Is Altaria Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Dragon/Flying with AbilityNatural Cure healing status on switch-out. Altaria is the accessible Dragon in RS: no pseudo-legendary grind, just level 35. Handles Drake through Dragon resistance and contributes against Sidney. Not the hardest hitter, but the typing and Natural Cure make it very resilient.
Roxanne's team hits Swablu's weaknesses hard.
Swablu resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Wattson's Pokemon outpace and outclass Swablu here.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Norman's typing presses Swablu's defenses.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Altaria trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Altaria trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Altaria resists most of Drake's coverage and hits back hard.
Altaria trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Catch Swablu
Catch Swablu on Route 114 (walking, Lv 15-17, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Abandoned Ship
- After Wattson
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Fortree City
- LV 31NormalTake DownPower 135Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Norman
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Route 119
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- After Winona
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Winona
Evolve Swablu to Altaria
Swablu evolves into Altaria at Level 35. Your Swablu should hit Level 35 before you reach Tate & Liza, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Route 119
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- After Wallace
- TM02DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Meteor Falls
- LV 59FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Altaria in Ruby & Sapphire
Altaria is rare and high-level: two surf-adjacent spots near the endgame, levels 54 to 60, or evolve a Swablu at 35. The wild ones sit so deep in the game that the evolution beats them easily.
1 location to catch Altaria2 locations to catch Swablu
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Catch Swablu at any of the 2 locations below, then level it up to 35 — it evolves into Altaria.
Badge 3Where To Catch Altaria in RS
The only way to get Altaria during the story is evolving Swablu (Lv 35).
Not landing the catch? Calculate Altaria catch rates for Ruby & Sapphire by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Altaria in Ruby & Sapphire
High on the upper floors of Sky Pillar, Altaria only turns up now and then, so walk the grass up there and watch for shiny plumage. Compare Shiny Altaria odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire Shiny Altaria Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in Ruby & Sapphire with Altaria preloaded.
Altaria Weakness
Type-wise, Altaria takes extra damage from Ice, Rock, and Dragon. Watch out for Ice attacks, those deal 4x damage. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. With 75 HP and balanced defenses, Altaria can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Ice |
| 2x (Weak) | Rock, Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Fighting, Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Altaria Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Altaria
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Latios builds →Ice Beam 4x116-136%KO Dragon Claw 2x73-86% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodRoaming Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Latias builds →Ice Beam 4x100-118%KO Dragon Claw 2x63-74% | ||
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodSky Pillar Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Rayquaza builds →Ice Beam 4x130-153%KO Outrage 2x93-109%KO Ancient Power 2x47-55% | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 4x133-157%KO Rock Tomb 2x24-28% | ||
 Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Regice builds →Ice Beam 4x138-163%KO Ancient Power 2x19-23% | ||
 Glalie Ice | C | |
 Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Aggron builds →Ice Beam 4x63-74% Rock Tomb 2x46-54% Dragon Claw 2x26-31% | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Salamence Dragon | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Salamence builds →Dragon Claw 2x63-74% Rock Tomb 2x36-43% | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Flygon builds →Dragon Claw 2x50-58% Rock Tomb 2x28-33% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Altaria View Rhydon builds →Rock Tomb 2x53-63% Ice Beam 4x51-60% | ||
 Magcargo FireRock | C | |
Altaria Evolutions
Evolved from Swablu. Altaria is the final form in this two-stage line. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. HP grew the most through evolution (+30 over Swablu), and Altaria peaks at 490 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Altaria to get Swablu eggs easily using 27 partners from the Dragon and Flying egg groups. Notable egg moves include Agility, Haze, Pursuit and 1 more.
RS Altaria Best Moveset
Dragon/Flying with MoveDragon Dance for Attack and Speed boosting, and AbilityNatural Cure clears all status on switch-out so it can't be crippled permanently. MoveEarthquake and MoveAerial Ace for coverage after setup. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Dragon Dance attacker with built-in status immunity.
Best Build
Altaria best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Wall Moveset
- Rest
- Perish Song
- Fire Blast
- Heal Bell
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding's the move. Agility and Haze give Altaria options it can't learn any other way, and coverage across 9 types already covers a decent range on top of Sky Attack and Fly. The egg moves push it further.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
All 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
ALTARIA dances and wheels through the sky among billowing, cotton-like clouds. By singing melodies in its crystal-clear voice, this POKéMON makes its listeners experience dreamy wonderment.
ALTARIA sings in a gorgeous soprano. Its wings are like cotton clouds. This POKéMON catches updrafts with its buoyant wings and soars way up into the wild blue yonder.
Altaria Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Altaria can be caught in the wild at Hoenn Sky Pillar in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Ruby & Sapphire, Altaria has appeared in 16 titles over 7 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORASMega
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7Let's Go
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves
Explore
Where to go next after Altaria.
Keep playing · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List