| Poison Barb | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Location | Repeatable? |
| 1 | 5% held item chance on these wild Pokémon:
|
Yes |
Poison Barbs can only be obtained as held items by wild Pokémon. Specifically you can get this item from Tentacool, Tentacruel, Roselia, and Skorupi. They all have a 5% chance of carrying one.
Of all these Pokémon, the easiest to find in the wild is Tentancool. It is a common wild Pokémon that can be encountered while surfing in most bodies of water in Hoenn.
Locations
Finding Tentacool
Wild Tentacool has a 5% chance of holding a Poison Barb. It is one of the most common Water-type Pokémon you can find in Hoenn, making it the best candidate for farming Poison Barbs – all you need is a Pokémon that knows Surf.
From Routes 103 to 134 (with a few exceptions), you can encounter Tentacool through surfing or fishing with the Old Rod and the Good Rod.
Finding Tentacruel
Wild Tentacruel can be encountered on Routes 124 to 134 through surfing. Like Tentacool, it has a 5% chance of carrying Poison Barbs.
However, this Pokémon has a low encounter rate – a 15% rarity in most locations, so it’s generally not recommended to farm Poison Barbs from Tentacruel.
Finding Roselia
Wild Roselia can be found on Route 117 through walking – it has a 5% chance of holding a Poison Barb with each encounter.
Roselia only has a 20% chance encounter in this location and can’t be found anywhere else, making it less efficient to obtain Poison Barbs from this Pokémon.
Finding Skorupi (post-National Dex)
Lastly, Poison Barbs can also be found as held items by wild Skorupi (5% chance).
It will only appear in the wild post-game once you receive the National Dex, and it can only be encountered using the DexNav. So Skorupi is really not worth farming for Poison Barbs at all.
Uses
When held by a Pokémon, the Poison Barb raises the power of its holder’s Poison-type moves by 20%.
Back in Gen II and III, Poison Barbs only gave a 10% power boost. But in later generations it was buffed to 20% like most type-enhancing held items.
