Is Gastly Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Sprout Tower and Bellchime Trail encounters from early Johto. Ghost/Poison with AbilityLevitate for Ground immunity. The Gengar line is one of the strongest available in HGSS, and Gastly shows up before Morty's own Ghost gym.
Falkner's typing presses Gastly's defenses.
Gastly trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Whitney's typing presses Gastly's defenses.
Haunter resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Haunter has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Jasmine's typing presses Haunter's defenses.
Haunter has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Gengar resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Gengar resists most of Sabrina's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Gengar resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Gengar has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Gastly in Sprout Tower (walking, Lv 3-6, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- LV 22DarkSucker PunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 5
- LV 29GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 33PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Lake of Rage
- LV 36DarkDark PulsePower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Gastly to Haunter
Gastly evolves into Haunter at Level 25. Your Gastly should hit Level 25 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 25)
- LV 25GhostShadow PunchPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 25DarkSucker PunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Bugsy
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Whitney
- TM65GhostShadow ClawPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 42
- LV 33GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- LV 39PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 44DarkDark PulsePower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Haunter to Gengar
Haunter evolves into Gengar when traded. Most players are ready to trade before reaching Clair.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 34)
- LV 34GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 34GhostShadow PunchPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Whitney
- TM65GhostShadow ClawPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 42
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- LV 39PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Gastly in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Gastly is strictly a night catch, common to uncommon across three spots from level 3 to 22, naturally drawn to the towers. The gas ghost vanishes by day, so a late walk through Pokemon Tower is how you meet one early.
3 locations to catch Gastly
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Gastly in HGSS
Gastly is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 3-22 across 26 total spots in the chain.
Not landing the catch? Calculate Gastly catch rates for HeartGold & SoulSilver by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Gastly in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Gastly drifts through the Bell Tower and Sprout Tower at night, but breeding it Masuda-style is the fastest way to a shiny. Compare Shiny Gastly odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Gastly 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver with Gastly preloaded.
Gastly Weakness
Gastly is weak to Ground, Psychic, Ghost, and Dark. On the flip side, it's immune to Normal and Fighting-type moves entirely. Levitate grants an additional Ground immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Gastly leans toward special offense (base 100 Sp.Atk) instead of trying to wall anything.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic, Ghost, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Poison, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Normal, Fighting |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Gastly Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Gastly
 Absol Dark | C | |
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
 Spoink Psychic | C | |
 Bronzor SteelPsychic | C | |
 Sandshrew Ground | C | |
 Drowzee Psychic | C | |
 Chingling Psychic | D | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Gastly View Chingling builds →Confusion 2x83-98% Astonish 2x24-30% | ||
 Slowpoke WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
 Natu Psychic | C | |
 Meditite FightingPsychic | C | |
 Ralts Psychic | C | |
Gastly Evolutions
Gastly kicks off a three-stage evolution line through Haunter all the way to Gengar. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via one egg group. Evolving adds up to 190 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Gastly easily with 31 breeding partners from the Amorphous egg group. Pass egg moves like Astonish, Disable, Explosion and 8 more to offspring.
HGSS Gastly Best Moveset
Ghost/Poison with 100 Sp. Atk is massive for a first-stage, and AbilityLevitate blocks Ground entirely. The moveset fires special Ghost attacks that hit hard for its level, but 30 HP and 30 Defense collapse to any contact. Two evolutions from Gengar.
Best Build
Gastly best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Sweeper Moveset
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Will O Wisp
- Explosion
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Gastly gets Astonish and Disable exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Dark and Psychic coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball.
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 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
With its gas-like body, it can sneak into any place it desires. However, it can be blown away by wind.
Its body is made of gas. Despite lacking substance, it can envelop an opponent of any size and cause suffocation.
Gastly HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- How do I catch Gastly in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Gastly 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 Gastly from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Gastly 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Gastly works as a placeholder. Ghost/Poison coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Haunter. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Gastly appears in 22 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Gastly 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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