No. 0013 · Generation I · Hairy Bug Pokémon
ビードルBīdoru · A blend of 'bee' and 'needle' (nīdoru) – a little bee-to-be with a needle on its head
The Hairy Bug Pokémon · Bug/Poison type · first seen in Pokémon Red & Green (1996)
01Overview
Meet Weedle
Everything you need to know about the Hairy Bug Pokémon — the creature behind the number.
Meet Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon: a plump, segmented caterpillar in shades running from sunny yellow to reddish-brown, with a big red nose, two beady black eyes and a sharp spike sticking straight up from its head. At #0013 it is the first Bug- and Poison-type in the National Pokédex – the tiny grub that grows up to be Beedrill, one of Kanto's most feared swarmers.
That spike is not for show. The barb on Weedle's head is about two inches (5 cm) long and loaded with strong poison, and a second, barbed stinger waits at the tip of its tail. Its bright colours are a warning, not a fashion statement: predators are meant to take one look and decide this snack isn't worth it. Hikers should take note too – Weedle likes to lie low in grass and bushes, and a careless foot can earn a painful jab.
“Often found in forests and grasslands. It has a sharp, toxic barb of around two inches on top of its head.”
Pokédex · Pokémon Red (Japan), Green (Japan), FireRed, X & Legends: Z-A · 1996
Its other superpower is that big red nose. Weedle's sense of smell is extremely sharp, good enough to sniff out the leaves it loves from the ones it can't stand, and it needs to be fussy because it is a serious eater. Every day it munches through its own weight in leaves, usually tucked away underneath the very leaf it is chewing.
All that food fuels some very fast growing up. Weedle hardens into a Kakuna at level 7 and bursts out as Beedrill at level 10 – the joint-earliest evolutions in the series, shared with Caterpie and Wurmple – and its catch rate is the highest any Pokémon can have. In Red and Blue it is part of a new Trainer's very first lesson: the Old Man in Viridian City shows how catching works on a wild Weedle, and Viridian Forest next door is crawling with them.
Fans tend to remember Weedle for the trouble it brings. In the anime's Challenge of the Samurai, Ash knocks out a Weedle only for it to slip away and come back with a furious Beedrill swarm – the first of many lessons that where there's a Weedle, the hive is never far behind. Cute and careful in one small package, it is the caterpillar every Trainer learns to respect.
How big is Weedle?
At 0.3 m (1′00″) Weedle is about as long as a school ruler, and at 3.2 kg (7.1 lb) it weighs about the same as a newborn baby – that's a lot of leaves for one little caterpillar.
Evolution
02In the Pokédex's words
Weedle's Pokédex entries
11 different entries across 35 games, from 1996 to 2006. Here is how the Pokédex has described Weedle over the years, in the order the games came out.
Generation I
Often found in forests and grasslands. It has a sharp, toxic barb of around two inches on top of its head.
Kanto Pokédex
Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head.
Kanto Pokédex
Beware of the sharp stinger on its head. It hides in grass and bushes where it eats leaves.
Kanto Pokédex
A common sight in forests and grassy areas. Has a poison stinger on its head that may be used if you step on it.
Kanto Pokédex
Generation II
Its poison stinger is very powerful. Its bright-colored body is intended to warn off its enemies.
Johto Pokédex
It attacks using a two-inch poison barb on its head. It can usually be found under the leaves it eats.
Johto Pokédex
The barb on top of its head secretes a strong poison. It uses this toxic barb to protect itself.
Johto Pokédex
Generation III
Weedle has an extremely acute sense of smell. It is capable of distinguishing its favorite kinds of leaves from those it dislikes just by sniffing with its big red proboscis (nose).
Hoenn Pokédex
Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp stinger on its head that injects poison.
FireRed & LeafGreen Pokédex
A Weedle has an extremely acute sense of smell. It distinguishes its favorite kinds of leaves from those it dislikes by sniffing with its big red proboscis (nose).
Hoenn Pokédex
Generation IV
It eats its weight in leaves every day. It fends off attackers with the needle on its head.
Sinnoh Pokédex
03Stats, moves & where to find it
Weedle in the video games
Base stat total 195 · 24 core-series games · 21 spin-offs · every move it learns, generation by generation.
Base stats
Weedle's base stats have never changed: 40/35/30/20/20/50, a total of 195 – exactly the same total as Caterpie and Wurmple, and the lowest of any Poison-type. In Generation I it had a single Special stat of 20; when Gold and Silver split Special into Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, both were set to 20, and that Sp. Def of 20 is the joint-lowest of any Pokémon. Speed is its best stat by a distance. Base friendship was 70 in Generations II–VII and has been 50 since Generation VIII; its base experience yield was 52 in Generations I–IV and has been 39 since Generation V. It reaches level 100 at 1,000,000 Exp. (Medium Fast).
Abilities
- Shield Dustsince Gen III
Protects Weedle from the extra effects of opponents' attacks, such as flinching, poisoning or stat drops. - Run AwayHidden abilitysince Gen V
Lets Weedle always escape from a wild Pokémon battle.
Type matchups
How hard each attacking type hits a Bug/Poison Pokémon.
Generation I was a very different story: Bug-type moves were super effective against Poison-types back then, so they hit Weedle for double damage instead of half, and Poison-type moves – then super effective against Bug-types – landed for normal damage rather than being resisted. Its Fairy resistance dates from X & Y, when the Fairy type arrived.
Training & breeding
- Catch rate
- 255
- Base friendship
- 50
- Base experience
- 39
- Growth rate
- Medium Fast
- EV yield
- 1 Speed
- Egg groups
- Bug
- Egg cycles
- 15
- Colour
- Brown
- Gender ratio
- 50% male
- Body shape
- insectoid
Where to find Weedle
| Game | Year | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Red & Green | 1996 | Wild in Viridian Forest and on Route 25 |
| Blue (Japan) | 1996 | Wild in Viridian Forest and on Route 25 |
| Red & Blue | 1998 | Wild in Viridian Forest and on Route 25Red also has it on Routes 2 and 24. In Viridian City, the Old Man shows how to catch Pokémon on a wild Weedle. |
| Yellow | 1998 | Not found in the wild – trade only |
| Gold & Silver | 1999 | Silver: wild on Routes 2, 30 and 31, in Ilex Forest and National Park, and in Headbutt trees; Gold: only in the Bug-Catching ContestThe National Park Bug-Catching Contest runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. |
| Crystal | 2000 | Wild on Routes 30 and 31, in Ilex Forest and National Park; also in the Bug-Catching Contest and Ilex Forest's Headbutt trees |
| Ruby & Sapphire | 2002 | Not found in Hoenn – trade only |
| FireRed & LeafGreen | 2004 | Wild in Viridian Forest and on Routes 2, 24 and 25; also in Pattern Bush on the Sevii IslandsThe Old Man's catching lesson in Viridian City stars a Weedle once again. |
| Emerald | 2004 | Not found in Hoenn – trade only |
| Diamond & Pearl | 2006 | Route 204 with Pokémon LeafGreen in the DS's Game Boy Advance slot (dual-slot mode)Or migrate one from a Game Boy Advance game via Pal Park, where it lives in the Forest area. |
| Platinum | 2008 | Route 204 and Eterna Forest with Pokémon LeafGreen in the DS's Game Boy Advance slot (dual-slot mode) |
| HeartGold & SoulSilver | 2009 | SoulSilver: wild on Routes 2, 30 and 31, in Ilex Forest, National Park and Viridian Forest, and in Ilex Forest's Headbutt trees; HeartGold: only in the Bug-Catching Contest |
| Black & White | 2010 | Not found in the wild – Black players can breed one from a Kakuna or Beedrill; White needs a trade or Poké Transfer |
| Black 2 & White 2 | 2012 | Not found in the wild – Black 2 players can breed one from a Beedrill; White 2 needs a trade or Poké Transfer |
| X & Y | 2013 | Wild in Santalune ForestX also has it on Route 2. |
| Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | 2014 | Not found in the wild – breed one from a Kakuna or Beedrill |
| Sun & Moon | 2016 | Not found in Alola – trade or Pokémon Bank only |
| Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | 2017 | Not found in the wild – breed one from a Beedrill |
| Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee! | 2018 | Wild on Route 2 and in Viridian Forest |
| Sword & Shield | 2019 | Unobtainable |
| Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl | 2021 | Shining Pearl: Grand Underground hideaways (Spacious Cave, Grassland Cave, Swampy Cave, Riverbank Cave, Still-Water Cavern, Sunlit Cavern, Bogsunk Cavern) after obtaining the National Pokédex; Brilliant Diamond: trade only |
| Legends: Arceus | 2022 | Unobtainable |
| Scarlet & Violet | 2022 | Unobtainable |
| Legends: Z-A | 2025 | Wild all over Lumiose City: Wild Zone 1 and sectors of the Vert, Bleu, Magenta, Rouge and Jaune Districts, plus Rouge StreetAn alpha Weedle appears in Magenta Sector 3 during Side Mission 043, and the Mega Dimension expansion adds it to Hyperspace Lumiose's 1★ Bug-type wild zones. |
Sprites through the ages
Spin-offs & cameos
Super Smash Bros.
Weedle itself has never wriggled into a Super Smash Bros. game – no fighter slot, no trophy, no spirit – but its final form made one very memorable appearance. In the original Super Smash Bros. (1999), Beedrill is a Poké Ball Pokémon: one Beedrill zooms off-screen, then a whole swarm comes streaming across the stage with Take Down, battering everyone except the player who threw the ball. Fittingly, its buzzing summon cry was taken from the Japanese version of Challenge of the Samurai – the very anime episode in which a run-in with a Weedle sets a Beedrill swarm on Ash. Super Smash Bros. Melee handed that swarm-style attack to Unown instead, and Beedrill has not been back since.
Pokémon GO
Weedle has been crawling around Pokémon GO since launch day in July 2016, and it is one of the cheapest evolutions in the game: just 12 Candy turns it into Kakuna. As a buddy it earns a Candy every kilometre, and it once hatched from 2 km Eggs. Its big day came on 20 June 2020, when Weedle Community Day brought triple Stardust for catches, three-hour Incense and the debut of a green Shiny Weedle, along with Shiny Kakuna and Beedrill, while any Kakuna evolved during the event became a Beedrill knowing the exclusive move Drill Run. Two months later the family made history again: on 27 August 2020, Mega Beedrill was one of the first four Mega Evolutions in GO and the star of the game's Mega Evolution tutorial. Weedle also turns up as a Shadow Pokémon with Team GO Rocket, and the poor thing's only Charged Attack is Struggle – unless it is a Shadow or Purified Weedle, which can know Frustration or Return instead.
Its Base Set card, Poison Sting and all, is part of the digital card collection on Game Boy.
Flip your way to Viridian Forest or Cerulean City on either the Red or the Blue Field and a Weedle is up for grabs.
Ready to battle in 3D, with a Pokédex entry warning that it may use its stinger on anyone who steps on it.
Its Pokédex entry changes with the Game Boy game you plug in: Gold's warning colours or Silver's two-inch barb.
A common piece in Secret Storage 9 and 17, Endless Level 15 and Mr. Who's Den.
Wriggles around Silent Chasm, Mt. Thunder, Joyous Tower and Oddity Cave – and on your team it likes to remind you that its horn is poisonous.
Found on floors 4 to 9 of Apple Woods.
Browser entry #057 lives in Vien Forest and attacks by spitting sticky silk; once captured, it lends a hand in the field with Tackle.
Back on floors 4 to 9 of Apple Woods for the expanded Explorers adventure.
This Weedle tumbled out of the White Tree by the waterfall in the Meadow Zone, and his favourite attraction is Bulbasaur's Daring Dash.
Turns up in the Model Train Room's All Aboard! stage and in the Chill Battle The Forest of Memories.
A Poison-type puzzle piece in Desert Umbra (Stage 337), whose Mind Zap skill delays your opponent's disruptions.
Fainted Weedle wait to be rescued in various dungeons – and this one is very proud that its red nose can find yummy leaves.
On the map since launch day, with a Community Day of its own in June 2020 – the day Shiny Weedle arrived.
One of the first toys you meet in the tutorial, and later found in the Charizard, Mewtwo and Bulbasaur Seas.
Hatch a Weedle from an Egg and it teams up with your own player character as a sync pair.
Back in Silent Chasm and Joyous Tower, with more in Purity Forest and a few to rescue in Silver Trench and on Mt. Faraway.
Moves
Weedle has never been one for a big toolkit. From Red and Green all the way to Diamond and Pearl it knew exactly two moves, Poison Sting and String Shot, both from level 1, with no TMs, no HMs, no egg moves and no tutors to lean on. To be fair, it becomes a Kakuna at level 7, so it was never planning to hang around.
Platinum finally handed it Bug Bite, and the move tutors of later games chipped in with a surprisingly zappy Electroweb. Even so, Weedle went nearly thirty years without learning a single TM, until Legends: Z-A let it use two at once, Electroweb and Facade, and gave its trusty Poison Sting double the punch. Five moves in all, and not one of them an egg move.
Signature moves
A jab from the stinger on its head, and Weedle's only attack until Platinum. It has known it from level 1 in every game ever, at 15 power, until Legends: Z-A doubled it to 30.
The sticky silk it sprays to slow foes down. Weedle has known it from level 1 in every game since Red and Green, and HeartGold and SoulSilver's move tutors will teach it all over again.
Its first Bug-type attack, added in Platinum at level 15 and moved to level 9 from Sun and Moon. Both levels come after its level-7 evolution, so a home-grown Weedle has to be kept from evolving to learn it.
A sparky net from a poison bug: a tutor move in Black 2 and White 2, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, then TM101 in Legends: Z-A.
TM109 in Legends: Z-A and the only Normal-type attack Weedle has ever learned. With Electroweb, it ended almost three decades without a single TM.
No main-series game has ever taught Weedle Fury Attack, but its Skyridge card uses it anyway.
Complete learnsets
Generation I · Red, Green, Blue & Yellow2 level-up
Wild in Viridian Forest in Red and Blue, and also on Routes 2, 24 and 25 in Red and on Route 25 in Blue. Yellow has no wild Weedle at all. Weedle knows both of its moves from level 1 and cannot use a single TM or HM. In the first three generations a move's category follows its type, so Poison- and Bug-type attacks are physical.
By level-up
| RGBY | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
Generation II · Gold, Silver & Crystal2 level-up
Wild in Silver and Crystal on Routes 30 and 31, in Ilex Forest and in the National Park; in Gold it turns up only in the National Park's Bug-Catching Contest (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). Still just Poison Sting and String Shot: no TMs, HMs, egg moves or tutor moves. Categories follow the type-based split.
By level-up
| GSC | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
Generation III · Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed & LeafGreen2 level-up
Wild in FireRed and LeafGreen on Routes 2, 24 and 25, in Viridian Forest and in Pattern Bush. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald have no wild Weedle, and it does not appear in Colosseum or XD. No TMs, egg moves or tutor moves. Categories follow the type-based split.
By level-up
| RSE/FRLG | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
Generation IV · Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver3 level-up · 2 tutor
Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver add Bug Bite at level 15; Diamond and Pearl stick to Poison Sting and String Shot. In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Weedle lives on Route 204 (and in Eterna Forest in Platinum) when LeafGreen is in the DS's second slot. It is wild in SoulSilver, but HeartGold players can only find it in the National Park's Bug-Catching Contest. Still no TMs or egg moves. From this generation each move has its own physical or special category.
By level-up
| DP | Pt/HGSS | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
| N/A | 15 | Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 |
By move tutor
| Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 | HGSS |
| String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 | HGSS |
Generation V · Black, White, Black 2 & White 23 level-up · 2 tutor
There is no wild Weedle in Unova: in Black it can be hatched by breeding Kakuna or Beedrill, and in Black 2 by breeding Beedrill, while White and White 2 offer no Weedle at all. Black 2 and White 2's move tutors teach Bug Bite and Electroweb; Black and White have none for Weedle. Still no TMs or egg moves.
By level-up
| BW/B2W2 | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
| 15 | Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 |
By move tutor
| Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 | B2W2 |
| Electroweb | Electric | Special | 55 | 95 | 15 | B2W2 |
Generation VI · X, Y, Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire3 level-up · 2 tutor
Wild in Santalune Forest in X and Y, and on Route 2 in X as well. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have no wild Weedle, but one can be hatched by breeding Kakuna or Beedrill. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire's tutors teach Bug Bite and Electroweb (X and Y have no tutor moves for Weedle). Still no TMs or egg moves.
By level-up
| XY/ORAS | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
| 15 | Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 |
By move tutor
| Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 | ORAS |
| Electroweb | Electric | Special | 55 | 95 | 15 | ORAS |
Generation VII · Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon3 level-up · 2 tutor
Weedle is not wild in Alola: Sun and Moon offer no Weedle of their own, and in Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon it can only be hatched by breeding Beedrill. Bug Bite moves up to level 9. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon's tutors teach Bug Bite and Electroweb; Sun and Moon have none for Weedle. Still no TMs or egg moves.
By level-up
| SM/USUM | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
| 9 | Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 |
By move tutor
| Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 | USUM |
| Electroweb | Electric | Special | 55 | 95 | 15 | USUM |
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! · Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee!2 level-up
Wild on Route 2 and in Viridian Forest, just as in the originals. Weedle is back to its Red and Blue basics here: Poison Sting and String Shot, no Bug Bite and no TMs. These games have no breeding or move tutors.
By level-up
| LGPE | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
Generation VIII · Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl3 level-up
Weedle is not in Sword and Shield (including their expansions) or in Legends: Arceus, so its only Generation VIII home is Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. In Shining Pearl it lives in caves of the Grand Underground once you have the National Pokédex; Brilliant Diamond has no wild Weedle. Bug Bite stays at level 9. No TMs, egg moves or tutor moves.
By level-up
| BDSP | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 15 | 100 | 35 |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | 95 | 40 |
| 9 | Bug Bite | Bug | Physical | 60 | 100 | 20 |
Generation IX · Scarlet & Violet
Weedle cannot be obtained in Scarlet and Violet, so it has no learnset there. Its Generation IX home is Legends: Z-A.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A · Legends: Z-A2 level-up · 2 TM/HM
Wild in several parts of Lumiose City, and the Mega Dimension expansion adds it to Hyperspace Lumiose's one-star Bug-type wild zones. Legends: Z-A lists moves with the level they are learned at, the level at which they become Plus Moves, power and cooldown, with no accuracy or PP. Weedle loses Bug Bite here, but its Poison Sting hits for 30, and for the first time ever it can use TMs: Electroweb and Facade. No breeding or tutors.
By level-up
| Learn | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poison Sting | Poison | Physical | 30 | — | — |
| 1 | String Shot | Bug | Status | — | — | — |
By TM / HM / TR
| No. | Move | Type | Cat. | Pwr. | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TM101 | Electroweb | Electric | Special | 55 | — | — |
| TM109 | Facade | Normal | Physical | 70 | — | — |
04On screen
Weedle in the anime
Debut EP004Challenge of the Samurai · Its appearances on screen, and 3 other trainers who raised one.
Weedle burst into the anime as a troublemaker. In its debut, Challenge of the Samurai (EP004), one wild Weedle in Viridian Forest got away from Ash at the last second, and the Beedrill swarm that followed nearly chased him out of the forest. It set the pattern for Weedle on screen: small and easy to underestimate, but always connected to a bigger swarm.
Ash has never caught one. Casey snatched a Weedle from under his nose at the Bug-Catching Contest, Goh netted one with a single throw in Vermilion Forest, and Jimmy of The Legend of Thunder! raised his all the way to Beedrill. Wild Weedle have also had good moments of their own, from tumbling out of a tree onto Team Rocket to patching the Brave Olivine with String Shot in Pokémon Horizons. Dawn's Piplup even entered a dress-up contest as one.
Other trainers’ Weedle
First seen: JN006Working My Way Back to Mew!
Goh's Weedle was part of his famous Bug-type haul in Vermilion Forest. Scorbunny spotted it sitting in a tree, unaware it was being watched, and Goh caught it with a single throw before going on to bag a Kakuna and the strongest Beedrill of the swarm that came after him (JN006). Since then it has lived with the rest of Goh's growing collection at the Cerise Laboratory. It has never been used in battle, but it turns up in the background throughout Journeys, right up to This Could be the Start of Something Big! (JN136), and it is still a Weedle.
First seen: EP161The Bug Stops Here
Casey owned a Weedle for one afternoon. At the Bug-Catching Contest, Ash spotted a wild Weedle and called for Pikachu, but Casey swooped in first, had Chikorita attack it and caught it with one throw, brushing off Ash's protest that he had seen it first. The contest rules meant she had to let it go again, and the day ended with a twist: Ash won the contest with a Beedrill and then gave his prize catch to Casey (EP161).
First seen: The Legend of Thunder!
Jimmy, the young Johto hero of The Legend of Thunder!, caught his Beedrill as a Weedle earlier in his journey. It had already evolved twice by the time the special begins, so viewers have only ever seen it fully grown. It is the speedster of Jimmy's team, relying on Agility, Twineedle and Pin Missile, and it has beaten Marina's Jigglypuff, Pink, in battle.
Ash & Weedle
Ash has never owned a Weedle, although he has tried to catch one twice. In Viridian Forest his brand-new Pidgeotto knocked one out, but Samurai's interruption let it escape, and the Beedrill of the forest soon came swarming after him (EP004). Years later, Casey beat him to a wild Weedle at the Bug-Catching Contest (EP161). Ash still won the contest, with a Beedrill caught in a Park Ball, and then gave that Beedrill to Casey.
Featured episodes
- EP004Challenge of the SamuraiViridian Forest is full of Weedle. Pikachu is asleep, so Ash's Pidgeotto battles one and knocks it out, but Samurai's interruption lets it escape and the forest turns on Ash. A Beedrill swarm and a hive of Kakuna follow, and the next morning a gang of Weedle chews straight through Team Rocket's cardboard van.
- AG014All in a Day's WurmpleHunting for Wurmple, Jessie kicks a tree and a Weedle tumbles out, which James finds mildly impressive. Another kick brings down a Kakuna, and while James and Meowth work out what Kakuna evolves into, a swarm of Beedrill arrives to answer the question.
- DP033All Dressed Up With Somewhere To Go!At the Pokémon Dress-Up Contest, Dawn enters Piplup dressed as a Weedle. The impression goes well at first, until Piplup gets carried away and fires a Bubble Beam, which ruins the act and puts the pair out in the first round.
- HZ005Found You, Fuecoco!Two wild Weedle that first appeared on Roy's home island in The Treasure After the Storm! (HZ004) come to the rescue of the Brave Olivine. Liko and Roy ask the forest's Bug Pokémon for help, and Weedle and Caterpie use String Shot to seal the leaks in the airship's gasbag.
More appearances
- EP056The Ultimate Test Todd photographs a Trainer's Weedle that has been coloured green by mistake.
- EP088In the Pink Pinkan Island's berries have turned its Weedle pink.
- EP097Tracey Gets Bugged A Weedle is among the Bug Pokémon living on Murcott Island.
- EP121Illusion Confusion! A Weedle is one of the illusions conjured up by a gang of Haunter and Gengar.
- EP132For Crying Out Loud Wilhomena's Marill accidentally soaks a group of Weedle.
- EP144Gettin' The Bugs Out Several Weedle live at Bugsy's Azalea Gym, where the Gym's Bug Pokémon tie up Team Rocket with String Shot.
- EP207Got Miltank? A Weedle lives at an oasis reserved for Pokémon.
- EP227For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll! Several Weedle stand guard at the Tin Tower after Team Rocket steal the Crystal Bells.
- EP235Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution A Weedle falls ill because of Team Rocket's experiments.
- EP250The Ice Cave! A Weedle lives in the forest outside the Ice Cave, in an episode that never aired in English.
- AG015Gonna Rule The School! The Pokémon Trainer's School lends Weedle to pupils too young to have Pokémon of their own.
- AG143The Saffron Con A Coordinator's Weedle is among the Pokémon Team Rocket snatch in a balloon-mounted cage. Once it is free, it competes in the Saffron Contest in A Hurdle for Squirtle (AG144).
- AG191Once More With Reeling! A Coordinator's Weedle competes in the Terracotta Contest.
- DP038One Big Happiny Family! Nurse Joy treats an injured Weedle.
- XY002Lumiose City Pursuit! A Weedle lives at Professor Sycamore's laboratory in Lumiose City. It is seen there again in Mega-Mega Meowth Madness! (XY010), Day Three Blockbusters! (XY040) and Battling With a Clean Slate! (XY137), and in a flashback in Garchomp's Mega Bond! (XY068).
- HZ062A New Song for Fuecoco One of the Weedle that helped repair the Brave Olivine appears in a flashback.
Beyond the main series
Anime gallery
Anime trivia
- Ash has tried to catch a Weedle twice and failed both times: Samurai's interruption let one escape in Viridian Forest (EP004), and Casey beat him to another at the Bug-Catching Contest (EP161).
- Weedle and Kakuna both made their anime debut in the same episode, Challenge of the Samurai (EP004).
- Kakuna's evolution in Challenge of the Samurai shows its shell cracking open and leaving an empty husk behind. Later episodes switched to the glowing evolution animation used for other Pokémon.
- The green Weedle that Todd photographs in The Ultimate Test (EP056) is a colouring mistake. As it happens, the Shiny Weedle introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver are green too, in a different shade.
- Weedle is the answer to the English dub's Who's That Pokémon? quiz in Nice Pryce, Baby! (EP238). The Japanese version used Piloswine.
- In the Japanese version of The Bug Stops Here (EP161), Casey celebrates catching her Weedle with "Speed and charge!", a slogan used by Shigeo Nagashima, the former manager of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team.
- Dawn's Piplup once dressed up as a Weedle for the Pokémon Dress-Up Contest (DP033). It lasted until Piplup broke character with a Bubble Beam.
- In Pokémon Horizons, a pair of wild Weedle helped patch the Brave Olivine's gasbag with String Shot (HZ005).
“Weedle. The stinger on this Pokémon's head guarantees that any attacker will get the point right where it hurts.”
Ash's Pokédex (Dexter) · EP004
05On the big screen
Weedle in the movies
1 film and 2 specials featuring Weedle.
Weedle has never had a starring film role, but it has been crawling around the edges of Pokémon cinema since the very beginning. A Trainer's Weedle is in Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) and its 2019 CGI remake, several more live in Celebi's forest, one wriggles through the opening of Destiny Deoxys, and two turn up with four Kakuna in I Choose You!. A wild one also cameos in the Pikachu short Pikachu's Rescue Adventure. Its liveliest screen moments come in the TV specials: in Mewtwo Returns, Ash's canoe drifts past wild Weedle, Kakuna and Beedrill until the Beedrill send Misty paddling back upstream, and in The Legend of Thunder! Jimmy's Beedrill, a Weedle when Marina first knew it, battles Team Rocket.
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!
M20 · 2017
Two Weedle and four Kakuna (background)
Two Weedle and four Kakuna turn up in this retelling of Ash's first journey, though none of them steps into the spotlight. The film also rewrites one of the Beedrill family's best-known TV moments: Ash's Metapod now evolves into Butterfree during a scrap with a pack of Primeape, not in the middle of a Beedrill swarm.
TV specials
- Mewtwo Returns (2000)
On a canoe trip down the river, Ash and his friends float past a whole gallery of wild Bug Pokémon: Ledian, Kakuna, Weedle, Pinsir and Beedrill. It's the Beedrill that prove one bug too many for Misty, who paddles frantically back upstream. Later, hundreds more Beedrill live around Mount Quena, whose lake has been polluted by Team Rocket's base. - The Legend of Thunder! (2001)
Weedle itself is only a memory in this Johto special, but its evolved form is a star. When Jimmy sends out his Beedrill against Marina, she recognises it from its Weedle days. Beedrill knocks out her Jigglypuff with Pin Missile, wrecks the claws of Attila's Pokémon-catching robot and later swoops in to fly Marina out of Team Rocket's clutches.
06Trading Card Game · every card
Weedle in the Pokémon TCG
32 cards since 1999, oldest first. Tap any card to see it full size.
Weedle has been prodding opponents since the very first booster. It was in Japan's Expansion Pack in October 1996 and reached English players in Base Set in January 1999, as a 40 HP Basic Grass Pokémon with a Poison Sting that worked on a lucky flip. Since then it has turned up in every era, with 25 English cards and 22 different artworks up to Chaos Rising in 2026. It has never had an ex or V card, every English Weedle has been a Common, and its HP has stayed between 40 and 60. Seven English sets even open with Weedle at No. 1. The cards keep coming back to its stinger, with Poison Sting, Poison Horn, Spike Stab and Koga's Sharp Stinger. They also give it handy tricks like Call for Family, Speed Evolution, Multiply and Bug Hunch, and the Great Encounters Weedle was the first link in the Speedrill decks of the late 2000s.
The art has had plenty of hands on it. Mitsuhiro Arita's Base Set portrait was reprinted three times, right up to the retro-style Evolutions card in 2016. Japan's vending machines added Tomokazu Komiya's version, and Ken Sugimori drew both Koga's Weedle and the Rising Rivals card. The e-Card era brought a Skyridge pair by Keiko Fukuyama and Sumiyoshi Kizuki. Since then a long line of artists has taken a turn, among them Akira Komayama, Midori Harada, Shibuzoh., Yuka Morii and sui, and Sanosuke Sakuma's Chilling Reign Weedle even inspired a short story in Japan. The latest, sowsow's Chaos Rising card, puts the little bug against Prism Tower from Pokémon Legends: Z-A. TCG Pocket has picked up the thread digitally: it brought back Hajime Kusajima's 2004 art and Komayama's Kalos piece, and added a Shiny Weedle by Sakuma.
Cards to know
- Base Set 69/102 — Mitsuhiro Arita's original: a 40 HP caterpillar with a Poison Sting that works on a lucky flip. Four copies sat in both the Brushfire and Overgrowth theme decks, it was the Weedle in the Game Boy Color game, and it came back as a retro card in Evolutions.
- Gym Challenge 82/132 (Koga's Weedle) — The ninja Gym Leader's own Weedle, and the only one with a Trainer's name in its title. Sharp Stinger leaves the Defending Pokémon Poisoned on heads or Paralysed on tails, so something nasty happens either way.
- Great Encounters 93/106 — The little bug at the bottom of the Speedrill decks of the late 2000s. Four copies also crawl through Luxdrill, one of the 2009 World Championships decks.
- Kalos Starter Set 1/39 — Card No. 1 of the whole XY era, out on the same day in Japan and in English. It later became a Confetti-holo McDonald's Happy Meal card and a TCG Pocket card.
- Chilling Reign 001/198 — Sanosuke Sakuma's Single Strike Weedle got its own short story in Japan's Illust Story web series. The title, 'Weedle Tends to Poison Jab', is a pun: Poison Jab's Japanese name also means talking venomously.
- Chaos Rising 001/086 — The newest Weedle (2026) sets the bug against Prism Tower at the climax of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and its 30-damage Surprise Attack is the biggest number ever printed on a Weedle attack.
Every English-language card
Promo cards
Japan-exclusive cards
Pokémon TCG Pocket
Digital card games
- Pokémon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color): Weedle (Base Set 69 art, Mitsuhiro Arita), card B07, Common, from the Evolution booster pack; three copies are in the Insect Collection deck, which the Auto Deck Machine offers once you have the Grass Medal. Sprite: TCG1 B07 Weedle.png.
- Pokémon Card GB2 (Japan only): Weedle (Base Set 69 art, Mitsuhiro Arita), card A03, Common, in the Beginning Pokémon pack; three copies are in the Insect Collection deck, played by Team GR's Midori. Sprite: TCG2 A03 Weedle.png.
- Pokémon Card GB2 (Japan only): Weedle (Vending Expansion Sheet 1 art, Tomokazu Komiya), card D03, Common, in the Psychic Battle pack. Sprite: TCG2 D03 Weedle.png.
The artists behind the cards
- Mitsuhiro Arita — 2 artworks (Base Set 69, reprinted in Base Set 2, Legendary Collection and Evolutions; Great Encounters 93); his Base Set art is also the Weedle in both Game Boy TCG games
- Ken Sugimori — 2 (Koga's Weedle in Gym Challenge, Rising Rivals 86)
- Sumiyoshi Kizuki — 2 (Skyridge 115, Plasma Freeze 1)
- Akira Komayama — 1 (Kalos Starter Set 1, reprinted in McDonald's Collection 2014), reused in TCG Pocket's Shining Revelry and Deluxe Pack: ex
- Hajime Kusajima — 1 (EX FireRed & LeafGreen 86), reused in TCG Pocket's Genetic Apex
- Sanosuke Sakuma — 1 (Chilling Reign 1, reprinted in Japan's VMAX Climax), plus TCG Pocket's Shiny Weedle in Shining Revelry
- Tomokazu Komiya — 1 (Vending Expansion Sheet 1, Japan only), also used in Pokémon Card GB2
- One artwork each: Miki Tanaka, Keiko Fukuyama, Atsuko Nishida, Kyoko Umemoto, Suwama Chiaki, Midori Harada, Yukiko Baba, Shibuzoh., SATOSHI NAKAI, Yuka Morii, sui, nisimono and sowsow
07On the page & beyond
Weedle in manga, books & other media
From the earliest manga to story books and songs.
Weedle's best page time belongs to the schemers. In Pokémon Adventures, Green catches one purely as trade bait and tries to charm a Trainer into swapping his Butterfree for it, while Giovanni's Beedrill turns out to be a Weedle he caught in Viridian Forest as a boy. Gold grew up with one at home, Shu rescues one that joins his adventures in Yeah! I Got Pokémon!, and Goh has one in his Bug collection in the Journeys manga. On the bookshelf, Weedle even has its own Japanese picture book, Where Is Weedle's Father?, while a later picture book hides seven Weedle in a single impossibly long line. Musically it's a natural: it's in the Pokérap, Japan's name-them-all song and a Bug-type song with lyrics by Satoshi Tajiri himself, and James turns its Japanese name into a 'let it be' pun. Science has honoured it too, with a Madagascan wasp named Stentorceps weedlei for its head spike.
Manga
Books
Other media
More from the page
08Did you know?
Weedle trivia
Name origins, design secrets and the facts that make Weedle such a fan favourite.
What’s in a name?
Weedle looks like a mash-up of 'worm' and 'needle' – a wriggly little grub with a needle on its head. Its Japanese name, ビードル Bīdoru, plays the same trick with a buzzier twist: 'bee' plus nīdoru ('needle'), a hint of the Beedrill it will become. Even its category has a story. In Japanese, Weedle is the kemushi Pokémon, a word for a hairy caterpillar – the sort that often stings – which is how a Pokémon with no fur at all ended up as the 'Hairy Bug' Pokémon in English. Other languages zoom in on the horn: it is Hornliu in German, Ppulchungi ('horn insect') in Korean and Dújiǎochóng, the 'single-horned bug', in Chinese, while French fans know it as Aspicot, from asticot (maggot) and picot (a little spike).
Design origins
Weedle was drawn by Atsuko Nishida, who designed the whole Weedle family, Kakuna and Beedrill included. Its starting point is the larva of a wasp or bee – a youngster already armed with a stinger – blended with the stinging caterpillars of the real world, which its Japanese 'hairy caterpillar' category also points to. Real bee and wasp grubs are soft, legless and stay tucked up in the nest, so Weedle takes the best bits of both: the leaf-munching, free-roaming life of a caterpillar and the needle-sharp business end of a wasp. It didn't start out quite this way, either – an unused early design named Kokana was later shown on Game Freak's Japanese website. Science has returned the compliment: a species of wasp, Stentorceps weedlei, was named after Weedle because both sport a spine in the middle of the head.
Names around the world
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ビードル Bīdoru | From bee and needle |
| French | Aspicot | From asticot (maggot) and picot (small spike) |
| German | Hornliu | From Horn (horn) |
| Spanish | Weedle | Same as the English name |
| Italian | Weedle | Same as the English name |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Weedle | Same as the English name |
| Korean | 뿔충이 Ppulchungi | From ppul (horn), chung (insect) and the diminutive ending -i |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 獨角蟲 / 独角虫 Dújiǎochóng | From dú (single), jiǎo (horn) and chóng (bug) |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 獨角蟲 Duhkgokchùhng | From duhk (single), gok (horn) and chùhng (bug) |
| Russian | Видл Vidl | Transcription of the English name |
| Thai | บีเดิล Bidoen | Transcription of the Japanese name |
| Hindi | वीडल Weedle | Transcription of the English name |
| Hebrew | ווידל Weedel | Transcription of the English name |
| Lithuanian | Vydla | From the English name |
Did you know?
- Weedle is #0013 in the National Pokédex, the first Pokémon on the list to be both Bug- and Poison-type.
- Its base stat total of 195 is the lowest of any Poison-type Pokémon.
- Its base Defence of 30 ties with Gastly's for the lowest of any Poison-type.
- Its base Sp. Def of 20 is the joint-lowest of any Pokémon, a record it shares with Caterpie and a handful of others.
- Weedle, Caterpie, Wurmple and Scatterbug are a club of look-alikes: all stand 0.3 m tall, have Shield Dust, grow at the Medium Fast rate and are based on larvae.
- Weedle, Caterpie and Wurmple all evolve at level 7 and again at level 10 – the earliest level-up evolutions in the series – and all have Run Away as their Hidden Ability.
- Wurmple borrows a move from each of its Kanto cousins: Caterpie's Tackle and Weedle's Poison Sting.
- Until Platinum gave it Bug Bite, Weedle's only attacking move was Poison Sting – useless against Steel-types, which left it nothing but Struggle.
- Until Legends: Z-A, Weedle was the only Pokémon that could never legitimately learn a Normal-type move in the core series.
- In Generation I, Bug- and Poison-type moves were super effective against each other, so Bug moves did double damage to Weedle instead of half.
- Weedle and Caterpie are classic version rivals: Weedle is easier to find in Red, Silver, SoulSilver and X, and in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl only Shining Pearl has it.
- Pokémon Yellow is the only Kanto game in which Weedle can't be caught in the wild.
- In Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen, the Old Man in Viridian City teaches catching by demonstrating on a wild Weedle.
- In the anime episode The Ultimate Test, Todd photographs a green Weedle – a colouring error, until Gold and Silver made green the real Shiny colour.
- The buzzing cry of Beedrill's swarm in the first Super Smash Bros. was taken from the Japanese version of Challenge of the Samurai.
- A species of wasp, Stentorceps weedlei, is named after Weedle – both have a spine in the middle of the head.
- Before it was finished, Weedle had an unused early design called Kokana.
- In Pokémon GO, a regular Weedle's only Charged Attack is Struggle.
09Quizzes, archive & further reading
More Weedle
Test yourself
Professor Oak's Kanto Quiz: BeginnerProfessor Oak has a few questions before you set foot in the tall grass. How well do you know the region where it all began?Take the quiz →
Who's That Pokémon? Kanto: BeginnerIt's the classic challenge! Can you name these original 151 Pokémon from their silhouettes alone?Take the quiz →
Indigo League Anime: IntermediateGrab your cap and set off on Ash's very first adventure. How much do you remember from the Indigo League days?Take the quiz →
Pokémon Horizons Anime: BeginnerAll aboard for a brand-new adventure! See how well you know Liko, Roy and the crew of Pokémon Horizons: The Series.Take the quiz →
Pokémon Movies: IntermediateFrom a mysterious island showdown to a city where people and Pokémon live side by side, how well do you know Pokémon on the big screen?Take the quiz →
Pokémon TCG: IntermediateShuffle up and draw! From the very first booster packs to the digital age, how well do you know the Pokémon Trading Card Game?Take the quiz →From the archive: Gengar’s Online Pokédex
Before this page, Pokémon Dungeon was home to Gengar’s Online Pokédex, the classic fan Pokédex for Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver & Crystal by Curtis Alumbaugh (Gengar) with Ian Alumbaugh (Haunter). Its Weedle entry is preserved in full, with its original art, moves and locations.
Further reading
Pokémon and all related names, artwork, sprites, screenshots and card images are © Nintendo, Creatures Inc., GAME FREAK inc. and The Pokémon Company, used here for fan commentary. Images via the Bulbagarden Archives. Page updated 24 October 2026.