Onix

Meet Onix, the Rock Snake Pokemon

Number 95 is a Rock and Ground type from Generation 1 and the first stage of its line. The standard abilities are Rock Head and Sturdy, with Weak Armor as the hidden option, and it evolves into Steelix rather than anything that shares its typing.

It is also one of the most recognisable Pokemon of the early games, since it is the first serious wall a new trainer runs into. That fight is where most players learn that a big defensive number can look a lot scarier than it plays.

The 385 total, and the 35 HP problem

160 Defense is enormous, and it is the highest number on the sheet by a wide margin. Everything else is small: 35 HP, 45 Attack, 30 Special Attack, 45 Special Defense and 70 Speed.

That combination is the whole story of the Pokemon. Low health means the Defense stat has little to protect, and any special attack ignores it entirely. Onix takes physical hits beautifully and loses to everything else, which is not the profile the number suggests. A trainer who reads the sheet quickly will overrate it badly, and almost every new player does exactly that the first time they see it.

Six weaknesses, five resistances

Water, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Ground and Steel all do extra damage. Normal, Fire, Poison, Flying and Rock come back reduced. Electric is a complete blank, which is the one matchup where it shines without qualification.

Six weaknesses is a lot to carry, and they cover most of the common attacking types in the game. The Rock and Ground combination is responsible: each half brings its own set of problems, and very few of them cancel out. Fighting is the one that has to be watched most closely, because Fighting attacks are everywhere.

Rock Head, Sturdy and Weak Armor

Rock Head removes recoil damage from its own moves, which matters on a Pokemon with 35 HP, since recoil that would be a nuisance elsewhere is fatal here. Sturdy lets it survive a single hit that would otherwise knock it out, provided it starts at full health.

Weak Armor, the hidden ability, trades Defense for Speed every time it is hit physically. On a Pokemon that already cannot take a special hit, giving up the only strong column is a strange deal, which is why it is rarely the pick.

Becoming a Steelix

Onix evolves into Steelix, and the method is unusual: it needs to be traded while holding a Metal Coat. That means a second game or a second player, which is a real obstacle compared with the level-based evolutions most of the dex uses. It is the single biggest reason the Pokemon is left unfinished in most playthroughs.

The result is a Pokemon with a much better defensive spread and a different typing, and it is the reason Onix is worth training at all. The final form is where the 160 Defense finally has a health pool to protect, and the change is obvious the first time it takes a hit.

Team planning and the reference pages

Line the team up in the Pokemon Team Picker and set the run rules in the Nuzlocke Team Builder, with the Random Pokemon Picker covering anything still open.

Then the detail work: pick a nature with the Pokemon Nature Chart and run the spread through the Pokemon IV Calculator. If the answer does not change anything, spin the Pokemon Wheel Spinner and move on.

Two more pages handle the collection side on their own: Pokemon Shiny Odds explains how rare a recolour is, and the Random Shiny Pokemon Generator will do the rolling instead. For the giant forms there is the Random Mega Pokemon Generator, and Who's That Pokemon covers the guessing.

How to use 160 Defense

Send it in against physical attackers that cannot hit it for weakness. Electricity, Normal moves and Flying attacks are the safe entries, and against those it does exactly what the stat line promises. Against everything else the 160 is doing almost nothing at all.

Against Water, Grass or Fighting it is a liability, and against anything attacking from the special side the Defense number does not exist at all. Onix is a specialist wall, and specialists only work when the matchup is chosen for them.

Why it still turns up

The Pokemon has been in every generation, and the design is the reason: a giant snake made of boulders is a memorable thing to put in a cave. It is also a useful teaching tool, since it shows new players why a single big number is not the same as a good stat spread. Almost every trainer learns that lesson from this Pokemon, usually in the first cave they walk into.

For a trainer who wants to use it seriously, the plan has always been the same. Survive the early levels, get the Metal Coat, and trade it into the form that can actually take a hit.