Nincada

Nincada is a ground and bug-type Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. It evolves into Ninjask starting at level 20 and if the player has a spare slot in the party, and an extra Poke Ball, a Shedinja will appear in the player's party when Nincada evolves. Nincada has become well known due to Shedinja and its unique ability Wonder Guard, which makes Shedinja immune to any move that is not super effective, making Shedinja useful despite Shedinja’s 1 HP.

Nincada has an association with ninjas that may be inspired by traditional stories of ninjas using cicadas to mask their own sounds or referencing the utsusemi no jutsu (cicada skin technique), a technique which uses decoys to misdirect opponents.

About Nincada

First appearance in anime	Pokemon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
First appearance in game	Ruby and Sapphire
Region	Hoenn
Evolution	-->Ninjask
1st Evo level	20
2nd Evo level	N/A
Pokedex Entry	Nincada lives underground. It uses its sharp claws to carve the roots of trees and absorb moisture and nutrients. This Pokémon can't withstand bright sunlight so it avoids it. Nincada lives underground for many years in complete darkness. This Pokémon absorbs nutrients from the roots of trees. It stays motionless as it waits for evolution.

Nincada Base stats

HP	31
ATTACK	45
DEFENCE	90
SP. ATTACK	30
SP. DEFENCE	30
SPEED	40
TOTAL	266

Appearance

Nincada is a small, white, insect-like Pokemon with a pair of small green wings on its back. It has a pointed nose, a thin stripe with a V-shaped pattern between the eyes, and two whisker-like tentacles on its face. Their eyes are black with green iris-like rings on the inside. Nincada’s hind legs are white, but its front legs are brown with sharp claws.

Behavior

Since Nincada is nearly blind, it uses its antennas to perceive the surrounding environment. It doesn't like sunlight, so it avoids direct sunlight and its front limbs are used to carve into the roots of trees and absorb water and nutrients. Nincada builds underground nests in the roots of tropical and temperate forests, and sometimes Nincada will live underground for up to 10 years.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Nincada has relatively low stats overall, but it has a high physical defence stat. As a ground and bug-type, Nincada is weak to flying, fire, water, and ice-type moves, immune to electric-type moves, and resistant to fighting, poison, and ground-types.

Shiny Nincada

Shiny Nincada is a version of Nincada which is yellow instead of white. The main way to get a Shiny Nincada is to continuously breed either Nincada or one of its other forms until you get a Shiny Nincada, since finding Shiny Pokemon in the wild is very rare. Like all shiny Pokemon, Shiny Nincada gains a starry animation upon entering battle.

Best moveset

Leech Life is Nincada’s main STAB (same-type attack bonus) move with the added bonus of healing. Giga Drain serves a similar purpose of healing as well as type coverage, with both Leech Life and Giga Drain serving the purpose of healing HP before using Final Gambit, which deals damage equal to Nincada’s HP, before causing Nincada to faint. The final move for Nincada is Toxic, which just serves as a useful status move.

Leech Life	Giga Drain
Final Gambit	Toxic

How to catch Nincada in Pokemon Go?

As a bug-type, Nincada can be found by farmland, woods, forests, gardens and generally grassy areas like parks, nature reserves, smaller pathways, golf courses and playgrounds. Nincada’s ground-typing also means that it spawns more frequently in muddy locations like ditches and streams, parking garages, playgrounds, railway stations, roads and generally urban areas as well. Due to this typing, Nincada can be found more often in sunny/clear and rainy weather but it is still difficult to catch since it is not available in eggs or raid battles. It evolves into Ninjask with 50 candies.

Trivia

1. Nincada is the only Pokemon that evolves into two Pokemon at the same time
2. Nincada is the only Pokemon with a base stat total of 266
3. Nincada is the only Pokemon to have a higher base stat total than its evolved form, since it has 30 more base stat points than one of its evolutions, Shedinja
4. Nincada is the only Pokemon to have a gender and be capable of learning TM moves, while being incapable of learning Attract or Captivate. This is likely to prevent Shedinja from knowing these moves due to Shedinja’s gender being unknown
5. Nincada appears to be based on a cicada nymph, an immature cicada
6. Nincada is a combination of ninja and cicada. Nincada’s association with ninjas may be inspired by traditional stories of ninjas using cicadas to mask their own sounds or a specific reference the utsusemi no jutsu (cicada skin technique), a technique which uses decoys to misdirect opponents

Explainer Video

FAQs

1. How do you evolve Nincada into Shedinja?
2. Nincada evolves into Ninjask starting at level 20 and if the player has a spare slot in the party and an extra Poke Ball, a Shedinja will appear in the player's party when Nincada evolves.
3. Is Ninjask or Shedinja better?
4. Shedinja is better due to the ability Wonder Guard, which makes Shedinja immune to any move that is not super effective. While Shedinja’s 1 HP is a challenge, Shedinja has more potential to be a dangerous Pokemon when compared to Ninjask, despite Ninjask’s high stats.
5. What egg group is Nincada in?
6. Nincada is a part of the bug egg group.
7. Does a Shiny Nincada make a Shiny Shedinja?
8. A Shiny Nincada will form both a Shiny Ninjask and a Shiny Shedinja.

Conclusion

Nincada has become a well known bug and ground-type Pokemon due to its evolution, Shedinja and its unique ability Wonder Guard, which makes Shedinja immune to any move that is not super effective, making Shedinja useful despite Shedinja’s 1 HP. Nincada evolves into Ninjask starting at level 20 and if the player has a spare slot in the party and an extra Poke Ball, a Shedinja will appear in the player's party when Nincada evolves. This evolution also makes Nincada unique, since Nincada is the only Pokemon that evolves into two Pokemon at the same time.