Mudkip is available as a starter from Professor Birch after saving him from the wild Poochyena (Ruby and Sapphire) or Zigzagoon (Emerald). It is technically 'encountered' on Route 101, but it is officially given to you in Birch's Lab in Littleroot Town.
Mudkip is often considered to be the best starter in Hoenn, if not the best Pokémon in Hoenn at all. With great bulk, nice attacking stats, a good movepool, and one rare weakness, Swampert is bar none one of the greatest Pokémon you could ever get in Hoenn. Swampert does have its flaws: it's slow, it relies on Mud Shot for STAB until it learns Earthquake, and it has a huge weakness to Grass. However, those are all rather unimportant because they don't even really matter in the end. All in all, if you choose Mudkip and get it all the way to Swampert, congratulations, you broke Hoenn.
Rival (Route 103): Tackle spam is all you need. Depending on your level, though, you may or may not be outsped and/or need a Potion to win the battle. Carry one just in case.
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Step 1: Spam Water Gun. Step 2: Win.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Marshtomp is generally bulky enough to go toe-to-toe with Machop, but Makuhita will Bulk Up and pull Arm Thrust when you've lowered its health enough. Start off with Mud Shot to lower its Speed, then tread lightly and potentially proceed with Water Gun, to avoid losing damage output due to Bulk Up.
Rival (Route 110): Numel is OHKOed by Water Gun and Wailmer can be Mud Shotted to death. Don't fight Grovyle for obvious reasons.
Wally (Mauville City): Lol, he only has a Ralts. Mud Shot it.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Just spam Mud Shot and watch everything die.
Tabitha (Mt. Chimney): Again, spam Mud Shot against everything that isn't Zubat; use Water Gun for that. Marshtomp is not really threatened by this team.
Maxie/Archie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena's Intimidate is annoying but you could probably take it on with Water Gun. Golbat is annoying as well, watch out for its confusion shenanigans. Camerupt is 2HKO'd easily by Water Gun or Mud Shot. If playing Sapphire, Sharpedo will probably go down to two Mud Shots but Crunch will hurt.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge City, Fire-type): Marshtomp's Water Gun/Mud Shot spam will deal with the Slugmas easily. Torkoal is another story because Attract (if your Marshtomp is male, which is most likely) will be annoying and paralysis from Body Slam will be annoying. Also, your Water Gun and Mud Shot won't be doing a ton of damage. It's not a bad idea but it's a difficult battle nonetheless. Bring a Red Flute from the glass shop if you're vulnerable to Attract, too, because you will need it.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): Marshtomp's bulk may be helpful here, but remember that no matter what you're going to be taking a lot of damage from the Slakings while doing next-to-nothing in return. Stay away unless evolved, which requires a good deal of overgrinding. Vigoroth is okay.
Rival (Route 119): Same things as before, except now you have a new toy in the form of Surf.
Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): If you went and picked up Ice Beam, this battle is so much easier. You should have a Swampert by now too, unless you're running with a level limit. Skarmory will probably fall to two or three Surfs. Pelipper is a bit annoying and is probably too bulky without any weaknesses to any moves you could possibly have, barring the weak Rock Tomb, but Ice Beam still does decent damage. You have the Thunderbolt TM, use it. Altaria is really bulky but is doubly weak to Ice Beam so go right ahead, just watch out for Dragon Dance.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same old, same old. Except there's a Swellow (go ahead with Ice Beam).
Tabitha/Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Just spam your best move, which is Surf in Ruby and probably Mud Shot in Sapphire. Watch out for Mightyena's Swagger in all cases, it's never fun hitting yourself with that high an Attack, but you should outspeed anyway.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Swampert excels in this battle thanks to Surf hitting everyone super-effectively. If Sunny Day gets up, switch Swampert out of there because not only will Surf be significantly weaker, the Solrock has SolarBeam which Swampert is capable of surviving but shouldn't be attempted. Otherwise Surf spam is the key to victory.
Courtney/Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): You guess it: more Swagger play. Camerupt or Sharpedo is relatively harmless, though, unless the latter Screeches you and prepares the ground for Mightyena's Take Down to hit much harder than it otherwise would. Watch out for deadly combos, but otherwise not dangerous.
Maxie/Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Always the same. Just Surf Mightyena and Camerupt then Ice Beam Crobat, use Mud Shot for Sharpedo, or Earthquake if you have it. Yet again, Mightyena's Swagger may be a problem if it outspeeds you, but you should be at a high enough level to avoid this.
Groudon (Cave of Origin, Ruby only): If you can negate the weather condition, Surf should do the trick. Ice Beam is still good even under the sun.
Kyogre (Cave of Origin, Sapphire only): Kyogre is at a considerable advantage against Swampert, which can't do a lot to it even with Earthquake, on top of being neutral to Water moves and thus taking considerable damage from them under the rain. Put up the sun if you can, and heal plentifully until the titan is down.
Gym #8 - Wallace (Sootopolis City, Water-type): This is a rather difficult battle for Swampert because everything resists Surf and Ice Beam while being neutral to Earthquake. Probably not the best fight, but you can set up X items on Luvdisc if you wish, and then hammer down the rest. Even if you don't, Swampert's Earthquake is still good and you shouldn't meet many threatening enemies here.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria can be Ice Beamed. Magneton is ripped to shreds by Earthquake and Delcatty falls to either Surf or Earthquake. Roselia will destroy you and Gardevoir is powerful but will likely be 2HKO'd by Earthquake.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Mightyena and Absol can be Surfed or Earthquaked. Don't attempt to fight Cacturne, even if you're packing Ice Beam (which you really should be). Shiftry has no Grass moves instead, so you can go ahead.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): You can probably 2HKO or 3HKO the Dusclopses with Surf or Earthquake, but remember that they have Pressure. Banettes and Sableyes will likely fall to Surf or Earthquake but beware of Grudge and Will-O-Wisp, as well as potential Curse damage from the first Dusclops.
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Sealeos can be Earthquaked while Glalies can be Surfed or Earthquaked. Walrein is too bulky and can stall you out using Hail damage and can even pull Sheer Cold, which you can only avoid by over-leveling it. Use something that hits it super-effectively if you can, otherwise be ready to heal.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): How to own Drake: spam Ice Beam. That's it.
Champion Steven (Ever Grande City, Steel-type): Skarmory falls to Surf-spam while Aggron falls to either Surf or Earthquake. Metagross is 2HKO'd at worst by Earthquake. Armaldo and Claydol are killed by Surf. Don't try Cradily due to Giga Drain.
Post-Game: Does anyone even nuzlocke it?
Rival (Route 103): Tackle spam is all you need. Depending on your level, though, you may or may not be outsped and/or need a Potion to win the battle. Carry one just in case.
Gym #1 - Roxanne (Rustboro City, Rock-type): Step 1: Spam Water Gun. Step 2: Win.
Rival (Rustboro City, optional): Treecko shouldn't need explaining. Lotad has Absorb; don't do it.
Gym #2 - Brawly (Dewford Town, Fighting-type): Marshtomp is generally bulky enough to go toe-to-toe with Machop, but Makuhita will Bulk Up and pull Arm Thrust when you've lowered its health enough. Start off with Mud Shot to lower its Speed, then tread lightly and potentially proceed with Water Gun, to avoid losing damage output due to Bulk Up. Use ONLY Water Gun on Meditite because it has Focus Punch, and you really don't want Mud Shot to miss.
Rival (Route 110): Slugma is defeated easily by Water Gun or Mud Shot while Lombre and Grovyle shouldn't be attempted, for obvious reasons.
Wally (Mauville City): Lol, he only has a Ralts. Mud Shot it.
Gym #3 - Wattson (Mauville City, Electric-type): Just spam Mud Shot and watch everything die.
Tabitha (Mt. Chimney): Again, spam Mud Shot against everything that isn't Zubat; use Water Gun for that. Marshtomp is not really threatened by this team.
Maxie (Mt. Chimney): Mightyena's Intimidate is annoying but you could probably take it on with Water Gun. Zubat is easy, just watch out for its confusion shenanigans. Camerupt is 2HKO'd easily by Water Gun or Mud Shot.
Gym #4 - Flannery (Lavaridge City, Fire-type): Marshtomp's Water Gun/Mud Shot spam will deal with Slugma, Numel, and Camerupt easily. Torkoal is another story because Attract (if your Marshtomp is male, which is most likely) will be annoying and paralysis from Body Slam will be annoying. Also, your Water Gun and Mud Shot won't be doing a ton of damage. It's not a bad idea but it's a difficult battle nonetheless. Bring a Red Flute from the glass shop if you're vulnerable to Attract, too, because you will need it.
Gym #5 - Norman (Petalburg City, Normal-type): Marshtomp's bulk may be helpful here, but remember that no matter what you're going to be taking a lot of damage from Slaking while doing next-to-nothing in return. Stay away from it unless evolved, which requires a good deal of overgrinding. Spinda and Vigoroth are easy enough. Linoone is more difficult: it has Belly Drum and its Speed will put you in great danger, if you can't KO it fast enough. Use something more appropriate for it.
Rival (Route 119): Same things as before, except now you have a new toy in the form of Surf.
Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): If you went and picked up Ice Beam, this battle is so much easier. You should have a Swampert by now too, unless you're running with a level limit. Swablu is an absolute joke and will fall to Ice Beam. Tropius is doubly weak to Ice Beam but is very bulky and also has a Grass move to use against you, so beware. Skarmory will probably fall to two or three Surfs. Pelipper is a bit annoying and is probably too bulky without any weaknesses to any moves you could possibly have, barring the weak Rock Tomb, but Ice Beam still does decent damage. You have the Thunderbolt TM, use it. Altaria is really bulky but is doubly weak to Ice Beam so go right ahead, just watch out for Dragon Dance.
Rival (Lilycove City): Same old, same old. Except there's a Tropius, which is of course to be avoided, unless you're certain you can outspeed and nuke it with Ice Beam.
Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Surf goes a long way here. If Mightyena outspeeds you, Swagger may give you problems, but this shouldn't be the case.
Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): Be very careful in this battle. Mightyena is at a much higher level, and may well outspeed Swampert now. Swagger is a very real problem and if you have something faster, you should probably use it. Swampert can chime back in to nuke Crobat with Ice Beam and Surf the Camerupt.
Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Just spam your best move, which is probably Surf. Watch out for Mightyena's Swagger at any rate, it's never fun hitting yourself with that high an Attack, but you should outspeed anyway.
Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Swampert excels in this battle thanks to Surf hitting everyone except Xatu super-effectively, and the bird can be handled with Ice Beam. If Sunny Day gets up, switch Swampert out of there because not only will Surf be significantly weaker, the Solrock has SolarBeam which Swampert is capable of surviving but shouldn't be attempted. Otherwise Surf spam is the key to victory.
Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): Surf the Mightyenas and Camerupts. Golbat and Crobat are handled by Ice Beam. Again, be careful of Swagger.
Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): You guess it: more Swagger play. Sharpedo is relatively harmless, though, unless it Screeches you and prepares the ground for Mightyena's Take Down to hit much harder than it otherwise would. Watch out for deadly combos, but otherwise not dangerous.
Archie (Seafloor Cavern): Always the same. Just Surf Mightyena and then Ice Beam Crobat, use Mud Shot for Sharpedo, or Earthquake if you have it. Yet again, Mightyena's Swagger may be a problem if it outspeeds you, but you should be at a high enough level to avoid this.
Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): This is a rather difficult battle for Swampert because everything resists Surf and Ice Beam while being neutral to Earthquake. Probably not the best fight, but you can set up X items on Luvdisc if you wish, and then hammer down the rest. Even if you don't, Swampert's Earthquake is still good and you shouldn't meet many threatening enemies here, apart from Kingdra and its Double Team shenanigans, best handled with a perfect accuracy move or plenty of X Accuracy to spare.
Wally (Victory Road): Altaria can be Ice Beamed. Magneton is ripped to shreds by Earthquake and Delcatty falls to either Surf or Earthquake. Roselia will destroy you and Gardevoir is powerful but will likely be 2HKO'd by Earthquake.
Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Mightyena and Absol can be Surfed or Earthquaked and Crawdaunt falls to Earthquake. Don't attempt to fight Cacturne, even if you're packing Ice Beam (which you really should be). Shiftry has no Grass moves instead, so you can go ahead.
Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): You can probably 2HKO or 3HKO the Dusclopses with Surf or Earthquake, but remember that they have Pressure. Banettes and Sableyes will likely fall to Surf or Earthquake but beware of Grudge and Will-O-Wisp, as well as potential Curse damage from the first Dusclops.
Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Sealeos can be Earthquaked while Glalies can be Surfed or Earthquaked. Walrein is too bulky and can stall you out using Hail damage and can even pull Sheer Cold, which you can only avoid by over-leveling it. Use something that hits it super-effectively if you can, otherwise be ready to heal.
Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): How to own Drake: spam Ice Beam. Maybe use something else for Kingdra, but even that can be Earthquaked.
Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): Earthquake will kill everything (especially Tentacruel) except Gyarados (who has the annoying Intimidate) and Ludicolo (who hits you super-effectively). Do it if you'd like, except find something else for Gyarados and Ludicolo, because the former can spam strong moves and take little to no damage from yours, and the latter has STAB Giga Drain.
Post-Game: Does anyone even nuzlocke it?
Moves
Mudkip starts off with your obligatory Tackle and Growl. Next up it gets Mud-Slap, which is a good move to have to annoy your foes with. Water Gun is next at level 10, which is its best STAB for a while. Its last move before evolving is Bide, which is a bad, bad move and isn't worth it. Mud Shot comes right after evolving and is likewise its best Ground STAB for a good while. Foresight is the next move and that's not worth it because Swampert's moves generally have good accuracy and it doesn't really need to hit Ghosts with Normal moves. Take Down is next and that's not really worth it because of the recoil and shaky accuracy. Muddy Water is next at level 37, but by that time you probably have the much superior Surf. Protect at evel 42 is next, and that's not really worth it unless you're going full stall on Swampert. Earthquake at evel 46 is its best evel-up move by far and should definitely be added. The last move is Endeavor at evel 53, which generally isn't worth it thanks to its high HP.
Swampert's movepool is also helped with a good TM or two. Water Pulse is a good move but by the time you get it you are running Surf already. Toxic is a nice move to have if you feel like you need it. Hail is good for stalling foes but Swampert isn't immune to it, so it's generally a bad idea. Thanks to Swampert's mixed attacking stats, it can make good use of Hidden Power, but it could be really worthless if it's something like Water, Ground, or Ice. Ice Beam is a must on Swampert. Blizzard's good too if you've already used the Ice Beam TM on someone else, and don't want to money-grind to buy the TM again. Protect is good too if you're running Toxic, but you sacrifice valuable coverage that way. Rain Dance may be fun but it's not really worth it. Don't use Frustration. Or Iron Tail, for that matter, because it's highly redundant on Swampert. Earthquake is an amazing move and definitely warrants a spot on Swampert's moveset if you're too impatient to keep using Mud Shot until level 46 and no one else really needs it, though by the time you reach the Earthquake TM, Swampert will be very close to its natural Earthquake level anyway. Return is a good move since it runs off Swampert's nice Attack and gets great coverage alongside Water and Ground. Dig is not necessary because it has a similar base power as Mud Shot and is completely outclassed by Earthquake. Don't use Double Team. Rock Tomb is a bit weak and doesn't really hit anything besides Gyarados and Pelipper. For that matter, Facade is rather bad as well. Secret Power is good if you'd rather give Return to something like Exploud or Gyarados. Rest is fun on stall sets. Don't run Attract. Surf is absolutely mandatory on Swampert, so Waterfall and Dive are useless. Strength is a great alternative to Return but is ultimately inferior. Rock Smash... well, is Rock Smash.
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Marshtomp's stats
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
70
130 - 177
250 - 344
Attack:
85
81 - 150
157 - 295
Defense:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Sp.Atk:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Sp.Def:
70
67 - 134
130 - 262
Speed:
50
49 - 112
94 - 218
Total:
405
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Swampert's stats
Stat
Range
At Lv. 50
At Lv. 100
HP:
100
160 - 207
310 - 404
Attack:
110
103 - 178
202 - 350
Defense:
90
85 - 156
166 - 306
Sp.Atk:
85
81 - 150
157 - 295
Sp.Def:
90
85 - 156
166 - 306
Speed:
60
58 - 123
112 - 240
Total:
535
Other Pokémon with this total
Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.
Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.
Mudkip Line Ratings
Availability
Matchups
Movepool
Survivability
Type Usefulness
Team Role
Offensive Utility
Defensive Utility
Tankiness
Fun Factor
Overall
What Nature do I want? You probably want something that raises anything but Speed. Swampert likes to have its average Special Attack raised so it can easily defeat stuff like Drake's dragons. If a defensive stat is lowered, it's not too bad unless Speed is raised. The best natures are probably Brave and Quiet.
At what point in the game should I be evolved? Probably before fighting Brawly (first time) and a while after beating Norman (second time). There's no real need to delay its evolution.
How good is the Mudkip line in a Nuzlocke? Really, it's pretty much the greatest Pokémon in existence. Literally the ONLY reason you don't want to use it is if you prefer a challenge.
Mudkip's type matchups:
Weaknesses: Grass, Electric
Resistances: Steel, Fire, Water, Ice
Immunities: None
Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon, Dark
