Is Carnivine Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Safari Zone encounter. Grass with AbilityLevitate granting Ground immunity. No evolution. Decent Attack but limited movepool. The Levitate Ground immunity is interesting but not enough to carry.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Bugsy's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Carnivine has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Carnivine has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Carnivine resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Carnivine has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Janine's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Carnivine has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Blaine's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Koga's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Carnivine trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Karen's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Lance's team hits Carnivine's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Carnivine in Ilex Forest (walking, Lv 6, uncommon). Sinnoh Sound.
Recommended Moves
- LV 7DarkBitePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- LV 27DarkFeint AttackPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 37DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 47GrassPower WhipPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 10
HeartGold & SoulSilver Carnivine Locations
Carnivine starts showing up in the available areas at decent spawn rates across 2 encounter spots. The list below is sorted so you can pick what fits your current progress without scrolling through everything.
2 locations to catch Carnivine
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Best Locations to Catch Carnivine in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Carnivine in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Carnivine lurks in Viridian Forest and Ilex Forest, though a shiny comes faster from Masuda breeding. Compare Shiny Carnivine odds across every game
Shiny Carnivine Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Carnivine Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Carnivine.
Carnivine Weakness
Carnivine's Grass typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug. The Grass typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Levitate grants an additional Ground immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Grass, Ground |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Carnivine Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Carnivine
 Beedrill BugPoison | C | |
 Butterfree Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Butterfree builds →Gust 2x39-47% U-turn 2x44-53% | ||
 Oddish GrassPoison | C | |
 Chatot Normal | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Chatot builds →U-turn 2x35-42% Peck 2x30-37% | ||
 Spearow Normal | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Spearow builds →Aerial Ace 2x44-53% U-turn 2x32-39% | ||
 Zubat Poison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Zubat builds →Wing Attack 2x39-47% U-turn 2x30-35% | ||
 Slugma Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodViolet City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Slugma builds →Ember 2x35-42% Smog 2x14-18% | ||
 Cyndaquil Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodNew Bark Town Gift | ||
 Paras BugGrass | C | |
 Hoppip Grass | C | |
 Numel FireGround | D | |
 Pidgey Normal | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Carnivine View Pidgey builds →U-turn 2x30-35% Gust 2x26-32% | ||
 Bellsprout GrassPoison | C | |
 Ledyba Bug | C | |
Carnivine Evolutions
Carnivine doesn't evolve, so breeding's where the action is. You'll find a decent partner pool across one egg group, and eggs take an average time to hatch. It's got 8 egg moves worth looking into. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Carnivine easily with 45 breeding partners from the Grass egg group. Pass egg moves like Leech Seed, Magical Leaf, Razor Leaf and 5 more to offspring.
HGSS Carnivine Best Moveset
100 Attack with AbilityLevitate removing the Ground weakness. The moveset fires physical Grass attacks from a grounded-immune position. 46 Speed and no defensive standout leave it too slow and too thin elsewhere.
Best Build
Carnivine best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Ice
- Sludge Bomb
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Leech Seed and Magical Leaf from the egg pool give Carnivine something extra.
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 21 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It walks around on its tentacles in search of a tree branch where it can dangle down and ambush prey.
Carnivine HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Carnivine is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Carnivine becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Carnivine as an attacker. Splits damage between physical and special. Not the fastest,
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Starmie, Delcatty, and Forretress. These have the highest co-usage rates with Carnivine in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Modest on Carnivine. +Sp. Atk is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the attacker role.
Game Availability
Debuting in Diamond & Pearl, Carnivine appears in 11 games across 6 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through wild encounters.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
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
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