Grimer (Pokémon)

For Pokémon GO information on this species, see the game's section.
← #087: Dewgong	Pokémon	#089: Muk →

Grimer Sludge Pokémon ベトベター Betbeter #088 Grimer Alolan Grimer Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Types Poison Unknown Grimer Poison Dark Alolan Grimer Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Abilities Stench or Sticky Hold Grimer Poison Touch or Gluttony Alolan Grimer Cacophony Poison Touch Grimer Hidden Ability Power of Alchemy Alolan Grimer Hidden Ability Cacophony Alolan Grimer Cacophony
Gender ratio Unknown 50% male, 50% female	Catch rate 190 (35.2%)
Breeding Egg Group Amorphous Hatch time 20 cycles
Height 2'11" 0.9 m Grimer 2'04" 0.7 m Alolan Grimer 0'0" 0 m {{{form3}}} 0'0" 0 m {{{form4}}}	Weight 66.1 lbs. 30.0 kg Grimer 92.6 lbs. 42.0 kg Alolan Grimer 0 lbs. 0 kg {{{form3}}} 0 lbs. 0 kg {{{form4}}}
Mega Stone [[|]] [[|]]
Base experience yield 90 Gen. I-IV Unknown IV 65 V+	Leveling rate Medium Fast
EV yield Total: 1 Grimer 1 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed Alolan Grimer 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed
Shape	Footprint Alolan Grimer
Pokédex color   Purple Other forms may have other colors.	Base friendship 70
External Links On Smogon Pokédex: Generation I Generation II Generation III Generation IV Generation V Generation VI Generation VII Generation VIII Generation IX Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Grimer (Japanese: ベトベター Betbeter) is a Poison-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I.

It evolves into Muk starting at level 38.

In Alola, Grimer has a dual-type Poison/Dark regional form. It evolves into Alolan Muk starting at level 38.

Biology

Grimer is a slimy, amorphous Pokémon, born from sludge in dirty streams or seabeds that are exposed to lunar radiation. It has two large eyes with beady pupils and a gaping mouth with a gray tongue. While it lacks any visible legs, it does have two arms with three digits on each hand. Its purple sludge body contains a variety of pungent bacteria, which are so potent that it renders soil barren and incapable of supporting plant life. It is constantly oozing a bacteria-rich fluid from all parts of its body. Should it run out of internal germs, Grimer will die. Pieces of it often break off during travel and go on to become new Grimer. When combined with another Grimer, it produces new poisonous compounds.

Due to its lack of a solid form, Grimer is capable of squeezing into any space or crevices with relative ease. It uses this to penetrate sewage pipes and feed off of the filthy wastewater inside. Its population fluctuates based on the availability of waste, which is Grimer's main diet. It can be found in polluted lakes and streams, as well as within cities and factories where trash and industrial waste can be found. In recent years, thanks to efforts in environmental improvements and a decrease in their food source of waste, Grimer is now facing extinction.

Grimer was brought to Alola to deal with the excess waste generated by the region's increased population. Alolan Grimer eats solid garbage instead of sludge; this new diet has caused its body composition and form to change. Alolan Grimer's body is green with a line of yellow sludge along its lower lip that extends around behind its head, a bright blue tongue, and small black crescent-shaped spaces behind its eyes. It also has two blunt "teeth" in its upper jaw, which are actually crystallized toxins formed by its diet. It is not known how to break down these toxic crystals, but direct contact with them is known to be dangerous. Lethal poisons leak out of Alolan Grimer's body when these crystals fall out. Because it produces and stores its toxins within its body, Alolan Grimer does not produce a foul stench like Kantonian Grimer.^[1][2]

There are usually about one hundred Alolan Grimer found living near waste-disposal sites in Alola, assisting people in dealing with garbage. Alolan Grimer is perpetually hungry and must constantly eat trash. If no trash is readily available, it will eat other manufactured products instead.^[3] In addition to garbage, Alolan Grimer preys on Trubbish and Garbodor; its introduction to Alola caused their populations to decrease in the region.

In the anime

Main series

Grimer in the anime

Alolan Grimer in the anime

Major appearances

Grimer debuted in a flashback in Pokémon Scent-sation!. Celadon City Gym Leader Erika told a story about when she was a youngster, where she got lost one day and ran into a Grimer. However, a Gloom chased the Grimer off and saved her.

In Sparks Fly for Magnemite, Ash and his friends encountered multiple Grimer and a Muk when they were gumming up the turbines in the power plant in Gringey City, causing a citywide power loss. This was eventually resolved when Ash caught Muk.

In Camping It Up!, a Grimer was assigned to Dawn by the Pokémon Summer Academy. She temporarily trained it, though its low self-esteem proved difficult. They worked through it, and she was able to teach it the Counter Shield tactic. Grimer later battled a Venonat assigned to Conway.

In Dreams Are Made of These!, Goh caught a Grimer during the Pokémon Orienteering competition. It has since made further appearances in Pokémon Journeys: The Series.

Minor appearances

In Pikachu Re-Volts, a Grimer was controlled by Cassidy and Butch at Mandarin Island North.

A Grimer appeared in the Japanese credits of Pikachu's Rescue Adventure.

In a flashback in The Joy of Water Pokémon, four Grimer lived in Lake Lucid before it became the clean lake it is now.

In Saved by the Beldum, a Trainer's Grimer competed in the Ever Grande Conference.

A Coordinator's Grimer appeared in May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!.

A Grimer appeared in Ghoul Daze!.

A Grimer appeared in I Choose You!.

Alolan Grimer debuted in a flashback in Turning Heads and Training Hard!, under the ownership of Tupp.

In A Little Rocket R & R!, a Trainer's Grimer was captured by the Matori Matrix but later freed by Ash and his friends.

A Trainer's Grimer appeared in Trade, Borrow, and Steal!.

A Trainer's Grimer appeared in Solitary and Menacing!.

A Trainer's Grimer appeared in Restore and Renew!.

Pokédex entries

Pokémon Generations

Grimer in Pokémon Generations

A Grimer appeared in The Lake of Rage, under the ownership of a Team Rocket Grunt. Along with Magnemite, Raticate, Golbat, and Houndoom, it was defeated by Lance's Dragonite during Lance and Ethan's infiltration of the Team Rocket HQ.

In the manga

Grimer in Pokémon Adventures

Alolan Grimer in Pokémon Adventures

Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl

A Grimer appeared in PDP01.

A Grimer appeared in PDP25.

Pocket Monsters DP

A Grimer appeared in PMDP24.

Pokémon Adventures

In Go for the Golbat, Koga wore a Grimer on his shoulder in the form of a ninja outfit. He used it extensively to smother Blue, preventing him from breathing and restrict his movement so that he would be unable to call on his Pokémon. He used it again during the battle against Agatha, but to little effect.

In A Flaaffy Kerfuffle, a Grimer was in Professor Oak's fantasy when he explained that Trainers should only have six Pokémon with them.

Janine owns a Grimer in Notorious Noctowl. She used it against Falkner during the Gym Leader face-off; during the battle; it used its Minimize attack to outwit his Noctowl.

In The Last Battle XIII, a Grimer was sent to participate in the fight in Ilex Forest.

Multiple Grimer were used by Team Galactic Grunts in Cleaning Up Grimer.

In Softening Up Kakuna, Uprooting Seedot, and Outlasting Ledian, a Grimer was one of the Pokémon that Platinum rented during the Battle Factory challenge.

A Grimer appeared in Mr. Perfect.

A Grimer appeared in Omega Alpha Adventure 8, under the ownership of a Team Aqua Grunt.

Alolan Grimer debuted in The Decision and the Tournament of Six, where it was seen with its Trainer at a festival held in Iki Town.

An Alolan Grimer appeared in The Party Crasher and Guzma the Destroyer, under the ownership of Moon. He later evolved into a Muk.

An Alolan Grimer appeared in Unleashing the Incredible Z-Move.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

Koga used a Grimer in Save The Chansey! to stop Red from getting to a group of Chansey. It reappeared in A Challenge to the Elite Four!.

A Grimer appeared in Clefairy Evolves... At Last?!.

In the TCG

Main article: Grimer (TCG)

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

In events

Alolan Grimer

Held items

Grimer

Game		Held Item(s)
Red*	Blue*	Berry (100%)
Yellow*
Gold	Silver	Nugget (2%)
Crystal
Ruby	Sapphire	Nugget (5%)
Emerald
Diamond	Pearl	Nugget (5%)
Platinum
HeartGold	SoulSilver	Nugget (5%)
Black 2	White 2	Black Sludge (5%)
Omega Ruby	Alpha Sapphire	Black Sludge (5%)

Alolan Grimer

Game		Held Item(s)
Sun	Moon	Black Sludge (5%)
Ultra Sun	Ultra Moon	Black Sludge (5%)

Stats

Base stats

Grimer

Alolan Grimer

Alolan Grimer has the same base stats as Kantonian Grimer.

Pokéathlon stats

Type effectiveness

Grimer

Alolan Grimer

Learnset

Grimer is available in Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

By leveling up

By TM

Generation VIII Other generations: I - II - III - IV - V - VI - VII - IX

TM   Move   Type   Cat.   Pwr.   Acc.   PP  TM11 TM11 Sunny Day Fire Status 0000— —}}—% 5 TM12 TM12 Taunt Dark Status 0000— 100}}100% 20 TM17 TM17 Protect Normal Status 0000— —}}—% 10 TM18 TM18 Rain Dance Water Status 0000— —}}—% 5 TM19 TM19 Giga Drain Grass Special 07575 100}}100% 10 TM24 TM24 Thunderbolt Electric Special 09090 100}}100% 15 TM25 TM25 Thunder Electric Special 110110 070}}70% 10 TM28 TM28 Dig Ground Physical 08080 100}}100% 10 TM30 TM30 Shadow Ball Ghost Special 08080 100}}100% 15 TM32 TM32 Double Team Normal Status 0000— —}}—% 15 TM34 TM34 Shock Wave Electric Special 06060 —}}—% 20 TM35 TM35 Flamethrower Fire Special 09090 100}}100% 15 TM36 TM36 Sludge Bomb Poison Special 09090 100}}100% 10 TM38 TM38 Fire Blast Fire Special 110110 085}}85% 5 TM39 TM39 Rock Tomb Rock Physical 06060 095}}95% 15 TM41 TM41 Torment Dark Status 0000— 100}}100% 15 TM42 TM42 Facade Normal Physical 07070 100}}100% 20 TM44 TM44 Rest Psychic Status 0000— —}}—% 10 TM45 TM45 Attract Normal Status 0000— 100}}100% 15 TM46 TM46 Thief Dark Physical 06060 100}}100% 25 TM56 TM56 Fling Dark Physical 0000— 100}}100% 10 TM58 TM58 Endure Normal Status 0000— —}}—% 10 TM64 TM64 Explosion Normal Physical 250250 100}}100% 5 TM66 TM66 Payback Dark Physical 05050 100}}100% 10 TM80 TM80 Rock Slide Rock Physical 07575 090}}90% 10 TM82 TM82 Sleep Talk Normal Status 0000— —}}—% 10 TM84 TM84 Poison Jab Poison Physical 08080 100}}100% 20 TM87 TM87 Swagger Normal Status 0000— 085}}85% 15 TM90 TM90 Substitute Normal Status 0000— —}}—% 10 TM96 TM96 Strength Normal Physical 08080 100}}100% 15

Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Grimer Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Grimer Click on the generation numbers at the top to see TM moves from other generations

By breeding

Generation VIII Other generations: I - II - III - IV - V - VI - VII - IX

Parent   Move   Type   Cat.   Pwr.   Acc.   PP  Acid Spray Poison Special 40 100% 20 Curse Ghost Status — —% 10 Haze Ice Status — —% 30 Imprison Psychic Status — —% 10 Lick Ghost Physical 30 100% 30 Mean Look Normal Status — —% 5 Power-Up Punch^ Fighting Physical 40 100% 20 Scary Face^ Normal Status — 100% 10 Shadow Punch Ghost Physical 60 —% 20 Shadow Sneak Ghost Physical 40 100% 30 Spit Up Normal Special — 100% 10 Stockpile Normal Status — —% 20 Swallow Normal Status — —% 10

Moves marked with an asterisk (*) must be chain bred onto Grimer in Generation VIII 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 Grimer in that game. Bold indicates a move that gets STAB when used by Grimer Italic indicates a move that gets STAB only when used by an evolution of Grimer Click on the generation numbers at the top to see Egg moves from other generations

By tutoring

Side game data

Grimer

Pokémon Pinball   Acquisition: Catch		Pokémon Pinball RS   Acquisition: Catch		Pokémon Trozei! Rarity: Common
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team Body size: 1 Recruit rate: 12.2% Friend Area: Poison Swamp Phrases 51%-100% HP I'll attack with Sludge! Hahaha! 26%-50% HP My HP's down to half. It's no laughing matter! 1%-25% HP I'm beat... Sink me in a sea of sludge... Level up Leveled up! Hahaha!
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky Body size: 1 Recruit rate: 6.4% IQ group: G
Pokémon Ranger Group: Poison Poké Assist: Poison Field move: None Loops: 5 Min. exp.: 27 Max. exp.: 39 Browser entry R-087 Grimer hurls blobs of sludge. Also beware of the sludge trail it leaves behind.
Pokémon Rumble Attack ●● Defense ●● Speed ●●			Pokémon Rumble Blast Attack ●● Defense ●● Speed ●●
Pokémon Rumble Rush Walking Speed: 2.22 seconds Base HP: 55 Base Attack: 70 Base Defense: 48 Base Speed: 50
Pokémon Battle Trozei Poison Attack Power: ★★★★★
Pokémon Shuffle Poison Attack Power: 50 - 100 5 #325 Crowd Control Increases damage when there are more Grimer in the puzzle area.
Pokémon GO Base HP: 190 Base Attack: 135 Base Defense: 90 Egg Distance: 5 km Buddy Distance: 3 km Evolution Requirement: 50 Fast Attacks: Poison Jab*, Mud-Slap, Acid× Charged Attacks: Sludge, Mud Bomb, Sludge Bomb, Frustration‡, Return‡

Alolan Grimer

Pokémon Shuffle Dark Attack Power: 50 - 100 5 #325 Last-Ditch Effort Increases damage when things are looking desperate.

Pokémon Rumble Rush Walking Speed: 2.22 seconds Base HP: 55 Base Attack: 70 Base Defense: 48 Base Speed: 50

Pokémon GO Base HP: 190 Base Attack: 135 Base Defense: 90 Egg Distance: 7 km Buddy Distance: 3 km Evolution Requirement: 50 Fast Attacks: Poison Jab, Bite Charged Attacks: Crunch, Gunk Shot, Sludge Bomb

Evolution

Grimer

Unevolved Grimer  Poison

Level 38 →

First evolution Muk  Poison

Alolan Grimer

Unevolved Grimer  Poison  Dark

Level 38 →

First evolution Muk  Poison  Dark

Sprites

Generation I Red Green Red Blue Yellow Front Back Front Back Front Back

Generation II Gold Silver Crystal Front Back Front Back Front Back

Generation III Ruby Sapphire Emerald FireRed LeafGreen Front Back Front Back Front Back

Generation IV Diamond Pearl Platinum HeartGold SoulSilver Front Back Front Back Front Back

Generation V Black White Black 2 White 2 Front Back Front Back

Generation VI X Y Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire Front Back Front Back

Generation VII Sun Moon Ultra Sun Ultra Moon Front Back Front Back Let's Go, Pikachu! Let's Go, Eevee!

Generation VIII HOME

For other sprites and images, please see Grimer images on the Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

• In Sparks Fly for Magnemite, Grimer's anime debut, Grimer had a very strong odor that made most people around the Grimer cover their noses from the smell. However, in recent episodes, Grimer's smell has seemingly ceased to exist. This is most obvious in Camping It Up!, where Dawn is given a Grimer to train, and it immediately hugs her, but no one complains about any smell.
• Grimer shares similar traits to Koffing and Trubbish. All three Pokémon are pure Poison-type Pokémon with a single evolved form, roughly the same base stat totals and evolution levels, and appear to be based on a different kind of pollution; Grimer being water pollution.
• Alolan Grimer and its Alolan evolution were designed by Hitoshi Ariga.^[4]

Origin

Grimer appears to be a pile of living sludge, and may be based upon the general concept of living slime in popular culture. It may also be based on the imagined fear that heavy pollution, caused by the leakage and/or improper disposal of toxic/radioactive waste, may result in the creation of new and undesirable life. It may also be based on Dorotabō, a one-eyed, three-fingered yōkai that rises from the mud of neglected, overgrown rice fields.

Alolan Grimer may be based on an oil slick, particularly the rainbow colors that are produced when a thin layer of oil floats on top of water; this is due to a phenomenon called thin-film interference. In the real world, oil spills are a major threat to ecosystems in the world's oceans and particularly in Hawaii, which Alola is based on. Its reduced size may reference insular dwarfism or, since its Alolan Form was brought about by human influence, dwarfing.

Name origin

Grimer may be derived from grime (dirt or filth).

Betbeter may be derived from べとべと betobeto and べたべた betabeta, both meaning sticky.

In other languages

Language Title Meaning Japanese ベトベター Betbeter From べとべと betobeto and べたべた betabeta French Tadmorv From tas de morve Spanish Grimer Same as English name German Sleima From Schleim and Matsch Italian Grimer Same as English name Korean 질퍽이 Jilpeogi From 질퍽하다 jilpeoghada Mandarin Chinese 臭泥 Chòuní From 臭 chòu and 泥 ní Cantonese Chinese 臭泥 Chaunàih* 爛泥怪 Laahnnàihgwaai* From 臭 chau and 泥 nàih From 爛泥 laahnnàih and 怪 gwaai

More languages Hindi ग्रईमर Grimer Transcription of English name Russian Граймер Graimer Transcription of English name Thai เบ็ทเบเตอร์ Betbetoe Transcription of Japanese name

Related articles

• Artificial Pokémon
• Regional form

Notes

External links

← #087: Dewgong

Pokémon

#089: Muk →

This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.