How to Evolve Clamperl

To evolve Clamperl in the mainline games, you must trade it while it holds a specific evolutionary item. Giving it a Deep Sea Tooth triggers the evolution into the physical attacker, Huntail. Giving it a Deep Sea Scale results in the special attacker, Gorebyss.

The evolution triggers immediately upon the completion of the trade. If you are playing solo, you need a trusted trade partner or a second console to trade the Pokémon back to your main save file. This mechanic remains unchanged from Generation III through Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

Disclaimer: Pokedex.me is an unofficial Pokémon fan-site; we recommend coordinating trades on dedicated Discord servers if you lack a local trading partner to avoid having your setup stolen.

Acquiring the Deep Sea Tooth and Deep Sea Scale varies heavily by generation. In the original Hoenn games (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) and their remakes (Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire), you must find the Scanner on the Abandoned Ship or Sea Mauville. Handing the Scanner to Captain Stern in Slateport City forces you to choose between the two items, meaning you can only obtain one per playthrough without trading.

In Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, wild Clamperl found in the Grand Underground have a 5% chance of holding either item when caught. Players use a Pokémon with the Frisk ability and the move Thief to farm these items efficiently without burning through Poké Balls.

In Generation VII (Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon), both items can be purchased at the Battle Tree for 32 BP each. This makes Alola the easiest region to obtain multiple copies of both evolutionary lines.

Gorebyss operates as a dedicated Special Sweeper in lower competitive tiers (such as PU or ZU). Its base 114 Special Attack synergizes perfectly with Shell Smash, a setup move that doubles Attack, Special Attack, and Speed at the cost of lowering both defenses by one stage. Players typically equip Gorebyss with a White Herb to immediately restore those lost defensive stats.

With the Swift Swim ability, Gorebyss can also function on Rain teams, outspeeding nearly the entire unboosted metagame. A standard competitive moveset includes Shell Smash, Surf or Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Psychic or Hidden Power Grass.

Verdict: 6/10. Gorebyss is highly predictable but hits hard enough to break through defensive cores. Its main flaw is a heavy reliance on a single turn of setup, leaving it vulnerable to Taunt or strong priority moves like Sucker Punch.

Huntail shares access to Shell Smash but leans into physical offense with a base 104 Attack. Unlike Gorebyss, Huntail struggles significantly with its physical movepool. Waterfall serves as a reliable STAB option, but its coverage relies on weaker moves like Ice Fang or Crunch, which lack the raw base power of Ice Beam or Psychic.

Huntail's Water Veil ability prevents burns, which is a crucial immunity for a physical attacker. However, it still falls short when compared to other physical Water-types with better coverage and higher base speed tiers.

Verdict: 4/10. Huntail requires excessive team support to sweep successfully. It frequently fails to secure One-Hit KOs (OHKOs) on bulky neutral targets, making it a strictly inferior choice to Gorebyss in almost every competitive format.

Keeping Clamperl unevolved is a legitimate and dangerous strategy in the Little Cup (LC) format. The Deep Sea Tooth does not just serve as an evolution trigger; it specifically doubles an unevolved Clamperl's Special Attack stat in battle. When combined with Shell Smash, Clamperl reaches Special Attack numbers that no other level 5 Pokémon can survive.

A standard LC Clamperl runs Shell Smash, Surf, Ice Beam, and Substitute. The primary drawback is its abysmal base 32 Speed. Even after a Shell Smash boost, common Choice Scarf users in LC can outspeed and revenge-kill it.

To function as a reliable win condition, Clamperl requires Sticky Web support from a teammate like Spinarak or paralysis spreading to ensure it moves first after setting up.

Niantic completely removed the held-item and trade mechanics for Clamperl in Pokémon GO. Instead, evolving costs exactly 50 Clamperl candies. The result is entirely random, yielding either a Huntail or a Gorebyss with a strict 50/50 probability upon evolution.

Unlike Eevee, there is no naming trick to guarantee which evolution you receive. Players aiming to complete their Pokédex must hoard candies and evolve multiple Clamperl until the RNG favors them.

In terms of PvP utility, neither Huntail nor Gorebyss holds any relevance in the Great League or Ultra League. Their movesets (relying on Water Gun and Water Pulse) generate energy too slowly, relegating both evolutions to pure Pokédex filler status in the mobile game.