Is Chinchou Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Fishing in several Johto areas. Water/Electric is a typing only Chinchou's line has in Gen 2. Lanturn evolves at 27 and covers two of the most useful offensive types in one slot. Crystal's move tutor doesn't change much since Lanturn learns MoveThunderbolt naturally.
Chinchou has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Chinchou has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Chinchou trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Chinchou trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's typing presses Lanturn's defenses.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lanturn resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Lanturn resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Lanturn has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Lanturn trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Chinchou in New Bark Town (Good Rod fishing, Lv 20, common).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- LV 25ElectricSparkPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Pryce
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Ice Path
- LV 41WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TUTORIceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod City
Evolve Chinchou to Lanturn
Chinchou evolves into Lanturn at Level 27. Your Chinchou should hit Level 27 before you reach Chuck, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 27)
- LV 27ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Pryce
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Ice Path
- LV 33GhostConfuse RayPower —Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
- LV 53WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
How to Get Chinchou in Crystal
Chinchou lights up the coastal waters, 22 Good Rod and Super Rod encounters across ten seaside towns. You need a rod for every one, since it never surfaces by surfing.
10 locations to catch Chinchou
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
Badge 1
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Badge 8Where To Catch Chinchou in C
Chinchou is the chain's first catch. You'll find fishing encounters from Lv. 20-40 across 33 total spots in the chain.
- Step 1Chinchou ✓New Bark TownLv.20Good RodRate 20%Olivine City - HarborLv.20Good RodRate 20%Route 41Lv.20Good RodRate 20%Cinnabar IslandLv.20Good RodRate 20%Pallet TownLv.20Good RodRate 20%Route 20Lv.20Good RodRate 20%Route 21Lv.20Good RodRate 20%Route 26Lv.20Good RodRate 20%Route 27Lv.20Good RodRate 20%Vermilion City - CityLv.20Good RodRate 20%Vermilion City - HarborLv.20Good RodRate 20%New Bark TownLv.40Super RodRate 40%Olivine City - HarborLv.40Super RodRate 40%Route 41Lv.40Super RodRate 40%Cinnabar IslandLv.40Super RodRate 40%Pallet TownLv.40Super RodRate 40%Route 20Lv.40Super RodRate 40%Route 21Lv.40Super RodRate 40%Route 26Lv.40Super RodRate 40%Route 27Lv.40Super RodRate 40%Vermilion City - CityLv.40Super RodRate 40%Vermilion City - HarborLv.40Super RodRate 40%
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into LanturnNew Bark TownLv.40Super RodRate 10%Olivine City - HarborLv.40Super RodRate 10%Route 41Lv.40Super RodRate 10%Cinnabar IslandLv.40Super RodRate 10%or evolve from Chinchou (Step 1)
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Crystal for Chinchou.
How to Get Shiny Chinchou in Crystal
Chinchou answers the Good and Super Rod off Olivine, Route 41, New Bark Town, and Cinnabar; cast anywhere along the coast and grind out the bites. Compare Shiny Chinchou odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Chinchou 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Crystal shiny odds for Chinchou.
Chinchou Weakness
Type-wise, Chinchou takes extra damage from Grass and Ground. The Water/Electric typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Chinchou's Water/Electric typing only leaves 2 gaps to cover.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Grass, Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Flying |
| 0.25x (Resist) | 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 Chinchou Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Chinchou
 Quagsire WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 32 Surfing | ||
 Marowak Ground | B | |
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Chinchou View Meganium builds →Razor Leaf 2x58-69% Mud-Slap 2x19-23% | ||
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Skiploom Grass | C | |
 Donphan Ground | B | |
 Nidoking PoisonGround | B | |
Chinchou Evolutions
Chinchou is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Lanturn. Check the evolution method below. A small partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 130 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Chinchou easily with 9 breeding partners from the Water 2 egg group. Pass egg moves like Flail, Screech, Supersonic to offspring.
C Chinchou Best Moveset
Water/Electric pre-evolution with unique typing that only Ground and Grass threaten. Sp. Atk too low for competitive damage, but the defensive profile hints at Lanturn's role.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Flail and Screech aren't available any other way for Chinchou, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Zap Cannon and Hydro Pump for solid options.
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
15 of 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its antennae, which evolved from a fin, have both positive and negative charges flowing through them.
Chinchou Crystal Guide
In Crystal, for a casual playthrough, Chinchou works as a placeholder. Water/Electric coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Lanturn. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Debuting in Gold & Silver, Chinchou 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
Explore
Where to go next after Chinchou.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List