How To Get Grip Claws in Pokémon Platinum

by Chris Haygood

All Grip Claw Locations
1	Wayward Cave—Through the hidden entrance under Route 206’s Cycling Road, in the middle of a bike ramp puzzle	No
2	Held item (50% chance) by wild Sneasel, which are found in the following locations: Route 216 Route 217 Acuity Lakefront Lake Acuity Snowpoint Temple	Yes

All Grip Claw Locations

Location

Repeatable?

Wayward Cave—Through the hidden entrance under Route 206’s Cycling Road, in the middle of a bike ramp puzzle

Held item (50% chance) by wild Sneasel, which are found in the following locations:

Route 216
Route 217
Acuity Lakefront
Lake Acuity
Snowpoint Temple

Yes

The earliest available Grip Claw is located in the hidden section of Wayward Cave under Route 206’s Cycling Road. The Bicycle and the Hidden Move Cut are both required to find this item.

But wild Sneasels also have a 50% chance of carrying a Grip Claw. You can get the item by capturing any Sneasel that’s holding one, or by using a move like Thief to take it.

Grip Claw Locations

Location #1: Wayward Cave (Step-by-Step)

The primary Grip Claw’s location on the Town Map.

The game’s first available Grip Claw is located inside Wayward Cave on Route 206, through a hidden entrance under Cycling Road.

The Bicycle and HM01 Cut are required to access the item’s exact location.

The quickest way to reach the Wayward Cave’s hidden entrance is by starting at Oreburgh City and heading north from the Pokémon Center, so let’s start from there.

Heading north from Oreburgh’s Pokémon Center.

Take the stairs at the northern entrance to leave the city for Route 207.

Leaving Oreburgh through the northern entrance.

Go down the small staircase nearby that leads to a pit, where there is a muddy slope in the middle of the north wall.

Start riding your Bicycle, make sure it’s in fourth gear (the faster one), and position yourself against the south wall. Then charge the muddy slope with as much momentum as you can generate to make it up to the other side.

Riding the Bicycle in fourth gear to climb the muddy slope.

Once at the top, continue heading northward.

Heading north after riding up the muddy slope.

When you’re almost at the gate to Cycling Road, make a right turn onto the side path.

Use Cut on one of the small trees and head north.

Using Cut on a tree to the east to pass through.

Continue north down the stairs and up the side path.

Continuing north past the stairs.

Keep going north, crossing the bridge when you come to it.

Crossing the bridge to the north.

Make your way straight north past the honey tree.

Moving straight north.

Pass the Hiker trainer and turn left to pass under the Cycling Road.

Passing under the Cycling Road.

Make your way to the other side of the overpass, then head north as far as you can go.

Position yourself as close to the Cycling Road as possible while still remaining visible on screen (pictured below).

Standing one tile to the left of the overpass.

From your position here, take two steps east.

Then take five steps north to enter the hidden entrance to Wayward Cave.

Taking two steps east and five north underneath Cycling Road.

The cave you enter is completely dark, limiting your visibility to a small circle around you.

You can use Flash to brighten it if you want, but the darkness only affects this one tiny chamber.

Using Flash to light up the cave.

Either way, head to the left to go downstairs to B1F.

Heading downstairs in the newly illuminated cave.

At the bottom of the staircases on the next floor, ride your Bicycle in fourth gear at top speed to clear the muddy slope.

Heading for the muddy slope on the bike.

Ride north down the next set of stairs and up the next muddy slope.

Riding up the muddy slope on the next hill.

Pedal the Bicycle at top speed to successfully jump the ramp to your right.

Jumping the bike ramp.

Keep holding Right on the D-pad to jump the next two ramps as well.

Jumping the first three ramps to the east in rapid succession.

When you’re in midair after the third ramp, let go of the D-pad; this should slow you down enough that you will come to a stop before jumping the fourth ramp.

Stopping the Bicycle right before the fourth ramp.

Switch to third gear on your Bicycle to jump the next ramp; the slower speed will keep you from clearing the boulder, which is what you want.

Then head east and hit the eastern wall, then turn to go north.

Jumping the last ramp in third gear and heading northeast.

Eventually you’ll see some more jumps up ahead.

Switch back to fourth gear and jump the next ramp to the west. Then head up the stairs and ride westward across the fallen log.

Jumping another ramp and crossing the log to the west.

Ride over the hills until you reach more bike ramps.

Take a right turn toward the ramps instead of heading up the muddy slope (pictured below).

Then get on your Bicycle and hit the first ramp in fourth gear to sail over the boulder blocking the path.

Picking up speed on the bike and jumping the next ramp.

Once you jump this boulder you should see a Poké Ball item on the ground.

Jumping the ramp to reach Grip Claw on the other side.

Pick it up to add the Grip Claw to your Bag.

Obtaining the Grip Claw.

Location #2: Stealing from Wild Sneasel

Sneasel’s main habitat according to the Pokédex.

An unlimited number of Grip Claws can be farmed from wild Sneasel, which are found in the following areas:

Routes 216 and 217
Acuity Lakefront
Lake Acuity
Snowpoint Temple

This is the most common item Sneasel will carry, so the odds of finding a Sneasel with one are 50%.

Note: There are several ways of decreasing the time you’d spend on hunting wild Pokémon’s held items. For a detailed approach to held item farming check out our guide on setting up the most efficient item-farming team.

Once you’re ready to search for a Grip Claw, head into the wild grass at one of the aforementioned locations.

Hunting for Sneasel at the Acuity Lakefront.

Identifying the wild Sneasel’s item using the Frisk Ability.

If the Sneasel is holding an item, you can either capture them or use a stealing move like Thief, Covet, Trick, or Switcheroo.

Taking the wild Sneasel’s held item.

Make sure your stealing Pokémon isn’t already holding an item if you would have them perform a stealing move.

Thief and Covet will fail outright, but Trick and Switcheroo will swap your Pokémon’s held item with the wild Pokémon’s, which can mean losing valuable items permanently (although you can switch items back if you use the move again before the battle ends).

Acquiring another Grip Claw.

Then once you get your Grip Claw either battle the Pokémon, catch it, or flee—you will keep the Grip Claw in any event.

Grip Claw Details and Uses

In-game description of the Grip Claw.

The Grip Claw is a held item that extends the duration of binding moves to five turns, which is their maximum amount.

In Pokémon Platinum, this affects the following moves:

Binding Move	Type
Bind	Normal
Clamp	Water
Fire Spin	Fire
Magma Storm	Fire
Sand Tomb	Ground
Whirlpool	Water
Wrap	Normal

Binding moves trap an opponent for a number of turns (usually 2-5), during which the foe will sustain steady damage and be unable to switch out or escape.

The potential of binding moves has always been weakened by their lack of dependability. A Grip Claw eliminates one of the most nerve-wracking aspects of binding moves: not knowing how long they’ll last.

Without a Grip Claw, the move can be over in as quickly as two turns. But with the Grip Claw it will last five turns every time.

If you use a binding move as part of a bigger strategy, you’ll at least want to try one out to see if it’s the best item for your Pokémon to hold.

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Chris Haygood

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Chris is an American freelance writer and lifelong gamer. RPGs have been his genre of choice ever since he got Pokémon Blue in 1867, but if he finds a good rhythm game, he will prioritize playing it over both eating and breathing.

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