How to Evolve a Sneasel to Weavile in "Pokémon"

Author:: Jessica Peri

Dreamhowl has been playing Pokémon since 1999. Her favorites include SoulSilver, X, AlphaSapphire, and Sun. She enjoys breeding Pokémon.

Sneasel are uncommon or rare Pokémon introduced to the games in Generation II. Sneasel is a Dark-type Pokémon known for its agility and resistance to flinching or losing accuracy. It is a powerful Pokémon on its own, but even stronger and faster when evolved. Evolving a Sneasel Pokémon into a Weavile simply requires nighttime, a Razor Claw and leveling your Sneasel.

What Is a Sneasel?

Appearance

Sneasel is a Dark-type Pokémon of the Sharp Claw species. Closest to a mix of a cat and weasel, this Pokémon is bluish-black with red feathers on its left ear and back. It has two claws on each paw which are retractable. It also has distinguished yellow markings on its face and chest, as well as what appear to be eyelashes. You can tell a male and female apart by their ear feathers; a female’s red feather is shorter than a male’s.

Moves

Sneasel attack largely with claw-based moves, such as Metal Claw or Slash. However, Sneasel are also able to learn punching moves, such as Ice Punch. Sneasel can be found with one of two abilities: Inner Focus or Keen Eye. Inner Focus prevents the Pokémon from freezing, while Keen Eye prevents it from losing accuracy. Sneasel is known for its agility, as well as its vicious nature.

Sneasel are only found in certain locations, like Mt. Silver in "Pokemon: Soulsilver."
Jessica Marello, Fair Use; Pokemon (videogame)

Sneasel Stats


Base Stat	Values
HP	55
Attack	95
Defense	55
Sp. Attack	35
Sp. Defense	75
Speed	115

Sneasel's Skills

Did you know that Sneasel has the highest base speed of all Pokémon with the ability to evolve?

Sneasel is a quick Pokémon, a quality that makes it desirable. This base stat only grows higher when Sneasel evolves into Weavile; Weavile’s base stat for Speed is 125, giving it the highest base Speed stat of Dark-type Pokémon aside from Darkrai (with whom the Pokémon is tied). Furthermore, a Weavile has a much higher Attack base stat, at 120. Evolving your Sneasel into a Weavile will give you a very fast and powerful Pokémon.

Sneasel learns a mixture of Normal, Dark, Psychic and Ice moves as it levels; in HeartGold and SoulSilver, for example, Sneasel can learn Faint Attack at level 14, Icy Wind at level 28 and Metal Claw at level 42. In later generations, more moves were added to Sneasel, including Hone Claws and Snatch.

Furthermore, Sneasel can learn multiple TMs and HMs, such as Cut, Surf, Dark Pulse and more. When it comes to an opponent’s moves, Sneasel is fully resistant to Psychic-type moves, while Ice, Ghost, and Dark-type moves are not very effective. Sneasel is especially weak against Fire, Bug, Fighting, Rock and Steel-type moves.

Sneasel is particularly proficient with claw moves and other physical attacks.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use; Pokémon (videogame)

Where to Catch a Sneasel

Depending on the Pokémon game version, Sneasel can be found in different locations. The Pokémon generally lives in forests, but also can be found in caves, mountains or even snowy areas. If you want to evolve a Sneasel, you’ll need to catch one first. Here are the locations of Sneasel in the following Pokémon games:

Sneasel Locations


Game Version	Location
Gold, Silver	Route 28, Mt. Silver (Night)
Crystal	Ice Path (Night)
FireRed, LeafGreen	Icefall Cave (Leafgreen only)
Diamond, Pearl	Route 216, 217, Acuity Lakefront, Lake Acuity, Snowpoint Temple
Platinum	Route 216, 217, Acuity Lakefront, Lake Acuity, Snowpoint Temple
HeartGold, SoulSilver	Route 28, Mt. Silver
Black, White	Giant Chasm
Black 2, White 2	Giant Chasm
Pokemon X, Pokemon Y	Route 17, Friend Safari
Sun, Moon	Mount Lanakila
Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon	Mount Lanakila

Unless otherwise specified, Sneasel can be caught in both the daytime and nighttime; be aware, however, that Sneasel can only evolve at night. Catching a Sneasel isn’t especially difficult and, once you’ve done the job, you’ll be ready to get your Weavile.

How to Evolve Your Sneasel

Once you’ve caught a Sneasel, you only need two other factors to evolve it into a Weavile: a Razor Claw and the element of nighttime. A Razor Claw is an item that, when held by a Pokémon, raises its Critical Hit ratio by 1. However, when held by a Sneasel at nighttime, it can evolve it into a Weavile. A Razor Claw is found in different locations in different game versions:

Where to Find Razor Claw


Game Version	Location	Store Location
Diamond, Pearl	Route 224, Victory Road	Battle Park, Battle Frontier
Platinum	Route 224, Victory Road, Veilstone Galactic Building (with Dowsing Machine)	Battle Park, Battle Frontier
HeartGold, SoulSilver	N/A	Battle Frontier
Black, White	Route 13	Gear Station
Black 2, White 2	Giant Chasm	Gear Station, PWT
Pokémon X, Pokémon Y	N/A	Battle Maison
Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire	Crescent Isle, Mirage Forests	Battle Maison
Sun, Moon	Wild Jangmo-o, Wild Hakamo-o, Wild Kommo-o	N/A
Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon	Wild Jangmo-o, Wild Hakamo-o, Wild Kommo-o	N/A

Earning Battle Points (BP) in the Battle Frontier will help you buy a Razor Claw.
Jessica Marello, Fair Use; Pokémon (videogame)

Once you have obtained a Razor Claw, have your Sneasel hold it and visit your favorite leveling spot; in order to evolve your Sneasel, you will need to level it at nighttime while holding the Razor Claw. In Pokémon games, night begins at eight o’clock PM - any sooner, and your Sneasel won’t evolve! In the end, the place where you have the most fun grinding levels or get the quickest result should be your destination. After gaining just one level, your Sneasel will evolve into a Weavile!

What Is a Weavile?

Appearance

Weavile are similar in appearance to Sneasel, except for a few minor details; Weavile have three claws on each paw, as opposed to two, and does not have a gem on its chest. Weavile are more proficient with attacking moves than Sneasel, such as Night Slash. While Sneasel have the abilities of either Inner Focus or Keen Eye, Weavile’s ability is Pressure; this ability increases the opponent Pokémon’s PP usage by one for moves that target the Weavile. This is an ability commonly found in legendary Pokémon.

Moves

There are multiple moves that Weavile can learn that are inaccessible to Sneasel, such as Hone Claws, Fling, and Night Slash. There are debates about the best movesets for a Pokémon like Weavile; most sets focus on Weavile’s massive physical attack and speed. Fling is a desirable move when combined with an Iron Ball; the move has the Pokémon throw an item at the opponent, with Iron Ball having the highest power of 130. Brick Break gets rid of Light Screen and Reflect from the opponent before inflicting damage, making it a great asset. Ice Punch has a power of 75 and has the chance to freeze the target. Depending on your strategy, there are multiple options for a Weavile moveset. The choice, ultimately, is yours.