In the main games of the Pokémon series, it is quite common for the first gym leader you face to be a Rock-type leader.
Sometimes they can prove to be the first challenge of many on your Pokémon journey!
Examples of famous Rock-type trainers include the gym leaders Brock, Roxanne, and Roark, and the Alolan Kahuna Olivia.
With a rock-hard defense, this Pokémon type can be tricky to fight.
Keep reading for our guide on how to crush Rock-type Pokémon into rubble!
Rock Type Pokémon Weaknesses & Strengths Chart
| Weakness | Strong Against |
|---|---|
| Water, Grass, Ground, Fighting, Steel | Flying, Fire, Ice, Bug |
Rock-Type Pokémon Weaknesses
Rock-type Pokémon are weak to Water, Grass, Ground, Fighting, and Steel-types. These types of moves will do double damage to them.
Ground, Fighting, and Steel-types are also not only super effective against Rock-types, but take half damage from them!
As you’d expect from Pokémon shaped after stones and minerals, they can often be pretty slow.
Not only this, but where they might have good Defense, their Special Defense can be weak!
Rock-Type Pokémon Strengths and Resistances
Rock-type Pokémon are super effective against Bug, Flying, Fire, and Ice-type Pokémon.
As they are often one of the first Gym Leader types, you could be in trouble if you picked the Fire starter!
They also take half-damage from Normal, Flying, Fire, Normal, and Poison-type moves.
Rock-type Pokémon also don’t take damage from the sandstorm weather effect.
Not only this, but when in a sandstorm they get a 1.5x multiplier to their Special Defense!
Pokémon Good Against Rock Types
There are plenty of Pokémon that can be good against Rock-type Pokemon, that either can exploit their weaknesses or resist their moves.
5 of the best Rock-type counters are:
1. Empoleon
Empoleon is both Water and Steel-type. This means that both its typings are good against Rock-type Pokémon!
Not only do both these types do double damage, but the Steel-typing also means Empoleon will take half damage from Rock moves.
Empoleon can use some great Special moves, such as Scald and Flash Cannon.
Scald is particularly good as it has a chance to burn the opponent.
2. Tangrowth
Tangrowth is a Grass-type Pokémon. Although its typing is super effective against Rock-type Pokémon, that’s not the reason why it is a top choice for us.
Tangrowth has amazing HP and Defense stats, meaning it can take quite a beating from Rock-types!
It also has brilliant Attack and Special Attack, allowing it to hit back hard!
Tangrowth does have to be wary of its low Special Defense, but it is rare for Rock-types to use Special moves.
It can counter this by using the held item Assault Vest, which raises its Special Defense.
3. Quagsire
Quagsire is Water/Ground-type meaning both of its typings are good against Rock Pokémon.
It boasts a decent defense to allow it to absorb a lot of attacks that come its way. The Ground typing also resists Rock-type moves.
Quagsire can wear its foes down with Toxic, and heal itself with Recover.
It also has access to a range of different Water and Ground-type moves for super-effective damage.
4. Krookodile
Krookodile is a Ground/Dark-type. The Ground typing means Krookodile is good against Rock-types.
Krookodile has a good Attack stat and also has pretty decent Speed, too.
One of the main reasons why Krookodile is so good is that both of its Abilities can work to your advantage.
Moxie gives you an attack boost every time you defeat a Pokémon. Intimidate will drop the opponent’s attack every time they switch in.
It’s up to you which one you choose and that works the best for you!
5. Conkeldurr
Conkeldurr is a Fighting-type Pokémon that can hit hard thanks to its great Attack stat.
Its Defense means it can take a good amount of hits, and its HP gives it great bulk.
Conkeldurr has some cool moves at its disposal. Drain Punch allows it to damage the enemy and restore health.
Defog is a little more unusual but helps it to remove hazards such as Stealth Rock from the field.
This is useful as often Rock-types will be used to set hazards like this.
There are plenty more Pokémon out there good against Rock-types.
See our list below for some top choices with some recommended movesets.
| Pokémon | Type | Moves |
|---|---|---|
| Empoleon | Water/Steel | Scald Flash Cannon Ice Beam Roar |
| Tangrowth | Grass | Giga Drain Knock Off Focus Blast Sludge Bomb |
| Quagsire | Water/Ground | Scald Earth Power Toxic Recover |
| Krookodile | Ground/Dark | Earthquake Knock Off Taunt Aqua Tail |
| Conkeldurr | Fighting | Defog Mach Punch Drain Punch Knock Off |
| Swampert | Water/Ground | Flip Turn Toxic Scald Earthquake |
| Claydol | Ground/Psychic | Rapid Spin Psychic Scorching Sands Teleport |
| Ludicolo | Water/Grass | Hydro Pump Rain Dance Giga Drain Ice Beam |
| Kabutops | Water/Rock | Swords Dance Liquidation Stone Edge Superpower |
| Rotom-Wash | Water/Electric | Hydro Pump Thunderbolt Volt Switch Nasty Plot |
| Tentacruel | Water/Poison | Scald Rapid Spin Toxic Spikes Sludge Bomb |
| Lilligant | Grass | Petal Dance Quiver Dance Teeter Dance Pollen Puff |
| Throh | Fighting | Circle Throw Knock Off Bulk Up Bulldoze |
| Gastrodon | Water/Ground | Scald Earth Power Ice Beam Recover |
| Excadrill | Ground/Steel | Iron Head Earthquake Rapid Spin Stone Edge |
Attacks Super Effective Against Rock-Type Pokémon
Water, Grass, Ground, Fighting, and Steel-type attacks will be your moves of choice to defeat Rock-type Pokémon quickly and easily.
It’s always key to remember that you don’t need a Pokémon that has Water, Grass, Ground, Fighting, or Steel typing to use a super effective move.
Lots of different Pokémon can learn them and help you out in a pinch.
Here is a list of some of the top 10 moves to look out for.
- Scald (Water)
- Surf (Water)
- Giga Drain (Grass)
- Power Whip (Grass)
- Earthquake (Ground)
- Earth Power (Ground)
- Drain Punch (Fighting)
- Focus Blast (Fighting)
- Iron Head (Steel)
- Flash Cannon (Steel)
Tips on Defeating Rock-Type Pokémon
Rock-type Pokémon might seem scary, but they have one of the highest numbers of weaknesses of any of the Pokémon types.
Usually, if you have chosen the Grass or Water starter at the beginning of the game they should cause no issue to you.
If you chose the Fire-type, look out for early Grass or Fighting types, as they are often quite common on the routes at the start of the game.
Rock types are often very slow. This means that you can often outspeed them and attack first.
If you choose the right move, you could even end things before they have even begun!
The Special Defense stat of Rock Pokémon is also very low on average. As a result, special-based attacks are your best bet to beat them.
With that being said, Rock Pokémon often have the ability Sturdy.
This allows them to survive with 1HP if an attack would KO them from full health.
You may wish to chip away at them with a status effect like poison or burn to stop them from hanging on.
We spoke earlier about the weather effect sandstorm. This not only causes damage to any Pokémon that is not Rock, Steel, or Ground-type but also raises the Special Defense of Rock-types.
To avoid this, you could always set your own weather effect to cancel it out.
Just make sure that you use yours after the opponent as the last weather effect to be activated will be the one that happens!
You could also cancel the weather altogether with the abilities Cloud Nine or Airlock.
Rock-type Pokémon are also often used to set Stealth Rock up. This creates a hazard on the field that inflicts Rock-type damage on any Pokémon switching in.
This can prove deadly for some Pokémon, such as Fire and Flying types!
If you feel like you may be vulnerable to this move, make sure a Pokémon on your team knows the move Defog or the move Rapid Spin.
This will let you remove Stealth Rock and protect your Pokémon.
Alternatively, the held item Heavy Duty Boots will allow a Pokémon to switch in and not be hit by entry hazards.
Hopefully, now you feel much more confident and won’t crumble under the pressure of facing Rock-type Pokémon!
Are there any other types you are worried about facing? Let us and your fellow trainers know in the comments.