Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet' s Teal Mask is part 1 of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Expansion Pack. Among the new Pokemon, evolutions, characters, and more, The Teal Mask brings back Pokemon from previous generations. Those looking for a Poison-type Pokemon may want to consider Ekans and Arbok.
Poison-type Pokemon gained a new type effectiveness against Fairy Pokemon in Pokemon X/Y. With few weaknesses, this gave Poison-types a newfound respect in the Pokemon world. Ekans and Arbok may have originated from the first generation, but they might be a good fit for the team in Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet.
How to Get Ekans
Ekans can be found slithering through Apple Hills or Mossfell Confluence. To reach Apple Hills, take the west path from Mossui Town. To reach Mossfell Confluence, take the east path from Mossui Town, and cross the river to the southeast area. Although Ekans can be found during the day, they tend to come out more at night - especially in Mossfell Confluence. If players are still in the progress of The Teal Mask story, then they can go hunting for Ekans once they get the Jinbei (Green) from Carmine and Kieran's grandparents. At that point, it will be nighttime in Kitakami.
Like every other wild Pokemon in Kitakami, Ekans' level will be different depending on where players are at in the Scarlet/Violet main story. Choosing to go to Kitakami immediately after starting the Treasure Hunt will have Ekans around level 10. Going after the main story and post-game will bring its level up to around 60.
Ekans shouldn't be too difficult to catch. Players can throw a Quick Ball at it on the first turn, or they can weaken it before throwing a regular Poke Ball. Those that are catching Ekans at night can use Dusk Balls, as these have a higher catch rate when used in dark places or when it's nighttime.
How to Evolve Ekans (How to Get Arbok)
Ekans will evolve into Arbok at level 22. Players can level it up via Rare Candy/Exp Candy or by battling. If the Ekans is level 55-60 at the time of its capture, just level it up once more to evolve it.
Another way to get Arbok is to catch one in the wild. Unfortunately, they're rarer than Ekans, and they won't show up at Apple Hills. Instead, players will want to look for Arbok at the Mossfell Confluence or Oni's Maw. There's even a Terastallized Arbok slithering about Mossfell Confluence if trainers would prefer an Arbok with a non-Poison Tera-typing.
As a fully evolved Pokemon, Arbok will be tougher to catch than Ekans, so make sure to bring a Pokemon that won't be knocked out in just a few hits. Unlike Ekans, a wild Arbok's level will be 22-25, unless players are on The Teal Mask after the post-game, in which its level will be much higher.
Arbok is also available as a Tera Raid Pokemon starting at 3-stars.
More Information About Arbok
Arbok isn't a dual-type Pokemon, but its single Poison-typing gives it some advantages. It only has two type weaknesses, and it's a great counter for Fairy-type Pokemon. Stat-wise, none of its base stats pass 100, but its strengths lie in its Attack and Speed.
|
HP: |
60 |
|---|---|
|
Attack: |
95 |
|
Special Attack: |
65 |
|
Defense: |
69 |
|
Special Defense: |
79 |
|
Speed: |
80 |
|
Total: |
448 |
Arbok has the following type effectiveness:
|
Super-effective against: |
Grass, Fairy |
|---|---|
|
Weak against: |
Ground, Psychic |
|
Immune to: |
N/A |
|
Resistant to: |
Grass, Bug, Fairy, Poison, Fighting |
Despite its Poison-typing, Arbok is able to learn Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, and Ice Fang by accessing its "Remember Moves" page in its Summary. This gives it a variety of coverage to choose from when constructing Arbok's moveset. Since Arbok is weak to Ground-type, it may be better to have it equipped with Ice Fang.
Unfortunately, most of Arbok's offensive moves are Special Moves. Sludge Bomb is a decent Poison-type move to have, but players may want to look into a Physical Move such as Poison Jab. It can also learn Seed Bomb and Trailblaze through TMs, which give it Ground-type coverage (like Ice Fang). When Ekans evolves into Arbok, it will want to learn the Dark-type move, Crunch. This is another good move to have in the moveset, as Crunch will give Arbok coverage against Psychic-type Pokemon.
Arbok can have Shed Skin or Intimidate as its Abilities, or it can have its Hidden Ability: Unnerve:
- Shed Skin has a 30% chance of curing any status ailments (i.e, burn, freeze, paralysis, or sleep).
- Intimidate will lower the opponent's Attack by one stage at the start of battle.
- Unnerve will make the opponent Pokemon too nervous to eat berries.
Between the three, Shed Skin may be the preferred Ability. Intimidate is good for Pokemon that rely mostly on Physical Attacks, but it can also be canceled out by Abilities such as Oblivious. Unnerve will only work if the opponent is holding a Berry, so it may be good for competitive/PvP, but not so much in Scarlet/Violet's main story.
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are available for Nintendo Switch.