Is Ampharos Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
The best Electric-type in Gold and Silver for a playthrough. Ampharos hits hard on the special side and takes hits better than any other Electric option. Handles every Water trainer, contributes against Clair and Lance, and stays relevant through all of Kanto. The early Mareep catch pays off enormously.
Falkner's team hits Mareep's weaknesses hard.
Mareep has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Flaaffy trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Ampharos trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's typing presses Ampharos's defenses.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Ampharos's defenses.
Ampharos trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Ampharos trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Ampharos trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Ampharos resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Ampharos resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Ampharos trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Ampharos has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catch Mareep
Catch Mareep on Route 32 (walking, Lv 6, common).
Recommended Moves
- LV 9ElectricThunder ShockPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- After Falkner
- TM39NormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Union Cave
- After Bugsy
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- TM13NormalSnorePower 40Accuracy 100%PP 15Moomoo Farm
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- LV 37ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
Evolve Mareep to Flaaffy
Mareep evolves into Flaaffy at Level 15. Your Mareep should hit Level 15 before you reach Whitney, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM41ElectricThunder PunchPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Department Store
- TM48FireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Department Store
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a fisherman in a house at Lake of Rage
- LV 45ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
Evolve Flaaffy to Ampharos
Flaaffy evolves into Ampharos at Level 30. Your Flaaffy should hit Level 30 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30ElectricThunder PunchPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 30ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM48FireFire PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Department Store
- After Morty
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Olivine City
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- After Lt. Surge
- TM07ElectricZap CannonPower 150Accuracy 50%PP 5Gift from the Power Plant manager after returning the Machine Part
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner
- LV 57ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
How to Get Ampharos in Gold & Silver
The end of the sheep line, Ampharos has no wild spawns at all. A Flaaffy reaches level 30 to get here, so the Ampharos that lights Olivine's tower starts out as a common Mareep on an early route.
Catch Mareep or Flaaffy at any of these 3 spots to eventually evolve into Ampharos.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6How to Obtain Ampharos in GS
To get Ampharos, start by catching Mareep through walking encounters at Lv. 6-15. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve FlaaffyRoute 43Lv.15-17GrassRate 40%DayRoute 43Lv.15GrassRate 30%Morning/nightRoute 42Lv.15-17GrassRate 10%or evolve from Mareep (Step 1)
- Step 3Ampharos ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Goldenrod Pokemon Day Care to receive a Mareep egg.
How to Get Shiny Ampharos in Gold & Silver
Ampharos comes from a shiny Flaaffy: catch one in the grass of Route 42 and Route 43, then level it to 30 to finish the evolution. Compare Shiny Ampharos odds across every game
Gold & Silver Shiny Ampharos Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Gold & Silver shiny odds calculator with Ampharos already selected.
Ampharos Weakness
Ground moves hit Ampharos for super-effective damage. Few weaknesses and 3 resistances make the typing clean. With 90 HP and balanced defenses, Ampharos can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Electric, Flying, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Ampharos Weak Against
Good
Ampharos Evolutions
End of the line. Ampharos caps a three-stage chain that started at Mareep. Breeding produces the base form, and eggs take an average time to hatch. Sp.Atk grew the most through evolution (+50 over Mareep), and Ampharos peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Ampharos to get Mareep eggs easily using 66 partners from the Field and Monster egg groups. Notable egg moves include Body Slam, Reflect, Safeguard and 3 more.
GS Ampharos Best Moveset
115 Sp. Atk fires MoveThunderbolt with top-tier power, and MoveThunder Wave paralyzes what the damage leaves standing. 55 Speed is painfully slow, going last against nearly everything relevant. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Massive special power behind Electric moves, if the target hasn't already moved.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Fire Punch
- Hidden Power Ice
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Ampharos misses out on Body Slam and Reflect. That's 6 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Zap Cannon and Thunder, with Normal and Fighting coverage and more rounding things out.
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.
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
21 of 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The tail’s tip shines brightly and can be seen from far away. It acts as a beacon for lost people.
The bright light on its tail can be seen far away. It has been treasured since ancient times as a beacon.
Ampharos Gold & Silver Guide
Mega Evolution isn't available in Gold & Silver, but Ampharos does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Ampharos hits 600 BST.
In Gold & Silver, use Ampharos as a wallbreaker. Special attacks are the main output. Not the fastest, Thunderbolt is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Gold & Silver, Ampharos has appeared in 17 titles over 8 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 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
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 Ampharos.
Keep playing · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List