Is Dratini Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Dragon's Den or Goldenrod Game Corner purchase. The grind to Dragonite at level 55 starts in the mid-game but doesn't finish until well past the E4. Crystal's Battle Tower gives the completed Dragonite more to do than Gold or Silver did. A long-term project with a 600 BST payoff.
Dratini has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Dratini has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Dragonair has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Dragonair trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Dragonair trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Dragonair resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Dragonair has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Dragonair trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Dragonair resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Dragonair has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Dragonite has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Dragonite has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Dragonite resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Dragonite resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Dragonite resists most of Karen's coverage and hits back hard.
Dragonite has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Gift
Dratini is given to you as a gift on Dragon's Den at Lv 15. Given after the Dragon Shrine elder's quiz; every answer right teaches it Extreme Speed. Given by the Dragon Clan elder in the Dragon Shrine after his quiz; if every answer is right it knows Extreme Speed instead of Leer.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Clair
- TM24DragonDragon BreathPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Clair
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORFireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TUTORIceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod City
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- LV 50DragonOutragePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 57NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
Evolve Dratini to Dragonair
Dratini evolves into Dragonair at Level 30. Your Dratini should hit Level 30 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORFireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TUTORIceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod City
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- LV 56DragonOutragePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 65NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
Evolve Dragonair to Dragonite
Dragonair evolves into Dragonite at Level 55. Your Dragonair should hit Level 55 before you reach Blue, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Cianwood City
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORFireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TUTORIceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod City
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- LV 61DragonOutragePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 75NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Dratini in Crystal
Dratini has two ways in: fish it from the Dragon's Den or take the level 15 gift for answering the elder's quiz correctly. The quiz reward saves a lot of casting.
Wild Dratini may be holding when caught:
Dragon Scale (2% chance) A rare dragon-type item.2 locations to catch Dratini
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
Badge 7Where To Catch Dratini in C
Dratini is the chain's first catch. You'll find fishing, surfing, and more encounters from Lv. 10-40 across 8 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into Dragonairor evolve from Dratini (Step 1)
- Step 3Evolve into DragoniteBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Dratini egg.
To plan your throws, open the Crystal catch rate calculator with Dratini preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Dratini in Crystal
Dratini fills the Dragon's Den pool, so fish it up with the Good or Super Rod or surf for one; the level 15 gift Dratini handed out inside has fixed stats and can never be shiny. Compare Shiny Dratini odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Dratini Calculator
3 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.
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 | 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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Crystal shiny odds calculator with Dratini already selected.
Dratini Weakness
Dratini's Dragon typing leaves it vulnerable to Ice and Dragon. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Electric, Grass |
- 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 Dratini Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Dratini
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dratini View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x142-167%KO Dragon Breath 2x60-72% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | B | |
 Dewgong WaterIce | C | |
 Piloswine IceGround | C | |
 Delibird Ice | C | |
Dragonair Dragon | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dratini (Dragons Den Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Dratini View Dragonair builds →Dragon Breath 2x77-92% Blizzard 2x101-120%KO | ||
 Sneasel DarkIce | B | |
Dratini Evolutions
Dratini is the start of a three-stage chain. It evolves into Dragonair first, then eventually reaches Dragonite. For breeding, takes forever to hatch with a small partner pool via two egg groups. The evolved forms gain up to 300 total stats over Dratini. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Dratini easily with 13 breeding partners from the Dragon and Water 1 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Haze, Light Screen, Mist and 1 more to offspring.
C Dratini Best Moveset
Dragon pre-evolution without competitive Dragon moves. MoveReturn for Normal damage is the only real output. Dragonite's raw stats make up for the typing's offensive limitations after two evolutions.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Flamethrower
- Outrage
- Dragon Breath
- Thunder Wave
Moves List
You'll want to breed for Haze and Light Screen on Dratini. These egg moves aren't just nice to have. Combined with STAB from Outrage and Dragon Breath, they expand what Dratini 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.
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
21 of 26 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It sheds many layers of skin as it grows larger. During this process, it is protected by a rapid waterfall.
Dratini Crystal Guide
Yes. Wild Dratini in Crystal can hold Dragon Scale (2%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Dragon Scale.
In Crystal, Dratini does the job early-game if you need a Dragon type on your team. Evolve it into Dragonair before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Dratini has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 21 titles across all 9 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
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 Dratini.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List