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RBY
GSC
FRLG
HGSS
XY
ORAS
Onix Line
Onix
Onix HGSS
Type Rock/Ground
Abilities Sturdy or Rock Head
Gender Ratio 50% Male, 50% Female
Catch Rate 45 (5.9%)
Evolution Trade with Metal Coat
Steelix
Steelix HGSS
Type Steel/Ground
Abilities Sturdy or Rock Head
Gender Ratio 50% Male, 50% Female
Catch Rate 25 (3.3%)

Onix is available in the Union Cave, Cliff Cave, Victory Road, Rock Tunnel, and Mt. Silver's Interior. An Onix can also be traded for a Bellsprout with an NPC in Violet City.

Steelix is available in the Cliff Cave and Moltres' Chamber in Mt. Silver. A Steelix can also be traded for any Pokémon with Jasmine in Olivine City, after defeating her in a rematch at the Fighting Dojo.

Metal Coats can be obtained: at the Pokéathlon Dome on Fridays or, after the National Dex, on Tuesdays and Saturdays; by using Thief, Covet or similar moves on wild Magnemite, Magneton, Steelix, Beldum, Metang, Bronzor and Bronzong; on the S.S. Aqua, after retrieving the little girl from the Captain's room; by trading a Dugtrio for a Magneton in the Power Plant (the item is attached to Magneton).

Steelix is easily the most majestic physical wall one could possibly get. With a mastodon base stat of 200, further supported by the endless stash of resistances that its Steel-type offers, there is very little that Steelix cannot physically do. It covers the role of bomb breaker exceptionally well, taking next to no damage from Explosion, and gets Curse support to boost its physical assets and make Gyro Ball even more powerful. Although the chances for Steelix to actually set up and sweep alone will not be very many, due to the varied nature of teams - Steelix does not deal with special attackers well, particularly after further lowering its own Speed - it can easily switch in on almost any physical attacker, take a hit (or a dozen), then wear it down mercilessly.

Important Matchups[]

Johto[]

  • Gym #1 - Falkner (Violet City, Flying-type): The only Onix available at this point is the one traded for Bellsprout. As such, it is safer to keep it at level 9 for the fight, or it may disobey. Rock Throw conveniently comes at that level, and disposes of Pidgey very easily. Pidgeotto will take longer, a 4HKO on average, but it will also struggle to damage Onix much. Naturally, Pidgeotto also has Roost, so Onix will likely need to be healed a few times during the fight; this is unavoidable in most cases, as few Pokémon can two-shot Pidgeotto.
  • Proton (Slowpoke Well): One Rock Throw puts down Zubat for good. Koffing has high Defense and poisoning moves, however, so it is better to Screech it once or twice before throwing rocks at it; with one Screech, Rock Throw becomes a 3HKO, and a 2HKO with two. Koffing can, however, poison Onix with Poison Gas in the process, so bring a few Antidotes just in case.
  • Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): Stick to Rock Throw. Onix is one of the very few Pokémon that can be certain to face Scyther and live to tell the tale, as U-turn barely manages a 4HKO whereas Rock Throw 2HKOs it cleanly. Kakuna and Metapod are already dead.
  • Rival (Azalea Town): Gastly, Zubat and Quilava are all 2HKOed (Gastly and Zubat) or 3HKOed (Quilava) by Onix's Rock Throw. Bayleef and Croconaw both have STAB that Onix is doubly weak to, which makes them an automatic no-go.
  • Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Onix is one of the few Pokémon that have more problems against Clefairy than Miltank. Clefairy's Metronome could easily pull a Grass or Water move which, if special, is nearly guaranteed to end Onix's life; only the likes of Water Gun need a critical hit to kill. Onix is also incapable of doing anything better than a Rock Throw 4HKO, which exposes it to way too many whims of Metronome's fortune. Miltank, however, only has physical moves, and its best possible hit - a stage 5 Rollout - damages Onix for less than half of its total health, meaning even a critical hit would not kill. Use Screech three times, then spam Rock Throw or Headbutt for however long is necessary; both moves will usually 3HKO after Miltank's Defense is at its lowest. Onix can also use Protect to break Rollout stacks, which will significantly reduce the need for healing items.
  • Rival (Burned Tower): Both Onix and Steelix should have an easy time against Gastly, Zubat and Magnemite, though Magnemite will be very annoying to beat for Onix, unless it has Dig. If it does, the OHKO is certain. Onix can take on Quilava but not the other two starters, whereas Steelix has an alright matchup against Bayleef and Croconaw despite its weakness to Water Gun; it needs Dig to outdamage Croconaw, though. Quilava's Ember may sound harmful on paper, but only accomplishes a 3HKO in practice, whereas Dig comes close to an OHKO.
  • Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Onix can take care of Gastly and the level 21 Haunter, neither of which has special moves, but would struggle more than it is worth against the other Haunter and be completely incapable of winning against Gengar. Steelix is a much better check for Morty: all of Morty's moves deal not very effective damage to Steel-types, and while Rock Throw loses STAB and Dig is pointless due to Levitate, Steelix does have chances of winning overall. Gastly goes down in two hits, the Haunters in three, and while the two Haunter may confuse or Curse-trap Steelix they cannot hope to do much else, so a stash of healing items will spare Steelix the trouble. Gengar's best attack is Shadow Ball, and is the only one that can get dangerous if it starts scoring critical hits and Special Defense drops; Steelix should avoid it if possible: while healing often enough greatly reduces risks, being unable to switch it out of battle in a pinch is bad. By any means, do not fight Gengar if Steelix still has a Curse laid upon it.
  • Eusine (Cianwood City): Both Onix and Steelix can easily nuke everything with Headbutt or (for Haunter) Rock Throw. Onix may need to be healed from sleep against Drowzee, since its Dream Eater can wear it down over time, but Steelix's resistance permits it to care very little about Dream Eater damage. Defeating Haunter and Electrode is significantly easier for Steelix, however, as Haunter can Curse-trap and Electrode has SonicBoom.
  • Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Onix's matchup in this gym is plain bad. Steelix's is not much better, either; even though Chuck's Pokémon only have Focus Punch as a Fighting move, Primeape has Double Team and Poliwrath has Hypnosis, and they are both faster than Steelix, meaning they will most likely get to hit at least once and put the solid snake's life in danger. While Focus Punch can only 2HKO, critical hits are a killer, and the fact Steelix's best move is Dig (which only 3HKOs) helps very little, since the additional underground turn only gives Primeape more time to boost its evasion. In addition, Poliwrath also sports Surf, which deals even more damage than Focus Punch without the nasty drawback, coming dangerously close to an OHKO. Steelix should not enter this gym.
  • Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Onix can only hope to beat the Magnemite, but Steelix has a considerable advantage over this gym. Not only it is immune to Magnemite's best move, it can have Dig while Jasmine's own Steelix has no Ground STAB. Screech can also help Steelix speed up the battle process, and from Jasmine's Steelix it is nothing to be afraid of, as its moves are only not very effective and would take several turns to defeat Steelix; Jasmine's Steelix cannot really afford the luxury of time, as Steelix's Dig is a 3HKO without any Screeches, and a 2HKO or better starting at just one Screech.
  • Petrel (Team Rocket HQ): Both Onix and Steelix take next to no damage from any of Petrel's Pokémon. Considering the likely level they will be at (early 30s), both Onix and Steelix easily 2HKO all of Petrel's team with the exception of Koffing, which can only be 3HKOed (Steelix) or 4HKOed (Onix).
  • Ariana (Team Rocket HQ, tag battle with Lance): Onix can work well against Arbok and reasonably well against Drowzee and Murkrow, but needs to back off when Gloom comes around, as it has Mega Drain. Grimer is a neutral enemy; it has Mud-Slap and will not deal much damage with it, but the accuracy drops will quickly become annoying unless Onix manages the Dig OHKO, which is not certain after Arbok's Intimidate. Steelix, on the other hand, disposes of the whole squad without an issue.
  • Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Onix should not be entering this gym under any circumstance, unless it wants to risk its life while trying to 3HKO Seel with Dig. Then again, Onix should not be an Onix under any circumstance at this point, as the Thief TM is available for those who do not have a Metal Coat from the Pokéathlon. Steelix completely annihilates Seel and Dewgong, neither of which have Water moves; Dewgong could, however, lower Steelix's Attack with Aurora Beam, as Steelix's Dig is still only a 3HKO. Nevertheless, it will eventually win. Piloswine's Mud Bomb and Blizzard are more problematic, on the other hand; Steelix can take a hit from Mud Bomb, but not two, and this is not sufficient to KO Piloswine. Use something else.
  • Petrel (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Onix and Steelix can both handle this fight very well, thanks to their high Defense and their resistances. If Steelix already have Curse, even better: spam it against the first Koffing, then annihilate everything else.
  • Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Iron Tail will help Steelix greatly in this battle. Golbat is easy even with Rock Throw, but Magnemite and Haunter are not, respectively requiring Steelix to have Dig and Iron Tail. Meganium can also do a number if Steelix only has Strength as an available option, reaching a 3HKO with Petal Dance; Steelix should fight it only with Iron Tail, or if multiple healing items are available and there is no better Meganium counter on the team. Quilava is OHKOed by Dig, and its Flame Wheel does not do a lot of damage to Steelix (nor Onix, if still unevolved). Feraligatr is another story: despite only having Water Gun, it can 3HKO with it and it responds very well to physical hits, which means letting Steelix fight it is a losing battle.
  • Proton (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Annihilate everything with Iron Tail, Proton's team can barely touch Steelix.
  • Ariana (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Arbok and Murkrow are no problem for Onix or Steelix. Vileplume is obviously out of question for Onix, while Steelix can take it on with three Iron Tails and tank a good few Mega Drains in the process. If Steelix has Curse, it can use it against Arbok to dispose of the rest of Ariana's team more quickly.
  • Archer (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Every move Archer's Pokémon have is physical, except Koffing's Sludge, which is not a problem either way. The strongest move Houndour and Houndoom can hit with is Fire Fang, which on Houndoom fails to achieve anything better than a measly 4HKO. Use Dig or Iron Tail accordingly, mixing in a Curse against Houndour or Koffing, and Steelix will win very easily; at +1 Attack, the OHKO is guaranteed against the hounds, and at +2 Steelix can OHKO everything.
  • Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Gyarados does not represent a problem for Steelix, though its Intimidate is annoying. Curse can cancel out the effects, but Steelix will need to heal a lot, as it has Dragon Rage. It could be pointless, too: all of the other Pokémon have super effective moves and, barring one Dragonair's Aqua Tail, the others are special; the other Dragonair has Fire Blast, which 2HKOs Steelix, and Kingdra has Hydro Pump, a guaranteed OHKO. Overall, Steelix should not fight anything but Gyarados here, and if it does, it should have either Curse or Thunder Fang.
  • Kimono Girls (Ecruteak Dance Theater): Steelix can take Umbreon on just fine, despite the Confuse Ray shenanigans, and 3HKO it with Iron Tail. Espeon's Psychic is resisted, making it a mere 4HKO, while Steelix's Iron Tail once again nets a 2HKO. Unless Onix is somehow still unevolved, withdraw Steelix right away when Flareon comes out; same for Vaporeon. Jolteon is easy as pie. Overall, choosing to lead with Steelix against the Kimono Girls is an okay strategy in presence of Flareon and Vaporeon counters on the team, as Steelix can handle two of the main threats of this stack of fights very well.
  • Ho-Oh (Bell Tower, HeartGold only): Steelix has no hope against a legendary with a STAB super effective move. Pick a better candidate for this battle.
  • Lugia (Whirl Islands, SoulSilver only): Steelix has no hope against a legendary with a super effective move. Pick a better candidate for this battle.
  • Rival (Victory Road): Steelix handles Sneasel, Golbat and Kadabra mostly with ease. Magneton can trap it with Magnet Pull, but it is only dangerous if it uses Supersonic and Steelix run out of healing items, or cannot heal, as well as having bad luck with confusion rolls; Steelix's newly acquired Earthquake will swiftly KO it. Be wary of Haunter in absence of Iron Tail; it still has its Curse-trap moves, but Iron Tail OHKOs. Don't fight Feraligatr or Typhlosion; battle Meganium only if Steelix must and prepare to heal, as its Petal Dance and Iron Tail are both 3HKOs and Meganium outspeeds.
  • Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Except for Slowbro's Water Pulse, Steelix resists every single move Will's Pokémon have minus Jynx's Ice Punch, which still does a ridiculous amount of damage due to Steelix's stellar Defense. As such, it can Crunch its way to victory against everything, though it may need status heals as many of Will's Pokémon can inflict confusion. With Curse support, Steelix can OHKO all of Will's Pokémon with Crunch, except Slowbro which will still only be 2HKOed.
  • Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Steelix's Poison immunity gives it a field day in this matchup. Earthquake helps with Muk and Forretress, but the other Pokémon are just as easily defeated with Iron Tail. Venomoth may annoy Steelix with Supersonic, as could Crobat with Double Team, but neither of them will last long enough on the battlefield to actually become dangerous; at worst, Steelix will need its PP to be replenished after the fight.
  • Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Hitmontop's Triple Kick is relatively weak, and Steelix can 2HKO with Earthquake, or even OHKO if Hitmontop uses Dig instead. Onix is 2HKOed by Earthquake, and its own Earthquake just barely scratches Steelix. Hitmonchan can be 2HKOed and does little damage with Fire Punch, while also lacking Fighting STAB. Hitmonlee can be battled with a Curse backup; at +1, Steelix is guaranteed to OHKO it with Earthquake, and its Hi Jump Kick is a 3HKO at +0 Defense, meaning it will not OHKO even with a critical hit. The only Pokémon Steelix is at odds against is Machamp: its Cross Chop can easily bypass Defense boosts induced by Curse with its higher-than-average critical hit ratio, further worsened by No Guard that makes the move infallible; a critical Cross Chop can off Steelix even from full health, a risk simply not worth taking in presence of better options. If nothing on the team can fight Machamp any better than Steelix can, use Curse at least four times preferably against Hitmontop or Hitmonchan, the least threatening of the lot; this will guarantee Steelix an OHKO against Machamp as well as significantly reducing the damage taken from its Fighting moves.
  • Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Steelix can get past Umbreon, Vileplume and Murkrow with relative ease, though Vileplume will do a number with Petal Dance. Steelix 2HKOs it with Earthquake, but Vileplume will likely outspeed and get to hit twice, at which point even a healthy Steelix will be nearly KOed; if possible, use a better counter for Vileplume. Gengar and Houndoom have super effective special moves to hit Steel-types with, so Steelix has no reason to fight them.
  • Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Fighting Gyarados and the ace Dragonite is not recommended; they both have super effective moves that Steelix does not like. One of the level 49 Dragonite has Thunder and is largely innocuous, but the other has Blizzard and deals a sizeable amount of damage, coming close to a 3HKO; unless Steelix somehow already knows Stone Edge, it simply will not get the upper hand against Dragonite. Charizard does not have any Fire STAB move besides Fire Fang, which Steelix can more or less laugh at; go ahead with either Rock coverage or a good Normal move, Return or Double-Edge (Strength will not suffice). Tear Aerodactyl to itty bitty pieces.

Kanto[]

From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed.

  • Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Graveler, Rhyhorn and Onix are doable. The first two have Earthquake, but Steelix's is stronger than theirs and Steelix also has a much better Defense, which allows it to take up to two hits; Earthquake also 2HKOs them all, reaching OHKO range after one Curse. Kabutops' Aqua Jet is even less scary, and one or two Earthquakes will dispose of it, depending on Curse usage. The only Pokémon that seriously endangers Steelix is Omastar, which comes close to an OHKO with Brine and should be avoided altogether.
  • Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Iron Tail or Earthquake still dispose of most of the rival's team very well. Golbat and Magneton can confuse Steelix - this is relevant in Magneton's case due to Magnet Pull - but those should only be mild annoyances, as Steelix's moves are quick to KO. Meganium can hit hard enough to become troublesome, and should be taken on by a more suitable counter unless the only available option is heal stalling; Typhlosion and Feraligatr spell destruction, avoid them.
  • Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Misty's Pokémon all have Water STAB, which 2HKOs Steelix at worst. Steelix cannot do any better, so it should just sit this gym out.
  • Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Spam Earthquake against everything and win.
  • Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Steelix has a reasonable matchup against Jumpluff and Tangela, the ones with the weaker moves; they are both 2HKOed by Iron Tail after one Curse (3HKOed otherwise), and Steelix can take at least two Giga Drains from both of them. Victreebel and Bellossom can deal considerable damage with Leaf Storm and SolarBeam respectively, so Steelix should avoid fighting them unless absolutely necessary, especially if Sunny Day is already up: Bellossom 2HKOs Steelix with SolarBeam, and Steelix can hope to 2HKO Bellossom only after one Curse, like its aforementioned colleagues. Victreebel dishes out incredible pain with both of its Grass STABs, sun or not, and should be fought by someone else.
  • Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Another field day for Steelix. Set up Curse against Crobat until Steelix hit +2 or +3, then destroy everything with Iron Tail and Earthquake. At +3, the OHKO is guaranteed even against Weezing, the bulkiest of Janine's Pokémon.
  • Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Luckily, there are no Focus Blasts creeping on Steelix's weaknesses. However, even a resisted Psychic is nothing to sneeze at. Espeon and Mr. Mime have a reasonably low throughput, managing a 3-4HKO on average, so Steelix can make short work of them with Crunch or Earthquake; remember that Mr. Mime has Filter, so Crunch will only be regularly effective, thus Earthquake is the preferred option. Both Espeon and Mr. Mime are 2HKOed by Steelix's moves. Alakazam also has Energy Ball, which is a 3HKO at full health; if Steelix is still healthy or has been healed after fighting Sabrina's cohorts, Steelix can also 2HKO Alakazam with Crunch, barring any critical hits on its side or the annoying Reflect, which turns Crunch into a 3HKO.
  • Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): Steelix's Speed is tied with Magcargo's, but will most likely outspeed due to its likely level advantage, even more so if Steelix's nature is Hasty (default for the traded Onix); Earthquake OHKOs it. Avoid Magmar and Rapidash, flambé solid snake is no good.
  • Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Exeggutor's Leaf Storm and Gyarados' Waterfall are the biggest no-gos for Steelix in this battle. However, Machamp's DynamicPunch - backed by No Guard - and Rhydon's Earthquake are also very strong, as well as Arcanine's Flare Blitz; all of these moves outdamage Steelix's Earthquake, even in Arcanine's case, due to its Intimidate. Ideally, Steelix would need to set up against Pidgeot by spamming Curse, but its Whirlwind can easily ruin this plan. Overall, Steelix is not a good fit for this battle, unless the team has no better answer for Blue's ace.
  • Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Steelix can still handle most of the rival's team trouble-free, with the usual exception of Typhlosion and Feraligatr, but now needs to avoid Alakazam due to the addition of Focus Blast to its moveset. It should also leave Meganium to the designed Grass counter of the team, if possible, as Steelix needs consistent healing to fight it. The other Pokémon cannot damage Steelix much, so go ahead.
  • Red (Mt. Silver): Steelix annihilates Pikachu, plain and simple. It is also a great choice to fight Snorlax, a physically oriented behemoth from which Steelix will take next to no damage after Blizzard (averaging at a 3-4HKO) runs out of PP. Sadly, this is the extent of Steelix's contribution: Lapras and the three fully evolved starters are all going to give Steelix a bad, bad time with their higher Speed and super effective moves. Venusaur's Frenzy Plant does not OHKO, but goes well over the 50% damage threshold, putting Steelix at a risk in the event of critical hits; Steelix can also 3HKO at best, which means it has no way of winning.

Moves[]

At its lowest possible level, Onix will have Mud Sport, Tackle, Harden and Bind. It learns Screech at level 6, which is actually not bad, because Onix's Attack is low and halving the opponent's Defense before hitting is a good advantage. The first STAB is Rock Throw, at level 9. This is the best Rock move Onix learns naturally until Stone Edge, so hold onto it. Ignore Rage at level 14, it is not worth it and Screech does the job better, without limiting Onix to the usage of only one Normal move. Rock Tomb comes at level 17, but Rock Throw is better as it has higher accuracy. Sandstorm, at level 22, is best on Onix due to the Special Defense boost, but can have some use on Steelix as well, if Steelix plan on running a defensive set. Rock Polish, at level 30, will not do any good to Steelix, so pass it. DragonBreath, at level 33, is awful with such a low Special Attack stat; ignore that as well. Finally, the good moves return: Curse, available starting at level 38, and Iron Tail, which comes at level 41. Both of them are keepers until Earthquake level, which makes Iron Tail more or less obsolete on Steelix. Sand Tomb at level 46 is the first STAB Ground move learned by level, and also completely and utterly useless at this point. The last two moves are better: Double-Edge at level 49 is great on specimen with Rock Head, not so much on Sturdy ones, and Stone Edge at level 54 is excellent for coverage purposes.

Steelix has the exact same level-up moveset as Onix, with two exceptions: it gets the elemental attacks Ice Fang, Thunder Fang and Fire Fang as starting moves, which can be relearned through the Move Reminder, and it also learns Crunch instead of Sand Tomb at level 46, which is way better than the Onix alternative.

As far as TMs go, all Onix liners will obviously want Dig and, later down the road, Earthquake. If Steelix is slow enough, Gyro Ball might do a serious number to speedy enemies, particularly in combination with Curse. Rock Slide and Stone Edge are available as TMs too, but Steelix learns Stone Edge naturally, so they would be wasted on it. There are various other Normal moves available, as well as Payback, but they will generally be useless as Steelix's natural coverage and STAB are more than enough. Defensively speaking, Steelix also has a wealth of options: both Toxic and Stealth Rock can be paired with Sandstorm to quickly pile up damage, and the last move can be either Protect or an offensive move, depending on play style.

Further coverage is offered by the Battle Frontier tutors, who can teach Steelix Aqua Tail and Iron Head.

Recommended movesets:

Offensive: Earthquake, Iron Head / Iron Tail / Gyro Ball, Stone Edge, Ice Fang / Curse

Stall: Toxic, Sandstorm, Stealth Rock, Earthquake / Stone Edge / Iron Tail

Recommended Teammates[]

  • Flying-types: Given Steelix's weaknesses to Fighting and Ground, the Pokémon that best cover for both are Flying-types, particularly dual types other than Normal/Flying, which resist Fighting moves. Even Normal/Flying-types work well, though, since the immunity to Ground moves alone is a big help for Steelix.
  • Water-types: A resistance to both Water and Fire moves is necessary to complement Steelix, especially since most Water and Fire Pokémon have special moves, which Steelix is poorly equipped against. Many Water-types can fit this role.
    • Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Feraligatr, Politoed, Gyarados, Slowbro, Slowking, Azumarill, Golduck, Starmie, Vaporeon, Kingdra
  • Special tanks: Steelix's Special Defense is not too bad, but its slowness makes it very vulnerable to special hitters. Several Pokémon can help it against them, some of which also cover other types or roles that have good synergy with Steelix's own.
  • Fast hitters: Steelix is very, very slow, and will almost never hit first, something that may be necessary in certain matchups. For this reason, there should be at least one fast sweeper on the team, to deal the finishing blow that Steelix cannot.
    • Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Crobat, Gengar, Alakazam, Tauros, Starmie, Espeon

Other[]

Onix's stats[]

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
HP: 35
95 - 142 180 - 274
Attack: 45
45 - 106 85 - 207
Defense: 160
148 - 233 292 - 460
Sp.Atk: 30
31 - 90 58 - 174
Sp.Def: 45
45 - 106 85 - 207
Speed: 70
67 - 134 130 - 262
Total: 385   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.


Steelix's stats[]

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
HP: 75
135 - 182 260 - 354
Attack: 85
81 - 150 157 - 295
Defense: 200
184 - 277 364 - 548
Sp.Atk: 55
54 - 117 103 - 229
Sp.Def: 65
63 - 128 121 - 251
Speed: 30
31 - 90 58 - 174
Total: 510   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.


Onix Line Ratings
Availability
3 Stars
Matchups
3
Movepool
4
Survivability
4
Type Usefulness
4 Stars
Team Role
4 Stars
Offensive Utility
4 Stars
Defensive Utility
4
Tankiness
4
Fun Factor
4 Stars


Overall
4 Stars
  • What Nature do I want? The traded Onix will always be Hasty, which is a terrible nature for a Steelix to have. Steelix will love any nature that reduces Special Attack or (even better with Gyro Ball) Speed, and boosts any other stat. Great options include Adamant, Impish, Brave and Relaxed.
  • Which Ability do I want? Sturdy does next to nothing in this generation, so Rock Head will do better. Note that the traded Onix always has Sturdy. Rock Head enables Steelix to use a drawback-less base-120 power Normal move, Double-Edge, against enemies that resist Earthquake and/or Iron Tail.
  • At what point in the game should I be evolved? Steelix's matchups are nearly always better than Onix's, so it should be evolved as soon as possible, ideally right after the Pokéathlon Dome opens.
  • How good is the Onix line in a Nuzlocke? It is very good. While it does not like fighting most special attackers, its typing and sky-high Defense make it a great wall, and it absorbs Selfdestructs and Explosions like nearly no other Pokémon can do. Steelix has one job, and does it very well.

Onix's type matchups:

  • Weaknesses: Ground, Steel, Ice, Fighting, Grass (x4), Water (x4)
  • Resistances: Flying, Normal, Fire, Rock, Poison (x0.25)
  • Immunities: Electric
  • Neutralities: Ghost, Bug, Dark, Psychic, Dragon

Steelix's type matchups:

  • Weaknesses: Ground, Fighting, Water, Fire
  • Resistances: Flying, Normal, Ghost, Bug, Dark, Psychic, Dragon, Steel, Rock (x0.25)
  • Immunities: Electric, Poison
  • Neutralities: Ice, Grass
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