaunt are quite bulky.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria shouldn't be attempted. Roselia and Delcatty can be handled quite well. Magneton is a big no-no and Gardevoir will fall to a Shadow Ball but will 2HKO with Psychic.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Fury Cutter hits everything here super-effectively, or you can just Aerial Ace Shiftry and Cacturne. If you're feeling lucky, you can Swords Dance + Fury Cutter spam.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): Her first Dusclops will probably just Protect on the first turn, so take this turn to set up a Swords Dance! If you are carrying Shadow Ball this can be a clean Ninjask sweep, but if not, just Baton Pass to whatever is. Also, be careful of Curse, the Dusclops with Ice Beam and Rock Slide, the Banette with Thunderbolt, and in a really odd case, the Banette with Skill Swap because it'll steal Speed Boost from you!
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): STAB Ice Moves + Bulk = One dead Ninjask. Don't try it.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Yeah, everything is too bulky and powerful here. Also Salamence has Rock Slide and Intimidate. Don't even try to set up on Shelgon because it has Rock Tomb.
Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): Again, the bulk and power of most things here will be bad for Ninjask. Ludicolo can be taken out with Aerial Ace or Fury Cutter.
Post-Game: Just like Ruby and Sapphire, Ninjask is awful against Steven. Awful. Don't use it.
Moves[]
Just like almost every other bug, Nincada's movepool is rather garbage. It starts with Scratch, Harden, and Leech Life. Ick. The next move, at level 9, is Sand-Attack. Again, ick. Fury Swipes is next and really, it's neither better nor worse than Scratch; it's simply personal preference.. Mind Reader is the last move it learns by Level-Up before evolution but it's probably not worth it. You can choose to delay its evolution to obtain False Swipe, Mud-Slap, Metal Claw, and Dig, but none of them are really worth it. Now, when Nincada evolves, it gets three nice new moves: Fury Cutter, Double Team, and Screech. Of those, Double Team is probably going to be the first to go because of how luck-based it is. Fury Cutter is there to stay and Screech will be there for a while so get comfy. Or you could just wait until level 25 when it gets the ultimately-superior-in-every-way Swords Dance, which, again, is there to stay. Slash at level 31 is next and probably won't be much help to you because of its poor coverage. Agility is the next one at level 38, and that's honestly not very helpful because Ninjask already has Speed Boost! Finally, at level 45 you get the amazing Baton Pass, which will help you out a lot and is definitely worth a moveslot.
Unfortunately, Ninjask doesn't get much in the way of TM's and HM's. The only ones really worth a mention are Giga Drain, Shadow Ball, Dig, and Aerial Ace. The first one is a decent coverage option but is a poor choice with Ninjask's meager Special Attack stat. Shadow Ball is a great move to have to defeat Ghosts with, but it could be better on other Pokémon. Aerial Ace should be put on your moveset AS SOON AS YOU GET IT. SERIOUSLY. It is the defining move of Ninjask's offensive utility and is mandatory on any Ninjask set. And seriously, every other Flying-type who gets the move gets Wing Attack or Fly, barring Beautifly who is terrible and inferior to Ninjask. You might be tempted to give it to Absol or Aggron or Blaziken as a coverage move but no one appreciates it more than Ninjask. No one.
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Ninjask's stats[]
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
61
121 - 168
232 - 326
Attack:
90
85 - 156
166 - 306
Defense:
45
45 - 106
85 - 207
Sp.Atk:
50
49 - 112
94 - 218
Sp.Def:
50
49 - 112
94 - 218
Speed:
160
148 - 233
292 - 460
Total:
456
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Ninjask Ratings
Availability
Matchups
Movepool
Survivability
Type Usefulness
Team Role
Offensive Utility
Defensive Utility
Tankiness
Fun Factor
Overall
What Nature do I want? For Arceus' sake, you NEED Adamant! If not, any Attack-boosting nature will do. Raising Speed is highly unnecessary given Ninjask's already blazing Speed and Speed Boost covering any sort of Speed drop. In all honesty, the worst stat to raise is Special Attack unless you're planning on running Giga Drain for some odd reason.
At what point in the game should I be evolved? A bit before fighting Wattson is best.
How good is Ninjask in a Nuzlocke? This may be personal bias, but I think it's much better than people give it credit for. It may have a bad movepool, but STAB Aerial Ace is generally enough. It may be extremely frail but it has the Speed and Attack to make up for it. If you would like to, give it a go sometime.
Nincada's type matchups:
Weaknesses: Fire, Ice, Water, Flying
Resistances: Fighting, Poison, Ground
Immunities: Electric
Neutralities: Normal, Grass, Bug, Rock, Psychic, Ghost, Dark, Dragon, Steel
Ninjask's type matchups:
Weaknesses: Fire, Ice, Electric, Flying, Rock (x4)
