Is Cyndaquil Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Fire starter and the recommended pick in HGSS. Fire-types are scarce in Johto, and Typhlosion fills that gap for the entire 16-gym journey. Falkner and Bugsy are neutral, Whitney is tough for everyone, and everything from Jasmine onward plays to Cyndaquil's strengths.
Cyndaquil trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Quilava resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Quilava has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Quilava has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Chuck's team hits Quilava's weaknesses hard.
Quilava resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Quilava has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Typhlosion's weaknesses hard.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Typhlosion resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Typhlosion resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Typhlosion resists most of Janine's coverage and hits back hard.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Typhlosion trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Typhlosion resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Typhlosion has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Typhlosion resists most of Karen's coverage and hits back hard.
Typhlosion trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Starter
Cyndaquil is available as a starter at Lv 5.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- LV 19FireFlame WheelPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- LV 31FireLava PlumePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 37FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 46NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 49FireEruptionPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 5
Evolve Cyndaquil to Quilava
Cyndaquil evolves into Quilava at Level 14. Your Cyndaquil should hit Level 14 before you reach Bugsy, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- LV 20FireFlame WheelPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 35FireLava PlumePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 42FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 57FireEruptionPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 5
Evolve Quilava to Typhlosion
Quilava evolves into Typhlosion at Level 36. Your Quilava should hit Level 36 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 36)
- LV 36FireLava PlumePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- After Pryce
- TUTORFireBlast BurnPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- LV 42FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 53NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 57FireEruptionPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Cyndaquil in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Cyndaquil is the Fire pick from Elm's three starters in New Bark Town. Choose it and you hold the only Cyndaquil line in the region, since starters never wander into the grass.
1 location to catch Cyndaquil
How to Obtain Cyndaquil in HGSS
- Step 1Cyndaquil ✓
- Step 2Evolve into Quilava
- Step 3Evolve into Typhlosion
How to Get Shiny Cyndaquil in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Cyndaquil is one of Elm's New Bark Town starters, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent for a shiny. Compare Shiny Cyndaquil odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Cyndaquil 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 Cyndaquil already selected.
Cyndaquil Weakness
Cyndaquil's Fire typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Ground, and Rock. The Fire typing picks up 5 resistances to work with.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Cyndaquil Weak Against
Avg
Cyndaquil Evolutions
Cyndaquil kicks off a three-stage evolution line through Quilava all the way to Typhlosion. For breeding, average hatch time with a massive partner pool via one egg group. The evolved forms gain up to 225 total stats over Cyndaquil. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Cyndaquil with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Covet, Crush Claw, Double Kick and 9 more to offspring.
HGSS Cyndaquil Best Moveset
60 Sp. Atk and 65 Speed with AbilityBlaze for emergency power. Basic special Fire damage at 39 HP and 43 Defense that can't survive physical hits. Typhlosion brings the real offensive stats.
Best Build
Cyndaquil best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Revenge Killer Moveset
- Eruption
- Hidden Power Grass
- Extrasensory
- Overheat
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
You'll want to breed for Covet and Crush Claw on Cyndaquil. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Eruption and Flare Blitz, they expand what Cyndaquil can actually threaten in practice.
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 17 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is timid, and always curls itself up in a ball. If attacked, it flares up its back for protection.
It usually stays hunched over. If it is angry or surprised, it shoots flames out of its back.
Cyndaquil HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Cyndaquil works as a placeholder. Fire coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Quilava. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Debuting in Gold & Silver, Cyndaquil 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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