
Is Dratini Good in Yellow Playthrough?
A long grind toward the strongest non-legendary Pokemon in Gen 1. Available in the Safari Zone and by fishing. The evolution chain doesn't finish until level 55, which is a serious time commitment for a payoff most players never reach before the E4.
Brock's typing presses Dratini's defenses.
Misty's typing presses Dratini's defenses.
Lt. Surge's typing presses Dratini's defenses.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Dratini trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's typing presses Dragonair's defenses.
Dragonair has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Dragonair has the type edge here and should clean up Giovanni's team.
Dragonair trades roughly evenly with Lorelei's team.
Dragonite has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Dragonite trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Dragonite has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Dragonite trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Dratini in the Safari Zone (Super Rod fishing, Lv 10, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- HM03WaterSurfPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- LV 50NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
Evolve Dratini to Dragonair
Dratini evolves into Dragonair at Level 30. Your Dratini should hit Level 30 before you reach Sabrina, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 30)
- LV 30ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
- LV 55NormalHyper 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 Bruno, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 55)
- LV 55PsychicAgilityPower —Accuracy 100%PP 30
- LV 55ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- After Erika
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Blaine
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Prize for defeating Cinnabar Gym Leader Blaine
- LV 60NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Dratini in Yellow
The Safari Zone Super Rod is the only line to Dratini, common in the water there. You'll be fighting the Safari step limit while you fish, which is what makes the rare dragon such a grind.
1 location to catch Dratini
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
Where To Catch Dratini in Y
Dratini is where the line starts, caught through fishing encounters at Lv. 10-15. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
To plan your throws, open the Yellow catch rate calculator with Dratini preloaded.
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 |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Dratini Weak Against
AvgWhat is Dratini Strong Against
Best Pokemon Against Dratini
Lapras WaterIce | B | |
Obtain MethodSilph Co Gift | ||
Dratini Evolutions
A Dragon type with 300 stats, Dratini has a chain leading to Dragonite. Breeding won't work. The evolved forms gain up to 300 total stats over Dratini. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Dratini Best Moveset
Dragon typing without Dragon moves worth using. Normal-type attacks from MoveHyper Beam and MoveBody Slam are the only real damage options. Two evolutions away from Dragonite, where raw stats compensate for the missing type moves.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Thunder Wave
- Body Slam
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
Moves List
Without TMs, Dratini's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Normal and Ice coverage and more on top of Dragon Rage for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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 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 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 23 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The existence of this mythical POKéMON was only recently confirmed by a fisherman who caught one.
Dratini Yellow Guide
- Where in the Yellow Safari Zone can I find Dratini?
See the Locations section above for where to find Dratini in Yellow.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Dratini from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Dratini easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
In Yellow, 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.