Is Ekans Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
HeartGold encounter in the Johto routes. Poison-type with AbilityIntimidate dropping Attack on switch-in. Arbok at level 22 adds team support through mid-game. SoulSilver players need to breed or trade for it.
Ekans trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Ekans has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Ekans trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Arbok resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Arbok trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Arbok has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Ekans on Route 32 (walking, Lv 4, common).
Recommended Moves
- LV 12NormalGlarePower —Accuracy 75%PP 30
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- LV 41PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- TM79DarkDark PulsePower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Sold by the TM clerk on 3F of the Celadon Department Store
Evolve Ekans to Arbok
Ekans evolves into Arbok at Level 22. Your Ekans should hit Level 22 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- TM79DarkDark PulsePower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Sold by the TM clerk on 3F of the Celadon Department Store
- LV 56PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
How to Get Ekans in HeartGold & SoulSilver
This one splits by version at the Game Corner. In HeartGold, Ekans is a 700-coin prize in Goldenrod and also turns up wild on a few routes. SoulSilver players get Sandshrew at that counter instead, so HeartGold owners have the easier time here.
6 locations to catch Ekans
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Ekans in HGSS
Ekans is where the line starts, caught through walking and gift encounters at Lv. 4-16. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into ArbokRoute 3Lv.10GrassSoulSilverRate 5%Route 4Lv.10GrassSoulSilverRate 5%Route 27Lv.28GrassSoulSilverRate 30%Safari Zone - MarshlandLv.17FloorRate 10%Morning/dayor evolve from Ekans (Step 1)
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Ekans preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Ekans in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Ekans slithers through the Safari Zone and Route 3 and Route 4, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Ekans odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Ekans Calculator
3 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.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
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 Ekans already selected.
Ekans Weakness
Ekans's Poison typing leaves it vulnerable to Ground and Psychic. The Poison typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Ekans's Poison typing only leaves 2 gaps to cover.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Ekans Weak Against
Avg
Ekans Evolutions
Ekans is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Arbok. Check the evolution method below. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 160 total stats over Ekans. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
Breeding
Breed Ekans easily with 30 breeding partners from the Dragon and Field egg groups. Pass egg moves like Beat Up, Disable, Poison Fang and 6 more to offspring.
HGSS Ekans Best Moveset
AbilityIntimidate cutting opposing Attack on the switch is the only reason to field this moveset. 60 Attack at 55 Speed can't threaten anything, and 35 HP folds to one strong hit. The support value is Arbok's job done worse.
Best Build
Ekans best EVs are Sp. Def and Attack
Bulky Support Moveset
- Poison Jab
- Glare
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Beat Up and Disable from the egg pool give Ekans something extra. Pair those with Gunk Shot and Sludge Bomb for STAB and coverage across 7 types for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
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 23 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It can freely detach its jaw to swallow large prey whole. It can become too heavy to move, however.
It always hides in grass. When first born, it has no poison, so its bite is painful, but harmless.
Ekans HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- Where in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone can I find Ekans?
See the Locations section above for where to find Ekans in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Ekans from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Ekans easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
Ekans costs 700 Coins in HeartGold. Earn coins by playing the slot machines on the Game Corner floor or buying them at the counter (1,000 coins for ₽10,000).
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Ekans works as a placeholder. Poison coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Arbok. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Ekans appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Ekans have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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
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