Is Cleffa Good in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Playthrough?
Underground baby Pokemon. Friendship evolution into Clefairy, then Moon Stone to Clefable. Clefable is excellent in BDSP as a Fairy-type, but the double evolution path takes time.
Cleffa trades roughly evenly with Roark's team.
Gardenia's team hits Cleffa's weaknesses hard.
Clefable resists most of Maylene's coverage and hits back hard.
Clefable has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Clefable trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Byron's team hits Clefable's weaknesses hard.
Clefable has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Clefable trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Clefable has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Clefable has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Clefable trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Clefable trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Clefable trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catch Cleffa on Mt. Coronet (walking, Lv 14, common).
You can usually obtain this item before you reach Maylene.
How to Get Cleffa in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Cleffa's scattered across 8 spots in early-game routes with decent spawn rates. Check the list below for the closest location to wherever you are in the game. This one's quick.
Where To Catch Cleffa in BDSP
Cleffa is your first catch on the way to Cleffa. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 12-42 across 28 total spots in the chain.
Step 1Cleffa ✓Mt. Coronet - Route 211 EntranceLv.12CaveRate 25%MorningMt. Coronet - Route 207 EntranceLv.14CaveRate 25%MorningMt. Coronet - Route 211 EntranceLv.12CaveRate 5%Mt. Coronet - Route 207 EntranceLv.14CaveRate 5%
Step 2Catch or Evolve into ClefairyMt. Coronet - B1FLv.30-32CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - Route 216 EntranceLv.30-32CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 2FLv.36-38CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 3FLv.36-38CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 4FLv.38-40CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 5FLv.38-40CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - Top CaveLv.38-40CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 6FLv.40-42CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - 7FLv.40-42CaveRate 15%Mt. Coronet - SummitLv.38-39CaveRate 5%or evolve from Cleffa (Step 1)
Step 3Evolve into Clefable
Cleffa Weakness
Poison and Steel moves hit Cleffa for super-effective damage. The upside? Dragon-type moves can't touch it at all. Cleffa's special bulk (base 55 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Poison, Steel |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fighting, Bug, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Dragon |
What is Cleffa Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Cleffa
 Budew GrassPoison | D | |
 Zubat Poison | D | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cleffa View Zubat builds →Sludge Bomb 2x60-71% Steel Wing 2x55-67% | ||
 Dustox BugPoison | C | |
Budew GrassPoison | D | |
Zubat Poison | D | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cleffa View Zubat builds →Sludge Bomb 2x64-75% Steel Wing 2x61-73% | ||
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Metagross SteelPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Cleffa View Metagross builds →Meteor Mash 2x262-309%KO Sludge Bomb 2x83-98% | ||
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | B | |
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, Salazzle threatens a KO with Sludge Bomb (146-171%).
 Ferrothorn GrassSteel | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityIron Barbs ItemLeftovers NatureImpish Moves
Damage vs Cleffa View Ferrothorn builds →Knock Off19-23% | ||
 Salazzle PoisonFire | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityCorrosion ItemFocus Sash NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Cleffa View Salazzle builds →Flamethrower73-86% Sludge Bomb 2x146-171%KO | ||
Cleffa Evolutions
Cleffa starts the chain as a baby form and evolves into Clefairy by leveling up. To get more eggs, breed the evolved versions. The evolved forms gain up to 265 total stats over Cleffa. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
BDSP Cleffa Best Moveset
Now Fairy-type instead of Normal, gaining Dragon immunity that didn't exist in the original Gen 4. AbilityMagic Guard blocks all indirect damage. The moveset has 45 Sp. Atk at 15 Speed behind new Fairy TermStab but can't compete as a baby Pokemon. Two evolutions from Clefable's S-tier.
Best Build
Cleffa best EVs are HP and Attack
Bulky Support Moveset
- Endeavor
- Body Slam
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Need something that threatens multiple types? Cleffa's movepool delivers. Coverage across 10 types plus STAB from Disarming Voice gives it answers for most defensive cores you'll run into.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its silhouette is like a star. It is believed to arrive riding on shooting stars.
Many appear when the night skies are filled with shooting stars. They disappear with sunrise.
Cleffa Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Guide
In Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, For a casual playthrough, Cleffa works as a placeholder. Fairy coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Clefairy. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Debuting in Gold & Silver, Cleffa appears in 19 games across 9 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 7LGPE
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