Is Golduck Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Water-type with AbilityCloud Nine negating all weather effects. Golduck has solid Special Attack and Speed. Handles Flannery and contributes through the E4. Cloud Nine shuts down weather strategies from Drake or Glacia if they rely on them. Underrated utility.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Golduck trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Golduck trades roughly evenly with Juan's team.
Golduck trades roughly evenly with Sidney's team.
Golduck has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Golduck trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Golduck trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Wallace's team hits Golduck's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Golduck in the Safari Zone (Surf, Lv 25-40, rare). Safari Zone: 500 entry fee, 30 Safari Balls, 500-step limit.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wally's father at Wally's house in Petalburg City after you defeat Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wallace in Sootopolis City
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM04PsychicCalm MindPower —Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Tate & Liza
- LV 58WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORIceIce PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
Catch Psyduck
Catch Psyduck in the Safari Zone (Surf, Lv 20-35, common). Safari Zone: 500 entry fee, 30 Safari Balls, 500-step limit.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- After Norman
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wally's father at Wally's house in Petalburg City after you defeat Norman
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 115
- After Tate & Liza
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Given by Wallace in Sootopolis City
- HM08WaterDivePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Steven Stone in his house in Mossdeep City
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- LV 50WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalMega KickPower 120Accuracy 75%PP 5Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalMega PunchPower 80Accuracy 85%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORIceIce PunchPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
How to Get Golduck in Emerald
Golduck is a rare surfing catch in the Safari Zone, levels 25 to 40. It shares that water with the far more common Psyduck, so expect to paddle past plenty of them first.
1 location to catch Golduck1 location to catch Psyduck
Encountered via Surfing
Encountered via Surfing
Badge 6Catch Psyduck at any of the 1 location below, then level it up to 33 — it evolves into Golduck.
Badge 6Where To Catch Golduck in E
To get Golduck, start by catching Psyduck through surfing encounters at Lv. 20-35. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Golduck ✓or evolve from Psyduck (Step 1)
Not landing the catch? Calculate Golduck catch rates for Emerald by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Golduck in Emerald
Golduck glides the Safari Zone water but surfaces only rarely, so many hunters Surf for the common Psyduck there instead and evolve it at level thirty-three, either path landing the shiny web-footed duck. Compare Shiny Golduck odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Golduck Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
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 Emerald with Golduck preloaded.
Golduck Weakness
Golduck's Water typing leaves it vulnerable to Electric and Grass. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. With 80 HP and balanced defenses, Golduck can afford to eat a neutral hit or two.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Golduck Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Golduck
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Route 101 Gift) | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (Littleroot Town Gift) | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
 Tropius Grass | C | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
Golduck Evolutions
Evolved from Psyduck. Golduck is the final form in this two-stage line. A massive partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. HP grew the most through evolution (+30 over Psyduck), and Golduck peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Golduck to get Psyduck eggs easily using 102 partners from the Field and Water 1 egg groups. Notable egg moves include Cross Chop, Foresight, Future Sight and 5 more.
E Golduck Best Moveset
Weather counter through AbilityCloud Nine shutting down rain and sun strategies just by switching in. 95 Sp. Atk fires Water TermStab from the special side. The moveset provides anti-weather utility with solid special offense from MoveSurf and MoveIce Beam. Niche but valuable against weather teams.
Best Build
Golduck best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Rain Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Cross Chop and Foresight from the egg pool give Golduck something extra. Pair those with Hydro Pump and Surf for STAB and coverage across 8 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 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A GOLDUCK is an adept swimmer. It sometimes joins competitive swimmers in training. It uses psychic powers when its forehead shimmers with light.
Golduck Emerald Guide
- Where in the Emerald Safari Zone can I find Golduck?
See the Locations section above for where to find Golduck in Emerald.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Golduck from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Golduck 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 Emerald, use Golduck as a balanced. Special attacks are the main output. Speed is middling, Surf is the primary attack.
For Emerald, run Timid on Golduck. +Speed is what matters, and the -Attack cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the balanced role.
Game Availability
One of the original 151, Golduck has appeared in 21 games: nearly every mainline game. From Red & Blue through the latest titles, it's rarely been left out of a regional Pokedex.
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 Golduck.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List