Poison Sting (move)

Move data

Type Poison
Category Physical  Physical
Power 15
Accuracy 100
PP 35  (max. 56)
Makes contact? No
Introduced Generation 1

Effects

Poison Sting deals damage and has a 30% chance of poisoning the target.

Poison or Steel type Pokémon, those with the ability Immunity or those behind a Substitute cannot be poisoned.

Z-Move effects

When a Pokémon is holding Poisonium Z and uses its Z-Power, Poison Sting turns into Acid Downpour and has base power 100.

Move target

Foe
Foe
Foe
User
Ally
Ally

Targets a single adjacent Pokémon.

Other languages

English Poison Sting
Japanese どくばり (Doku Bari)
German Giftstachel
French Dard-Venin
Italian Velenospina
Spanish Picotazo Ven
Korean 독침
Chinese (Simplified) 毒针
Chinese (Traditional) 毒針

Game descriptions

Gold​/​Silver
Crystal
An attack that may poison the target.
Ruby​/​Sapphire
Emerald
A toxic attack with barbs, etc., that may poison.
FireRed​/​LeafGreen The foe is stabbed with a toxic barb, etc. It may poison the foe.
Diamond​/​Pearl
Platinum
HeartGold​/​SoulSilver
The foe is stabbed with a poisonous barb of some sort. It may also poison the target.
Black​/​White
Black 2​/​White 2
The user stabs the target with a poisonous stinger. This may also poison the target.
X​/​Y
O.Ruby​/​A.Sapphire
The user stabs the target with a poisonous stinger. This may also poison the target.
Sun​/​Moon
Ultra Sun​/​Ultra Moon
L.G. Pikachu​/​L.G. Eevee
The user stabs the target with a poisonous stinger. This may also poison the target.
Sword​/​Shield
B.Diamond​/​S.Pearl
The user stabs the target with a poisonous stinger. This may also poison the target.
Scarlet​/​Violet The user stabs the target with a poisonous stinger to inflict damage. This may also poison the target.

Learnt by level up

These Pokémon learn Poison Sting at the level specified. The numbers given are for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and may vary in other games; check the respective Pokédex pages for details.

Ekans Ekans
#0023 / Poison
Level 4
Arbok Arbok
#0024 / Poison
Level 1
Sandshrew Sandshrew
#0027 / Ground
Level 3
Sandslash Sandslash
#0028 / Ground
Level 1
Tentacool Tentacool
#0072 / Water · Poison
Level 1
Tentacruel Tentacruel
#0073 / Water · Poison
Level 1
Spinarak Spinarak
#0167 / Bug · Poison
Level 1
Ariados Ariados
#0168 / Bug · Poison
Level 1
Gligar Gligar
#0207 / Ground · Flying
Level 1
Qwilfish Qwilfish
#0211 / Water · Poison
Level 1
Hisuian Qwilfish Qwilfish
Hisuian Qwilfish
#0211 / Dark · Poison
Level 1
Cacnea Cacnea
#0331 / Grass
Level 1
Cacturne Cacturne
#0332 / Grass · Dark
Level 1
Vespiquen Vespiquen
#0416 / Bug · Flying
Level 1
Croagunk Croagunk
#0453 / Poison · Fighting
Level 1
Toxicroak Toxicroak
#0454 / Poison · Fighting
Level 1
Mareanie Mareanie
#0747 / Poison · Water
Level 1
Toxapex Toxapex
#0748 / Poison · Water
Level 1
Overqwil Overqwil
#0904 / Dark · Poison
Level 1
Clodsire Clodsire
#0980 / Poison · Ground
Level 1

Learnt by breeding

These Pokémon can learn Poison Sting as an egg move. Their breeding groups are also shown for reference.

Joltik Joltik
#0595 / Bug · Electric
Bug