Is Grimer Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Route 16 and Celadon City in the Kanto postgame. Poison-type with AbilityStench or AbilitySticky Hold. Muk at level 38 has decent Attack and special Defense but arrives too late. The Johto story ends without Grimer ever appearing.
Falkner's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Grimer has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Whitney's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Morty's team hits Grimer's weaknesses hard.
Chuck's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Grimer trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Grimer trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Grimer in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 17, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- LV 20PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 44PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
Evolve Grimer to Muk
Grimer evolves into Muk at Level 38. Your Grimer should hit Level 38 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 38)
- LV 38PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 38PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 54PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
How to Get Grimer in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Grimer oozes across five locations by surf and grass, common to uncommon in the mid teens to high 20s. The sludge keeps to grimy industrial spots, fitting for a pile of living pollution you scoop out of the water.
Wild Grimer may be holding when caught:
Nugget (5% chance) A nugget of pure gold that gives off a lustrous gleam. It can be sold at a high price to shops.5 locations to catch Grimer
Encountered via Surfing, tall grass encounters
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Grimer in HGSS
The line opens with Grimer at Lv. 15-29 via walking and surfing encounters. 2 catchable stages total, with locations listed for each one below.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into MukCeladon CityLv.15Surfing on waterRate 10%Route 18Lv.29-30GrassRate 15%NightRoute 17Lv.30-32GrassRate 15%NightRoute 16Lv.30GrassRate 5%or evolve from Grimer (Step 1)
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Grimer preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Grimer in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Grimer oozes across Route 16 and Route 17, but a shiny comes faster from Masuda breeding with a foreign parent. Compare Shiny Grimer odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Grimer 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 Grimer already selected.
Grimer Weakness
Grimer is weak to Ground and Psychic. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Just 2 weak spots to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| 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 Grimer Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Grimer
Grimer Evolutions
One evolution ahead. Grimer grows into Muk through a straightforward two-stage chain. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 175 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Grimer easily with 31 breeding partners from the Amorphous egg group. Pass egg moves like Curse, Explosion, Haze and 8 more to offspring.
HGSS Grimer Best Moveset
80 HP and 80 Attack providing basic physical presence. AbilitySticky Hold prevents item theft, a niche interaction. 25 Speed means going last in every matchup. Muk improves the numbers.
Best Build
Grimer best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Wallbreaker Moveset
- Explosion
- Gunk Shot
- Poison Jab
- Mud Slap
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Grimer. Curse and Explosion come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Gunk Shot and Sludge Bomb and coverage across 8 types.
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 25 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
As it moves, it loses bits of its body, from which new GRIMER emerge. This worsens the stench around it.
Wherever GRIMER has passed, so many germs are left behind that no plants will ever grow again.
Grimer HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- How do I catch Grimer in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Grimer 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 Grimer from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Grimer easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
Yes. Wild Grimer in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Nugget (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Nugget.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, you can run Grimer through the first few routes without issues. 325 BST won't carry you far though. Get it to Muk as fast as you can.
Yes. Alolan Grimer is a regional variant with different typing and a reworked stat spread. Introduced in Gen 7. Plays completely differently from the original.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Red & Blue, Grimer has appeared in 19 titles over 9 generations. Along the way, it received an Alolan form in Generation 7, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
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 7SMAlolan
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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