Is Garchomp Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Dragon/Ground at level 48 with AbilitySand Veil. 600 BST makes Garchomp one of the strongest Pokemon you can field. Handles Red. A Battle Frontier destroyer.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Gible resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Gible has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Gible trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Gabite has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Garchomp trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catch Gible
Catch Gible in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 44). Requires 49 Plains and 49 Peak objects placed in Rocky Beach.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 44)
- LV 44DragonDragon RushPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 10
- LV 44GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 44DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
Evolve Gible to Gabite
Gible evolves into Gabite at Level 24. You get it at Level 44, past Level 24, so it evolves into Gabite the next time it levels up.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- LV 33DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- LV 40GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
- LV 49DragonDragon RushPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 10
Evolve Gabite to Garchomp
Gabite evolves into Garchomp at Level 48. Level it up in the post-game, after you beat Lance.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 48)
- LV 48GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 48DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
- LV 55DragonDragon RushPower 150Accuracy 75%PP 10
How to Get Garchomp in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Garchomp has no wild spot in HeartGold and SoulSilver. Catch Gible at the Safari Zone's Rocky Beach in the post-game, once 49 Plains and 49 Peak objects are placed there. That Level 44 Gible evolves into Gabite at its next level-up, and Gabite evolves into Garchomp at Level 48.
Wild Garchomp may be holding when caught:
Haban Berry (5% chance) If held by a Pokemon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Dragon-type attack.Catch Gible at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Garchomp.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8How to Obtain Garchomp in HGSS
- Step 2Evolve into Gabite
- Step 3Garchomp ✓
How to Get Shiny Garchomp in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Garchomp tops the Gible line, so breed that base form Masuda-style at 1 in 1,638 and raise it all the way up. Compare Shiny Garchomp odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Garchomp 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.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
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 Garchomp already selected.
Garchomp Weakness
Ice and Dragon moves hit Garchomp for super-effective damage. Ice hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. The upside? Electric-type moves can't touch it at all. Garchomp's overall bulk (108/95/85) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Ice |
| 2x (Weak) | Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Garchomp Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Garchomp
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Garchomp View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 4x120-142%KO Dragon Pulse 2x38-45% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
 Mamoswine IceGround | B | |
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Garchomp View Altaria builds →Ice Beam 4x69-82% Dragon Pulse 2x48-57% | ||
 Delibird Ice | D | |
 Dragonair Dragon | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dratini (Dragons Den Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Garchomp View Dragonair builds →Ice Beam 4x69-82% Dragon Rush 2x57-67% | ||
Garchomp Evolutions
End of the line. Garchomp caps a three-stage chain that started at Gible. Breeding produces the base form, and eggs take forever to hatch. Attack grew the most through evolution (+60 over Gible), and Garchomp peaks at 600 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Garchomp to get Gible eggs easily using 30 partners from the Dragon and Monster egg groups. Notable egg moves include Body Slam, Double-Edge, Dragon Breath and 8 more.
HGSS Garchomp Best Moveset
Dragon/Ground at 130 Attack and 102 Speed with AbilitySand Veil adding evasion in the sandstorm that Tyranitar and Hippowdon provide. One MoveSwords Dance creates an unstoppable attacker. The moveset dominates competitive play. Banned from standard formats.
Best Build
Garchomp best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Revenge Killer Moveset
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Outrage
- Stone Edge
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Need something that threatens multiple types? Garchomp's movepool delivers. Coverage across 10 types plus STAB from Draco Meteor and Outrage 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
All 33 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its body is covered in fine scales that reduce drag, enabling it to fly at high speeds.
Garchomp HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Mega Evolution isn't available in HeartGold & SoulSilver, but Garchomp does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Garchomp hits 700 BST.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Garchomp as a sweeper. Physical side carries the damage. It outspeeds most threats, Earthquake is the primary attack.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Dialga, Kyogre, and Giratina Origin. These have the highest co-usage rates with Garchomp in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Jolly on Garchomp. +Speed is what matters, and the -Sp. Atk cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the sweeper role.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Diamond & Pearl, Garchomp has appeared in 14 titles over 6 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORASMega
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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