Is Hippowdon Good in Black & White Playthrough?
Hippopotas evolves at level 34. Ground with AbilitySand Stream. Massive physical Defense. Sets sandstorm for teammates. A Battle Subway anchor if caught postgame.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Cilan's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Chili's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Cress's team.
Lenora's typing presses Hippopotas's defenses.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Burgh's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Clay's team.
Skyla's team hits Hippopotas's weaknesses hard.
Brycen's team hits Hippopotas's weaknesses hard.
Hippopotas trades roughly evenly with Drayden's team.
Hippowdon has the type edge here and should clean up Shauntal's team.
Hippowdon has the type edge here and should clean up Grimsley's team.
Hippowdon has the type edge here and should clean up Caitlin's team.
Hippowdon has the type edge here and should clean up Marshal's team.
Hippowdon trades roughly evenly with Alder's team.
Catch Hippopotas
Catch Hippopotas on Route 4 (swarm, Lv 15, common). Swarm.
Evolve Hippopotas to Hippowdon
Hippopotas evolves into Hippowdon at Level 34. Level it up in the post-game, after the credits.
How to Get Hippowdon in Black & White
Can't catch Hippowdon directly. Start with Hippopotas at solid rates from the locations below, then evolve at level 34. The 2-stage line from Hippopotas to Hippowdon is where the leveling time goes.
How to Obtain Hippowdon in BW
- Step 2Hippowdon ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Hippopotas egg.
How to Get Shiny Hippowdon in Black & White
Hippowdon requires a shiny Hippopotas first, so breed one with an overseas parent at 1 in 1,365 and evolve it at level thirty-four. Compare Shiny Hippowdon odds across every game
Black & White Shiny Hippowdon Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,366 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 |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 144 |
| 25%one in four | 393 |
| 50%coin flip | 947 |
| 90%very likely | 3,145 |
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 Black & White shiny odds calculator with Hippowdon already selected.
Hippowdon Weakness
Type-wise, Hippowdon takes extra damage from Water, Grass, and Ice. Electric moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. Hippowdon's physical bulk (base 118 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 Hippowdon Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Hippowdon
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Simisage Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Pansage (Dreamyard Gift) | ||
 Maractus Grass | C | |
 Ducklett Water | D | |
 Simipour Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Panpour (Dreamyard Gift) | ||
 Servine Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Snivy (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
 Whimsicott Grass | C | |
 Dewott Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Oshawott (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
 Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
 Swadloon BugGrass | C | |
 Kabuto RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Kabuto builds →Scald 2x44-51% Absorb 2x9-10% | ||
 Omanyte RockWater | B | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
 Palpitoad WaterGround | D | |
 Tirtouga WaterRock | C | |
Obtain MethodNacrene City Gift | ||
Hippowdon Evolutions
Hippowdon is the evolved form of Hippopotas. Breeding produces Hippopotas eggs, and they're slow to hatch. Evolving from Hippopotas gave Hippowdon the biggest boost in HP (+40), bringing the total to 525 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Hippowdon to get Hippopotas eggs easily using 181 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Body Slam, Curse, Revenge and 7 more.
BW Hippowdon Best Moveset
AbilitySand Stream sets permanent sandstorm on the switch, enabling sand-dependent teammates like Excadrill and Sandslash. 108 HP with 118 Defense absorb physical attacks all game while MoveStealth Rock sets hazards. The moveset anchors sand teams as the second sand setter alongside Tyranitar.
Best Build
Hippowdon best EVs are HP and Sp. Def
Wall Moveset
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Body Slam and Curse aren't available any other way for Hippowdon, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Earthquake and Dig for solid options.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is surprisingly quick to anger. It holds its mouth agape as a display of its strength.
Hippowdon Black & White Guide
Yes. Hippowdon is not available during the main story. Black & White open the post-game as soon as the credits roll after N’s Castle, and no Hall of Fame entry is needed first.
In Black & White, Hippowdon plays as a tank. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Earthquake is the primary attack.
Hippowdon's hidden ability is Sand Force. It strengthens rock, ground, and steel moves to 1.3× their power during a sandstorm. Situational compared to Sand Stream.
In Black & White, Careful is the go-to nature for Hippowdon. That's +Sp. Def / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD EVs. Fits the tank role.
Game Availability
Hippowdon first appeared in Diamond & Pearl and has been available in 14 games across 6 generations. Obtainable through wild encounters in most titles where it appears.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Hippowdon.
Keep playing · Black & WhiteBlack & White Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Black & White Tier List