Shuckle Has 230 Defence and 10 Attack
It holds two all-time records in the same stat line, and one of the worst numbers in the game sits right next to them.
Shuckle is a small yellow thing in a red shell that looks like a jar of jam with legs. It also holds the highest Defence and the highest Special Defence of any Pokémon ever released, and it has held both since 1999.
| Defence | 230 — highest in the series |
|---|---|
| Special Defence | 230 — highest in the series |
| Attack | 10 |
| Special Attack | 10 |
| HP | 20 |
| Speed | 5 |
Both records at once
Holding one all-time stat record is unusual. Holding the two defensive records simultaneously, in the same creature, is the kind of thing you would expect from a box legendary with a 700 stat total. Shuckle's total is 505 — lower than Charizard's.
The reason is that everything else was sold off to pay for it. 230 and 230 are bought with a 20 HP pool, 10 Attack, 10 Special Attack and a Speed of 5. Shuckle is not a tank in the usual sense of a Pokémon that absorbs hits and hits back. It absorbs hits and does nothing.
What 10 Attack actually means
Ten is not "low". Ten is close to the floor. Damage in these games scales off the attacking stat, so Shuckle's hits land somewhere between negligible and rounding error, and its 20 HP means the enormous defences are protecting a very small tank of water. Two records, and a creature that can neither meaningfully hurt you nor safely be left to grind you down.
And the dex is in on it
“It stores berries inside its shell. To avoid attacks, it hides beneath rocks and remains completely still.”
It hides under a rock and does not move. That is the flavour text for the most defensively gifted creature in the franchise — not a fortress, not a guardian, just something small that has decided the best play is to stay very still and wait. The entries also note it mashes berries into juice inside its shell, which is the least threatening thing any Pokémon has ever been recorded doing.
The joke has a punchline nobody expected
Later generations quietly gave Shuckle a way to weaponise the absurdity. Its hidden ability, Contrary, inverts stat changes — so a move that would lower its Defence raises it instead. And Power Trick swaps a Pokémon's Attack and Defence outright, which on Shuckle means walking around with 230 Attack.
It takes real setup and it falls over to a stiff breeze, but it exists: the worst attacker in the game has a legal route to one of the highest Attack values you can reach. Game Freak built the joke, left it alone for two generations, and then handed players the key to it.
Sources
- Shuckle base stats — official game data
- Pokémon Gold / Silver — Shuckle Pokédex entry
- Contrary and Power Trick interactions — official game data
Quoted Pokédex entries are reproduced from the games named above for commentary. Every number in this article was checked against the species' official data before publishing.
