Ekans

The Snake Pokémon
#023 - Ekans
Evolve	Arbok
Debut	Pokémon: Red Version Pokémon: Green Version
Species Info
Type	+
Height	2.0 m (6'07")
Weight	6.9 kg (15.2 lbs.)
Color	Purple
Gender Ratio	1♂ : 1♀
Ability	Shed Skin / Intimidate
Hidden Ability
Egg Group	Dragon / Ground
Icon		Sprite
		File:023sprite.png
Footprint
30px
Base Statistics
Hit Points	35	Speed	55
Attack	60	Sp. Attack	40
Defense	44	Sp. Defense	54
Training Info
Catch Rate	255	Hatch Steps	5,120
Base Exp.	062	Effort Points	Att
Happiness	70
To Lv.100	Normal

Kanto #	Johto #	Hoenn #	Sinnoh #
< 023 >	< 050 >
Unova #	Johto (IV) #

Ekans is a snake Pokémon that was introduced in the first generation games.

Information

Ekans is a snake-like creature that slithers silently and stealthily through grass in search of prey, seeking out its scent by flickering its tongue. Its main diet consists of the eggs of birds like Pidgey and Spearow, which it eats whole. Ekans can freely detach its own jaw to swallow large prey whole, but this can cause it become too heavy to move. It has no poison when it is first born, such that its bite causes pain but is ultimately harmless.

This snake continuously grows longer as it gets older and wraps its long body around tree branches to rest at night. It always curls itself up in a sprial when resting, so that from this position it could quickly responed to a threat from any direction with a glare as it raised its head. It is most commonly found in grasslands and can sneak up prey without making a sound. They are commonly used by members of criminal organizations such as Team Rocket due to their poisonous abilities. Ekans evolves into Arbok at Level 22.

Gen		Game	Pokédex entry
I		Red	Moves silently and stealthily. Eats the eggs of birds, such as Pidgey and Spearow, whole.
		Blue
		Yellow	The older it gets, the longer it grows. At night, it wraps its long body around tree branches to rest.
		Stadium	Slithers silently through grass, searching for its favorite food--Pidgey and Spearow eggs.
II		Gold	It can freely detach its jaw to swallow large prey whole. It can become too heavy to move, however.
		Silver	It always hides in grass. When first born, it has no poison, so its bite is painful, but harmless.
		Crystal	It flutters the tip of its tongue to seek out the scent of prey, then swallows the prey whole.
III		Ruby	Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. Assuming this position allows it to quickly respond to a threat from any direction with a glare from its upraised head.
		Sapphire	Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. Assuming this position allows it to quickly respond to a threat from any direction with a glare from its upraised head.
		Emerald	An Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. This position allows it to quickly respond to an enemy from any direction with a threat from its upraised head.
		FireRed	A very common sight in grassland, etc. It flicks its tongue in and out to sense danger in its surroundings.
		LeafGreen	Moving silently and stealthily, it eats the eggs of birds, such as Pidgey and Spearow, whole.
IV		Diamond	It sneaks through grass without making a sound and strikes unsuspecting prey from behind.
		Pearl	It sneaks through grass without making a sound and strikes unsuspecting prey from behind.
		Platinum

Appearances

Mainstream Games

In Pokémon: Red and FireRed, it can be commonly found on Routes 4, 11 and 23, while in FireRed it additionally appears on Routes 8, 9 and 10.

In Gold and HeartGold, it could only be won as a prize at the Goldenrod Game Corner for 700 coins. In Silver, Crystal and SoulSilver, Ekans could be uncommonly found at Routes 3, 4, 32 and 33. In Crystal it could also be found on Route 42 and from headbutting trees, while in SoulSilver it also showed up at Route 37. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Ekans could also be caught in the Marshland area of the Safari Zone.

In Diamond, Pearl and Platinum, Ekans could be found using the Dongle method, appearing at Route 212 when the player had a FireRed cartridge in the GBA slot.

Other Games

In Pokémon Pinball, Ekans showed up at Pewter City, Mt. Moon, Vermilion City Seaside, Rock Mountain, Lavender Town, Saffron City and Indigo Plateau. In Pokémon Stadium, they were featured in the Ekans Hoop-Hurl, where the player had to toss Ekans that were curled into rings over various Diglett. Ekans also appeared in Pokémon Stadium 2, Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.

In Pokémon Trozei, Ekans could be found at Huge Storage 4, Endless Level 51, Pair Trozei and Mr. Who's Den. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Teams, Ekans could be found at the third through fifth floors of Western Cave, while in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness and Time they instead appeared at the first nine floors of Shimmer Desert. The first game also featured a non-playable Ekans who was an antagonist and part of Team Meanies. In Pokémon Ranger, Ekans showed up at Olive Jungle. Ekans also appeared in Pokémon Rumble, at the Rocky Cave area.

Other Appearances

In Other Media

• In the Pokémon anime, Ekans was the primary Pokémon of Team Rocket agent Jessie for most of the first series, often working alongside James's Koffing but proving mostly ineffectual against the efforts of Ash and his friends. Out of pity for their masters, both Ekans and Koffing evolved partway through the Kanto series. Other Ekans have showed up from time to time, and the Ekans of Team Meanies was featured in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon special.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Ekans is shown as one of Koga's Pokémon.
• The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga also shows Jessie with an Ekans, although it evolves after the first time it appears.

Canceled Appearances

• Ekans was shown in early screencaps of Pokémon Snap along with Arbok, but was left out of the final game.

Trivia

• Its name is simply "snake" spelled backwards.