Is Hippopotas Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Breed-only. Ground with AbilitySand Stream setting permanent sandstorm. Hippowdon at level 34 has enormous physical Defense. Breed-only chain from Sinnoh.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Hippopotas has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Hippopotas has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Hippopotas resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Hippopotas has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Hippopotas has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's team hits Hippopotas's weaknesses hard.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Hippopotas has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Will's team hits Hippopotas's weaknesses hard.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Hippowdon trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Hippowdon trades roughly evenly with Karen's team.
Lance's team hits Hippowdon's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Hippopotas in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 43). Requires 28 Peak objects placed in Desert.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 43)
- LV 43GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 43GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 43NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- LV 43DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 43NormalYawnPower —Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- LV 44NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Hippopotas to Hippowdon
Hippopotas evolves into Hippowdon at Level 34. You get it at Level 43, past Level 34, so it evolves into Hippowdon the next time it levels up.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 34)
- LV 34GroundDigPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 34NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- LV 34DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- LV 40GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 50NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Hippopotas in HeartGold & SoulSilver
1 encounter spot for Hippopotas starting from post-game Safari Zone areas. The list below shows each one, so start with the spot nearest your current route.
1 location to catch Hippopotas
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Where To Catch Hippopotas in HGSS
- Step 1Hippopotas ✓
- Step 2Evolve into Hippowdon
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver for Hippopotas.
How to Get Shiny Hippopotas in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Hippopotas comes from the Day Care, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent at 1 in 1,638 for a shiny. Compare Shiny Hippopotas odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Hippopotas 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Hippopotas.
Hippopotas Weakness
Water, Grass, and Ice moves hit Hippopotas for super-effective damage. The upside? Electric-type moves can't touch it at all. Hippopotas's physical bulk (base 78 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | 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 Hippopotas Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Hippopotas
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Gyarados Water | S | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippopotas View Gyarados builds →Aqua Tail 2x107-126%KO Ice Fang 2x51-61% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Tangrowth Grass | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodSafari Zone Surfing | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippopotas View Ludicolo builds →Solar Beam 2x165-194%KO Surf 2x130-154%KO Ice Beam 2x87-103%KO | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippopotas View Feraligatr builds →Waterfall 2x81-96% Ice Beam 2x78-92% | ||
 Krabby Water | C | |
Obtain MethodCianwood City Old Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippopotas View Krabby builds →Crabhammer 2x100-118%KO Ice Beam 2x37-44% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
Hippopotas Evolutions
Hippopotas is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Hippowdon. Check the evolution method below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are slow to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 195 total stats over Hippopotas. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Hippopotas easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Body Slam, Curse, Revenge and 5 more to offspring.
HGSS Hippopotas Best Moveset
Permanent sandstorm through AbilitySand Stream and MoveStealth Rock from one team slot. The moveset provides weather control and hazard support simultaneously. 78 Defense absorbs physical hits between setup turns.
Best Build
Hippopotas best EVs are HP and Defense
Wall Moveset
- Sand Attack
- Yawn
- Mud Slap
- Toxic
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Hippopotas picks up Body Slam and Curse only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Earthquake and Earth Power while Normal and Dark coverage and more adds range.
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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It shrouds itself in sand to ward off germs. It travels easily through the sands of the desert.
Hippopotas HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- Where in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone can I find Hippopotas?
See the Locations section above for where to find Hippopotas 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 Hippopotas from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Hippopotas 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, Hippopotas has 330 BST and evolves into Hippowdon. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Game Availability
Debuting in Diamond & Pearl, Hippopotas appears in 14 games across 6 generations. A reliable presence in a solid number of games, typically found through catching or hatching as a base form.
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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