Pokemon is known for having Pokemon with conflicting Typings, such as Ghost/Dark-type or Bug/Steel-type. Dual-type combinations such as these leave little Type-effectiveness for opponents to target. With the Fairy-type included in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl, Pokemon like Spiritomb have a Type-weakness while Pokemon that originally had one Type-weaknesses, such as Kingdra, gained a new weakness.
Kingdra's typing is similar to Shining Pearl's mascot, Palkia. Instead of being Dragon/Water, it's Water/Dragon-type, making Water its "priority" type with Dragon as its "secondary" type. Despite this, it can be a frustrating Pokemon to defeat and a rude awakening for unprepared trainers. In Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, gamers can get their own Kingdra by evolving Horsea.
Where to Find and Evolve Horsea
The good news is Horsea can be found in several locations in Sinnoh. The bad news is Horsea doesn't start spawning in those locations until after the National Dex. Not to mention that to get Kingdra, Horsea needs to evolve into Seadra and then traded while holding a Dragon Scale item.
Horsea is found in the Grand Underground at the Fountainspring Cave, Riverbank Cave, and Still-Water Cavern hideaways. Trainers can spot Horsea swimming in the water and will need to use HM Surf to reach it. Since this is the post-game, Horsea will be at a higher level than the ones found in the wild.
The other way to get Horsea is by fishing on Route 226. It has a 35% chance of appearing when using a Good Rod. Horsea will be around levels 10-25. Additionally, Seadra has a 45% chance of being hooked if using the Super Rod. Its level will be higher than Horsea's at 30-55.
The next step to getting Kingdra is to get the Dragon Scale. Don't confuse this with the Dragon Fang, which is a held item that boosts the damage of Dragon-type moves. Unfortunately, there's no definite way of getting a Dragon Scale from NPCs or finding it as a Poke Ball item in the wild.
Seadra has a 5% chance of holding a Dragon Scale, but so does the Dragon-type Dratini, which can be fished with the Super Rod on the 4th floor of Mt. Coronet. Either catch the Seadra/Dratini or use the move Thief to swipe its stolen item.
Once the Dragon Scale is obtained, give it to Seadra to Hold and then go to the Local or Global Trade Rooms at any of Sinnoh's Pokemon Centers. Join a group or use a Link Code to trade Seadra and evolve it into Kingdra. If Seadra is not holding the Dragon Scale, it won't evolve. Furthermore, the Dragon Scale will be used up after it's traded, so if trainers want another Dragon Scale, they'll have to go back to hunting Seadras and Dratinis in the wild.
More Information About Kingdra
Despite being called the Dragon Pokemon, Horsea and Seadra are Water-type Pokemon. Kingdra is a Water/Dragon-type with a base stat total of 540.
Stat Name | Base Stat No. |
|---|---|
HP | 75 |
Attack | 95 |
Defense | 95 |
Special Attack | 95 |
Special Defense | 95 |
Speed | 85 |
At first glance, Kingdra's stats are all-around average. None of its base stats break 100, meaning the base stat cap at level 100 for its Attack/Defense/Special Attack/Special Defense will be 317 at its highest (Natures and EVs are not calculated here). All of Kingdra's damage-dealing moves are Special moves, making Special Attack one of its better stats. The best Nature for Kingdra is Modest (+Sp.Attk, -Attk) because it will give Kingdra a needed growth in Special Attack.
Thanks to its unique typing, Kingdra doesn't have many Type-weaknesses and can normally shrug off Electric and Grass-type moves that other Water-type Pokemon would be weak against. Unfortunately, because of the Water-typing, it doesn't resist Electric or Grass-type moves that it would normally resist if it were only a Dragon-type.
Strengths: | Ground, Rock, Dragon, Fire |
Weaknesses: | Dragon, Fairy |
Resistances: | Fire, Water, Steel |
Immunities: | N/A |
A good move to give Kingdra is Ice Beam, which will give it coverage against most Dragon-types and take care of Grass-types. While it can't learn any Poison-type moves in generation 8, Kingdra can learn the Steel-type move Flash Cannon to counter Fairy-types. However, it's better to fill Kingdra's moveset with a mix of Water/Dragon/Ice-type moves.
Kingdra has Swift Swim and Sniper as regular abilities, and Damp as its Hidden Ability. Swift Swim will boost Kingdra's speed when Rain Dance is active (or if it's raining) while Sniper multiples Kingdra's critical hit by 1.5 damage. The Ability Damp prevents moves such as Explosion and Self-Destruct from being used. Furthermore, Abilities that deal damage after the Pokemon has fainted (Aftermath) won't inflict damage on Kingdra either.
Competitively, having a Kingdra with Swift Swim is good so that it can out-speed opponents. Unfortunately, Rain Dance needs to be set up for this Ability to trigger. Sniper is a good Ability, but relies on luck. There are certain items that boost the chance of critical hits, but Kingdra's better off holding other items. Damp isn't bad either, but Damp relies solely on the opponent's moves. If the opponent doesn't have Self-Destruct or Explosion, then the Ability is useless in combat.
While Kingdra may not be as powerful as Palkia (Dragon/Water-type), it's still a solid Water-type (or Dragon-type) Pokemon that can undoubtedly hold its own in battle against strong opponents.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are available now on Nintendo Switch.
