Is Chikorita Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Grass starter and the toughest choice in HGSS. Falkner's Flying gym resists Grass, Bugsy's Bug gym resists it, and Whitney's Miltank runs through it. Things improve after Chuck, but Meganium faces an uphill road where the other two starters cruise. Rewards patience more than any other pick.
Falkner's team hits Chikorita's weaknesses hard.
Bugsy's team hits Chikorita's weaknesses hard.
Bayleef has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Meganium has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Meganium resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Meganium resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Meganium resists most of Misty's coverage and hits back hard.
Meganium has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Meganium has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Meganium has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Karen's team.
Meganium trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Starter
Chikorita is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- LV 6GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- LV 20GrassMagical LeafPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 34NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Lake of Rage
- LV 45GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Chikorita to Bayleef
Chikorita evolves into Bayleef at Level 16. Your Chikorita should hit Level 16 before you reach Whitney, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 16)
- LV 16GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- TM75NormalSwords DancePower —Accuracy 100%PP 30Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- LV 22GrassMagical LeafPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- LV 40NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 54GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Bayleef to Meganium
Bayleef evolves into Meganium at Level 32. Your Bayleef should hit Level 32 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 32)
- LV 32GrassPetal DancePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 32GrassMagical LeafPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Pryce
- TUTORGrassFrenzy PlantPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 46NormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 66GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Chikorita in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Chikorita is one of the three Johto starters Professor Elm offers in New Bark Town at the very start. Pick it and the Grass path is locked in, since the other two leave town with rival trainers.
1 location to catch Chikorita
How to Obtain Chikorita in HGSS
How to Get Shiny Chikorita in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Chikorita is a starter from Professor Elm in New Bark Town, though a shiny hatches faster from Masuda breeding. Compare Shiny Chikorita odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Chikorita 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.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds calculator with Chikorita already selected.
Chikorita Weakness
Chikorita is weak to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug. The Grass typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. That's a lot of weak spots to cover so team support is important.
| 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 Chikorita Weak Against
Fragile
Chikorita Evolutions
Chikorita kicks off a three-stage evolution line through Bayleef all the way to Meganium. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via two egg groups. Evolving adds up to 207 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Chikorita easily with 45 breeding partners from the Grass and Monster egg groups. Pass egg moves like Ancient Power, Aromatherapy, Body Slam and 9 more to offspring.
HGSS Chikorita Best Moveset
Grass typing with 65 Defense and 65 Sp. Def gives the moveset some early-stage bulk, but 49 in both Attack stats and 45 Speed leave it without offensive identity. AbilityOvergrow boosts Grass moves at low HP. Evolve for defensive presence.
Best Build
Chikorita best EVs are Defense and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Giga Drain
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Aromatherapy
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Chikorita. Ancient Power and Aromatherapy come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Leaf Storm and Solar Beam and Normal and Steel coverage and more.
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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A sweet aroma gently wafts from the leaf on its head. It is docile and loves to soak up sunrays.
Its pleasantly aromatic leaf has the ability to check humidity and temperature.
Chikorita HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Chikorita works as a placeholder. Grass coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Bayleef. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Debuting in Gold & Silver, Chikorita appears in 17 games across 8 generations. A reliable presence in most mainline games, typically found through catching or hatching as a base form.
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 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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