From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Shedinja (Japanese: ヌケニン Nukenin) is a dual-type Bug/Ghost Pokémon.
It is considered a "special" evolution of Nincada, appearing only when Nincada evolves into Ninjask, starting at level 20, and there is an extra space in the player's party and the player has an extra Poké Ball. An extra Poké Ball is not necessary to obtain Shedinja in Generation III.
Biology
Shedinja is a Pokémon based on a cicada's shed exoskeleton. Its body is completely hollow and dark, as it possesses no internal organs. Its shell consists of chitin and is completely incapable of movement. Most of its body is light brown, and the abdomen is gray. This body is hard and powerful, which gives it strong defenses. It has four protrusions on its underside instead of legs, and its eyes are narrow slits. It has a pair of tattered wings on its back that divide into three wingtips, and between them is a hole. Two lines encircle its abdomen and a white halo floats above its head. It does not breathe and floats without moving its wings. It lives in forests.
In the anime
Major appearances
Shedinja made its debut appearance in The Princess and the Togepi under the ownership of Colonel Hansen. It also appeared in A Togepi Mirage!.
Minor appearances
A Shedinja belonging to a Coordinator competing in the Hoenn Grand Festival appeared in Hi Ho Silver Wind! and Deceit and Assist. Shedinja also appeared in The Saffron Con.
Pokédex entries
In the manga
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Shedinja first appeared when Aqua Admin Amber, having been deprived of his Pokémon after being abandoned by Archie, borrows a Nincada from his comrade Shelly, which then immediately evolves into a Ninjask, putting Wattson in quite a pinch with the incredible speed it gained by the minute. Although the old Gym Leader eventually managed to defeat it, a Shedinja formed from the shell Ninjask shed and attacked him from behind, sending him sinking into the ocean.
Several more volumes down the line, both Emerald and Greta used Shedinja to exploit its Wonder Guard Ability, as well as the fact that it has one base HP, requiring no items to resuscitate itself.
In the TCG
- Main article: Shedinja (TCG)
Game data
Pokédex entries
| This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation III.
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| Generation III
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| Ruby
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Shedinja's hard body doesn't move - not even a twitch. In fact, its body appears to be merely a hollow shell. It is believed that this Pokémon will steal the spirit of anyone peering into its hollow body from its back.
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| Sapphire
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Shedinja is a peculiar Pokémon. It seems to appear unsought in a Poké Ball after a Nincada evolves. This bizarre Pokémon is entirely immobile - it doesn't even breathe.
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| Emerald
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A peculiar Pokémon that floats in air even though its wings remain completely still. The inside of its body is hollow and utterly dark.
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| FireRed
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A most peculiar Pokémon that somehow appears in a Poké Ball when a Nincada evolves.
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| LeafGreen
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{{{leafgreendex}}}
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| Generation IV
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| Diamond
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A discarded bug shell that came to life. Peering into the crack on its back is said to steal one's spirit.
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| Pearl
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{{{pearldex}}}
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| Platinum
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{{{platinumdex}}}
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| HeartGold
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A strange Pokémon--it flies without moving its wings, has a hollow shell for a body, and does not breathe.
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| SoulSilver
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{{{soulsilverdex}}}
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| Generation V
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| Black
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A discarded bug shell that came to life. Peering into the crack on its back is said to steal one's spirit.
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| White
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{{{whitedex}}}
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| Black 2
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A discarded bug shell that came to life. Peering into the crack on its back is said to steal one's spirit.
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| White 2
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{{{white2dex}}}
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| Generation VI
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| X
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A discarded bug shell that came to life. Peering into the crack on its back is said to steal one's spirit.
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| Y
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A most peculiar Pokémon that somehow appears in a Poké Ball when a Nincada evolves.
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Game locations
| This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation III.
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In side games
In events
Stats
Base stats
| Stat
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Range
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| At Lv. 50
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At Lv. 100
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1
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1 - 1
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1 - 1
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90
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85 - 156
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166 - 306
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45
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45 - 106
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85 - 207
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30
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31 - 90
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58 - 174
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30
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31 - 90
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58 - 174
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40
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40 - 101
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76 - 196
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Total: 236
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Other Pokémon with this total
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- Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and (if applicable) a hindering nature.
- Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and (if applicable) a helpful nature.
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Pokéathlon stats
Type effectiveness
| Under normal battle conditions in Generation IX, this Pokémon is:
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Shedinja can also be damaged by Struggle and any of the Shadow moves from Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD. The moves Beat Up, Future Sight, and Doom Desire can hit Shedinja prior to Generation V.
In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, the standard A-button tackle will do one HP damage. In Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, foe Shedinja always has a maximum of 5 HP, whereas in Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness and Explorers of Sky, foe Shedinja always has a maximum of 10 HP. However, as a team member, Shedinja's HP is not capped.
Learnset
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- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Shedinja
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Shedinja
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see level-up moves from other generations
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- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Shedinja
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Shedinja
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see TM moves from other generations
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- Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Shedinja in Generation VI
- Moves marked with a double dagger (‡) can only be bred from a Pokémon who learned the move in an earlier generation.
- Moves marked with a superscript game abbreviation can only be bred onto Shedinja in that game.
- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Shedinja
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Shedinja
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations
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- A black or white abbreviation in a colored box indicates that Shedinja can be tutored the move in that game
- A colored abbreviation in a white box indicates that Shedinja cannot be tutored the move in that game
- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Shedinja
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Shedinja
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Move Tutor moves from other generations
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Mud-Slap
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Ground
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Special
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20
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100%
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10
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Metal Claw
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Steel
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Physical
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50
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95%
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35
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- Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Shedinja
- Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an Evolution of Shedinja
- Click on the generation numbers at the top to see moves from other generations
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Side game data
Evolution
Note: The Poké Ball has to be a regular Poké Ball.
Note: In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Shedinja will not be mentioned when evolving Nincada, but will subsequently appear in Chimecho's Assembly.
Sprites
| This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation III.
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Trivia
- From Generation IV onwards, a basic Poké Ball (a requirement for evolution) is removed from the bag upon evolution to produce a Shedinja. In Generation III, Shedinja instead copied the ball Nincada was in; this is the only legitimate way to get a Shedinja in a non-standard Poké Ball.
- No other Pokémon has the same type combination as Shedinja.
- Shedinja has the lowest base stat total of all fully evolved Pokémon and all Ghost-type Pokémon.
- Shedinja is also the only fully evolved Pokémon that has a lower base stat total than its pre-evolved form.
- It has the lowest average stat of any evolved Pokémon as well.
- It is the only Ghost-type Pokémon to have a unique base stat total.
- Shedinja is one of only three Pokémon (other than baby Pokémon) to have a different Egg Group than its evolutionary relatives, being in the Mineral Egg Group while Nincada and Ninjask are in the Bug Egg Group. It cannot breed normally with Mineral group Pokémon either way, however, as it has no gender. The other two Pokémon that share this trait are Nidorina and Nidoqueen, which are both in the Undiscovered group.
- Shedinja inherits the same personality value, IVs, EVs, OT and ID number as the Nincada that shed it. Among other things, due to retaining personality value, if the Nincada was Shiny, Shedinja will be Shiny as well.
- The Shedinja shed from a Nincada has no nickname, and the player is not given an opportunity to nickname it. The only way to give Shedinja a nickname is for the Nincada's original Trainer to take it to a Name Rater.
- Shedinja's Ability (Wonder Guard) renders it immune to 13 of 18 attack types, the most of any Pokémon; four of these immunities (to Ice, Bug, Steel, and Fairy) are entirely unique to Shedinja. This also gives it a few further distinctions:
- Prior to Generation V, if Nincada learns a move upon evolving into Ninjask, Shedinja will also know this move. This means that Shedinja can learn any of Ninjask's level up moves starting at level 20, but only the ones learned at the same level. In Generation V, Shedinja starts with the moves Nincada knew prior to evolution.
- Shedinja is the only genderless Pokémon that can learn Egg moves (as a Nincada). However, Staryu and Starmie could also learn moves via breeding in Gold and Silver.
- Even though looking into the crack on Shedinja's back is said to steal one's spirit, all of Shedinja's back sprites display it perfectly, yet no negative effects happen to the player in-game.
1 HP trivia
Shedinja has many unique characteristics derived from the fact that it has only 1 HP:
- Shedinja is the only Pokémon to have a stat not calculated by the standard formula; if it were, Shedinja would have at least 11 HP, even at level 1 with an HP IV of 0 and no HP EVs.
- Shedinja's HP IV and base stat cannot be determined experimentally; one must find out the HP IV of the Nincada that shed it, as Shedinja shares those IVs.
- Shedinja is the only Pokémon who cannot gain any additional HP EVs. Ironically, Shedinja gives 2 HP EVs when defeated in battle.
- Shedinja will immediately faint if it receives any form of indirect damage, such as from status conditions, weather conditions or entry hazards. This is demonstrated in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness with Battle CD 11, which requires the user to defeat six Shedinja in only one turn of combat by using a combination of Spikes and Rock Slide or Sandstorm.
- Outside of battle, Shedinja immediately recovers from Poison after four steps in Generation IV onwards, whereas in Generation III it will immediately faint after four steps.
- Despite it being able to learn Substitute and Rest, they will always fail; however, Shedinja can receive another Pokémon's substitute through Baton Pass.
- Shedinja's Defense and Special Defense stats normally have no purpose in battle, as any damage will invariably cause Shedinja to faint. However, if Shedinja receives a substitute through Baton Pass, its Defense and Special Defense are factored into damage the substitute takes. Shedinja's Defense and Special Defense stats are also used when a Pokémon uses Transform on a Shedinja, and when Shedinja uses Power Trick (via Mimic).
- Shedinja is the only Pokémon that has its HP restored to maximum when leveled up with a Rare Candy or revived with a Revive.
- Shedinja's Final Gambit will always do 1 HP of damage to an opponent.
- If Shedinja holds a Focus Sash and it is triggered, the item will be consumed and leave Shedinja at full HP. Similarly, if Shedinja uses Endure, it will receive no damage from the attack whatsoever.
- In Generation V onward, if a Shedinja has Sturdy (for example, being hit by Worry Seed followed by Skill Swap with something with Sturdy) it can survive any direct attack. However, indirect damage, such as sandstorm, will bypass Sturdy and KO Shedinja.
- If Shedinja were to use Endeavor, it would always reduce the opponent's HP to 1.
- If Shedinja were to use Pain Split, it would cut the target's HP in half, similarly to Super Fang.
Origin
Bulbanews has an article related to this subject:
It is based on the shed husk that cicadas leave behind when they finish their metamorphosis into adults. Concerning its species' ninja theme, it also appears to be a reference to the fabled ninjutsu technique 空蝉 utsusemi, where a ninja uses a dummy or replica of itself to evade and escape from threats, and where its namesake also alludes to the cast off shed husk of a cicada. It may also be based on a guardian angel, due to the halo-like object floating above its head. Its Ability Wonder Guard probably alludes to this.
Name origin
Shedinja is a combination of shed (to cast off skin or exoskeleton) and ninja.
Nukenin is a pun on 抜け忍 nukenin, a term for ninja who have abandoned their clan and lord. It also combines 抜け殻 nukegara (casting off skin) and ninja.
In other languages
| Language
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Title
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Meaning
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 Japanese
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ヌケニン Nukenin
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Pun on 抜け忍 nukenin, from 抜け殻 nukegara and ninja
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 French
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Munja
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From mue and ninja
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 Spanish
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Shedinja
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Same as English name
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 German
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Ninjatom
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From Ninja and Phantom
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 Italian
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Shedinja
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Same as English name
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 Korean
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껍질몬 Kkeopjilmon
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From 껍질 kkeop'jil and monster
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 Mandarin Chinese
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脫殼忍者 / 脱壳忍者 Tuōkérěnzhě''
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Literally "Shedding ninja". May also be from 金蟬脫殼 Jīnchán tuōké.
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 Cantonese Chinese
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External links
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This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
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For other sprites and images, please see Shedinja images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
