What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Pokemon Sword and Shield

Poison Barb Effect and How to Get It

Add to Watchlist

★ Tier List / Doubles Tier List / Movesets / Rental Teams
✬ Pokemon HOME Dex Completion Shiny Rewards:
┗ Meloetta | Manaphy | Enamorus | Keldeo | Meltan
☆ Competitive Battle Guide

Poison Barb Effect and How to Get It

This is a page on the Battle Item Poison Barb and its location in Pokemon Sword and Shield, Isle of Armor, and the Crown Tundra DLC. Read on to see its effect, how to get it, and how to use it competitively.

List of Contents

Poison Barb Effect

Poison Barb ImagePoison Barb
Effect An item to be held by a Pokémon. This small, poisonous barb boosts the power of Poison-type moves.

How to Get Poison Barb

Obtain from Wild Pokemon

The following Pokemon may hold the item, Poison Barb. You can get it by using the move Thief or Trick.

Budew ImageBudew Roselia ImageRoselia Roserade ImageRoserade
Vespiquen ImageVespiquen Skorupi ImageSkorupi Drapion ImageDrapion
Qwilfish ImageQwilfish Mareanie ImageMareanie Toxapex ImageToxapex

Purchase at the Stow-on-Side Bargain Shop

Bargain Shop.jpg
Located in Stow-on-Side, there is a bargain shop that sells rare items where the prices are not fixed.

You can buy Poison Barb for ₽3000 if it is the Bargain of the Day.

You can only buy one item per day so it is good to visit daily. Talk to the merchant to check yesterday's, tomorrow's, and today's Bargain of the Day.

How to Use Poison Barb

Having access to one of them most volatile status conditions in battle, Poison-type Pokemon can strengthen their offensive capabilities even more by equipping Poison Barb as it boosts Poison-type attacks by 20%.

The damage boost also stacks with STAB.

Having a boost in your Poison-type attacks will help you pressure your opponents, even more so if they are poisoned and are constantly taking poison damage.

Poison Barb vs Choice Item

When choosing an item for your Poison-type Pokemon, you may ask which damage-boosting item is better: Poison Barb or either Choice Band or Choice Specs.

Advantage Disadvantage
Poison Barb ・20% damage boost to Poison-type moves
・Can use all moves		 ・Only boost Poison-type moves
Choice Band or Choice Specs ・50% boost to Atk/Sp.Atk ・Locked to one move

The right item for your Pokemon will depend on how you will use your Pokemon's moveset.

If you're only planning to use a single Poison-type move, then opt for a Choice item. If you think that you need to use other moves beside Poison-type moves, then let it hold Poison Barb.

Pokemon Sword and Shield Related Guides

All ItemsSee All Items
Types of Items
New Items
Poke Balls.pngPoke Balls TRs.pngTRs TMs.pngTMs
Berries.pngBerries Evolutionary Stones.pngEvolutionary Stones Ingredients.pngIngredients
Battle Items.jpgBattle Items Recovery Items.pngRecovery Items Power Items.pngPower Items
TreasuresTreasures
Important Items
Mints.pngMints Exp. Candy.pngExp. Candy Vitamins.pngVitamins
Master Ball.pngMaster Ball Fossils.pngFossils Evolutionary Held Items.pngEvolutionary Held Items
Lucky Egg.jpgLucky Egg Rare Candy.pngRare Candy Bottle CapBottle Caps

Comment

Post (0 Comments)

Author

Pokémon Sword and Shield Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Legendaries Returning For Mega Dimensions DLC

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Leg...

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    ©2019 Pokémon. ©1995-2019 Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    Pokémon Sword and Shield Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    Latest News

    Events

    Online Competitions

    The Crown Tundra

    Crown Tundra Story Guides

    Crown Tundra Pokemon Lists

    Crown Tundra New Features

    Crown Tundra Maps

    Crown Tundra New Items

    Crown Tundra Updated Guides

    Crown Tundra Tips & Tricks

    How to Get Crown Tundra Pokemon

    Obtainable via the Story
    Non-Story Pokemon

    The Isle of Armor

    New Features

    Tips & Tricks

    Game Information

    Maps

    Isle of Armor

    Hot Articles

    Message Boards

    Story Walkthrough

    Main Story

    Trainer Battles

    Post Game Content

    Advice for Finishing the Story

    Pokedex

    Pokemon in Sword and Shield

    List of Pokemon by Type

    How to Get Rare Pokemon

    Wild Area

    Guide to the Wild Area

    Wild Area Maps and Obtainable Pokemon

    Items

    Moves

    Abilities

    Competitive Play

    Training & Breeding Your Pokemon

    Tier Lists for Ranked Battle

    Competitive Team Building

    Movesets & Best Builds for Ranked Battle

    The Crown Tundra
    The Isle of Armor Pokemon
    New Pokemon
    Returning Pokemon

    Best Teams for Ranked Battle

    Beginner's Tips & Guides

    Pokemon Guides & Strategy

    New to Pokemon Sword and Shield

    Trade & Battle Pokemon Online

    Miscellaneous

    New Features

    Japanese Pokemon Sword and Shield Walkthrough

    Other Pokemon Wikis