Is Giratina Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Sinjoh Ruins event encounter with Arceus. Ghost/Dragon with AbilityPressure. If obtained, Giratina's bulk and typing handle most threats. Same Arceus event dependency as Dialga and Palkia.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Giratina resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Giratina resists most of Clair's coverage and hits back hard.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Giratina resists most of Sabrina's coverage and hits back hard.
Giratina resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Giratina has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Trade
Giratina cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Morty
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- LV 28DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 42GhostShadow ClawPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 46GhostShadow ForcePower 180Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Giratina in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Giratina is a gift in this game. Pick it up at Sinjoh Ruins — no wild encounters or spawn rates to deal with. The details below cover exactly when it becomes available.
1 location to catch Giratina
Badge 8How to Get Giratina in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Giratina in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Giratina rounds out the Sinjoh Ruins gifts, so soft-reset the event encounter until it turns shiny. Compare Shiny Giratina odds across every game
Sinjoh Ruins gift (Lv1) triggered by event Arceus. Requires event distribution.
Shiny Giratina Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Giratina Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here is Soft Reset, about 1 in 8,192 on each try.
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 | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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 Giratina preloaded.
Giratina Weakness
Giratina's Ghost/Dragon typing leaves it vulnerable to Ice, Ghost, Dragon, and Dark. It shrugs off Normal and Fighting-type attacks completely. With 6 resistances, the defensive profile is strong. Giratina's overall bulk (150/120/120) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Ghost, Dragon, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, 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 Giratina Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Giratina
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodEmbedded Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Rayquaza builds →Outrage 2x73-86% Ice Beam 2x39-46% Crunch 2x33-39% Shadow Claw 2x29-34% | ||
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Latios builds →Dragon Pulse 2x48-57% Ice Beam 2x34-41% Shadow Ball 2x29-34% | ||
 Dragonite Dragon | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dratini (Dragons Den Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Dragonite builds →Outrage 2x66-78% Ice Beam 2x27-32% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Latias builds →Dragon Pulse 2x42-50% Ice Beam 2x29-35% Shadow Ball 2x25-30% | ||
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Tyranitar builds →Crunch 2x44-52% Dragon Claw 2x29-35% Shadow Claw 2x26-31% Ice Beam 2x26-31% | ||
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Glaceon builds →Ice Beam 2x51-61% Shadow Ball 2x29-34% Bite 2x12-14% | ||
 Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Garchomp builds →Dragon Claw 2x43-51% Crunch 2x29-34% Shadow Claw 2x25-30% | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x36-42% Dragon Pulse 2x23-27% | ||
 Articuno Ice | C | |
Obtain MethodSeafoam Islands Interact Encounter | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 2x39-46% Crunch 2x20-23% | ||
 Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Absol builds →Sucker Punch 2x43-51% Shadow Claw 2x25-30% Ice Beam 2x22-26% | ||
 Drapion PoisonDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Giratina View Drapion builds →Crunch 2x32-38% Ice Fang 2x17-21% Shadow Ball 2x16-19% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Mamoswine IceGround | B | |
Giratina Evolutions
You can't breed Giratina or evolve it into anything else. This Ghost/Dragon legendary packs 680 stats and doesn't need a chain to be relevant. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
HGSS Giratina Best Moveset
Ghost/Dragon blocking Normal and Fighting while resisting Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Poison, and Bug. 150 HP and 120 in both defenses absorb almost everything. The moveset blocks the majority of the type chart. Banned from standard play.
Best Build
Giratina best EVs are Defense and HP
Wall Moveset
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Will O Wisp
- Roar
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breadth over depth defines this movepool. Giratina won't stack one type's damage ceiling, but coverage across 11 types means it always has an effective option. Draco Meteor and Shadow Force anchor the STAB core.
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
30 of 31 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This Pokémon is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours, where common knowledge is distorted and strange.
Giratina HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Giratina isn't catchable in HeartGold & SoulSilver. Find it in Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum, then trade it to HeartGold & SoulSilver.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Giratina as a wall. Special attacks are the main output. Speed is middling,
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Groudon, Dialga, and Forretress. These have the highest co-usage rates with Giratina in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Bold on Giratina. +Defense is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the wall role.
Game Availability
First obtainable in Diamond & Pearl, Giratina has been featured in 13 titles across 6 generations. Legendary status means a single encounter per playthrough in most games.
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 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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