#0028 · Kanto · Generation 1

Sandslash

Mouse Pokémon · Ground-type

Sandslash is a Ground-type Pokémon, the Mouse Pokémon, number 28 (#0028) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 1 m tall and weighs 29.5 kg.

Sandslash is the Mouse Pokémon, a spiny digger whose claws and quills snap off and grow back within a day, and the Pokédex says the broken pieces can be carved into ploughs. The Alolan form is claimed to outrun every other Pokémon on snowy mountains.

How to pronounce Sandslash

Sandslash is pronounced SAND-slash. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.

Listen to Sandslash said out loud:

In Japanese it is サンドパン (Sandpan).

Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.

Lore

Biology

Sandslash is 1 m tall and weighs 29.5 kg, with a yellow body, white belly, blue eyes and a back of sharp brown quills made of hardened hide. Two big claws on each paw and foot do the slashing and digging. The Sword Pokédex entry says the drier its home, the harder its spikes feel.

Behaviour

Sandslash climbs trees and likes to ambush prey from above, curling into a ball and dropping onto it. The Pokédex also says it drops gathered Berries to Sandshrew waiting below. Bulbapedia, citing Pokémon Sleep, says it sometimes sleeps buried in dirt, quills showing.

Habitat

The Pokédex habitat is Rough Terrain, and Bulbapedia says it is mostly found in deserts. In Scarlet and Violet it lives in Kitakami in The Teal Mask, and Alolan Sandslash is an evolution of Sandshrew in The Indigo Disk (Violet). Both are unobtainable in Legends: Z-A.

Powers

Its Ability is Sand Veil, with Sand Rush hidden. It slashes with Crush Claw and Slash, rolls with Rollout, digs with Dig and Earthquake, and sets up with Swords Dance. Base Defense 110 and Attack 100 make it a bulky physical attacker. Alolan Sandslash is an Ice and Steel type, 1.2 m and 55 kg, with icicle-like steel quills and hooked claws for scaling icebergs; its Abilities are Snow Cloak and hidden Slush Rush.

Name origin

Sandslash may combine 'sand' and 'slash'. The Japanese name is Sandpan (サンドパン), which may be 'sand' plus 'pangolin'.

Design inspiration

Sandslash looks like a curl-up armoured animal such as a pangolin or an echidna, which also digs in to show only its quills while sleeping. It may also draw on the yamaoroshi, a radish-grater spirit sometimes imagined as a porcupine. Alolan Sandslash may add barbegazi, Alpine snow gnomes, and ice axes. These are fan readings.

Evolution notes

Sandslash evolves from Sandshrew at level 22, and Alolan Sandslash evolves from Alolan Sandshrew with an Ice Stone.

In the games

In Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness, a Sandslash joins Team Razor Wind with a Scyther and a Zangoose. Red and Green (Red and Blue outside Japan) introduced it.

In the anime

Mewtwo took Corey's captured Sandslash for cloning in Mewtwo Strikes Back. In 'Bulbasaur... the Ambassador!', three Sandslash excavated a pond for the Grass Pokémon living at Professor Oak's lab.

Fun facts

• Its Emerald Pokédex entry says it curls up in hot weather to avoid heatstroke, but real echidnas and pangolins do the opposite, as Bulbapedia points out.
• In the Red and Green beta, Sandslash's English name was Sandstorm.
• Bulbapedia sees Alolan Sandslash as a counterpart to Alolan Ninetales: both are blue Ice forms of yellow Generation I Pokémon with Snow Cloak that evolve with an Ice Stone.

Sources: Bulbapedia: Sandslash (Pokémon) · Serebii: Sandslash (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex)

Base stats

• HP: 75
• Attack: 100
• Defense: 110
• Sp. Atk: 45
• Sp. Def: 55
• Speed: 65

Sandslash’s base stat total is 450. Its highest stat is Defense.

Type matchups

What is Sandslash weak to?

Sandslash takes extra damage from Water (2×), Grass (2×), Ice (2×) moves.

It resists Poison (½×), Rock (½×).

It is immune to Electric moves.

Evolution

What does Sandslash evolve from?

Sandslash evolves from Sandshrew (Level 22; Alolan Sandshrew: Ice Stone).

Sandslash is the final stage of its evolution family.

The whole family: Sandshrew, Sandslash.

Forms

• Alolan Sandslash (Alolan form): Ice/Steel-type, base stat total 450 (HP 75, Attack 100, Defense 120, Sp. Atk 25, Sp. Def 65, Speed 65). Abilities: Snow Cloak, Slush Rush (hidden).

Abilities

• Sand Veil: Increases evasion to 1.25× during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.
• Sand Rush (hidden ability): Doubles Speed during a sandstorm. Protects against sandstorm damage.

Moves

Moves Sandslash learns by level up in Scarlet / Violet

TM moves (55)

Sandslash can learn 55 moves from TMs in Scarlet / Violet: Take Down, Agility, Mud-Slap, Protect, Low Kick, Thief, Facade, Aerial Ace, Bulldoze, Metal Claw, Swift, Mud Shot, Rock Tomb, Fling, Endure, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Dig, False Swipe, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Body Slam, Sleep Talk, Poison Jab, Stomping Tantrum, Rest, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, Spikes, Leech Life, Gunk Shot, Substitute, X-Scissor, Drill Run, Stealth Rock, Amnesia, Earth Power, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Giga Impact, Focus Blast, Hyper Beam, Tera Blast, Sand Tomb, Smack Down, Gyro Ball, Knock Off, Super Fang, High Horsepower, Focus Punch, Double-Edge, Endeavor, Scorching Sands, Throat Chop, Curse.

Egg moves (6):Counter, Flail, Hone Claws, Metal Claw, Mud-Slap, Night Slash.

Breeding & training

• Gender: 50% male, 50% female.
• Egg groups: Field.
• Egg cycles: 20 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 2,560).
• Catch rate: 90 out of 255.
• Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
• Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100).
• Defeating it gives 2 Defense effort values.
• Base experience yield: 158.

Pokédex entries

It climbs trees by hooking on with its sharp claws. Sandslash shares the berries it gathers, dropping them down to Sandshrew waiting below the tree. (Shield)

The drier the area Sandslash lives in, the harder and smoother the Pokémon's spikes will feel when touched. (Sword)

It is skilled at slashing enemies with its claws. If broken, they start to grow back in a day. (Yellow, Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)

Thanks to its thick claws, it's good at climbing trees. There are plenty of Sandslash that park themselves in trees and go right to sleep. (Ultra Moon)

Its claws and horns often break off. The broken claws and horns can be used to carve plows for tilling farm fields. (Ultra Sun)

It uses its claws to climb trees and then curls its body into a spiny ball, ready to drop onto any prey that appears. (Moon)

Names around the world

Trivia

• Taller than 47% of all Pokémon (1 m).
• Heavier than 51% of all Pokémon (29.5 kg).
• Base stat total 450, ranked #512 of 1,025.
• One of 75 Ground-type Pokémon (counting dual types).
• One of 88 yellow Pokémon.
• Number 28 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
• Part of an evolution family of 2 Pokémon.
• Can learn 69 different moves in Scarlet / Violet.
• Catch rate 90: about 11.8% per Poké Ball at full health.
• Has 1 alternate form.
• Appears in 17 distinct Pokédex entries.

Sources and fact-checking

• Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: PokéAPI open game data.
• Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from Bulbapedia: Sandslash (Pokémon), Serebii: Sandslash (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex).
• Pronunciation (SAND-slash): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.

Last checked: 19 October 2026. Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.

Explore

Ground-type Pokémon · Kanto region guide · Sand Veil ability · Sand Rush ability · Compare Sandslash · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves

Browse similar Pokémon

Gen 1 Ground-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · Yellow Pokémon list · Field egg group · Pokémon that start with S · What does the Ice Stone evolve? · Hedgehog and Porcupine Pokémon

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