Is Hippowdon Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Hippopotas evolves at level 34. Ground with AbilitySand Stream. Massive physical bulk. Handles Lt. Surge through Ground. A reliable physical wall.
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.
Catch Hippopotas
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 Hippowdon in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Hippowdon doesn't appear wild. Catch Hippopotas instead, it shows up in the wild. Evolve it at level 34 to get Hippowdon. The 2-stage line is mapped in the step cards below.
Catch Hippopotas at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Hippowdon.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Hippopotas
- 2Evolve Hippowdonat Lv.34
Badge 8How to Obtain Hippowdon in HGSS
- Step 2Hippowdon ✓
How to Get Shiny Hippowdon in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Hippowdon evolves from Hippopotas, so breed that base form Masuda-style and raise it once the shiny shows. Compare Shiny Hippowdon odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Hippowdon 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 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
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodSafari Zone Surfing | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Tentacruel WaterPoison | B | |
Obtain MethodCherrygrove City Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Tentacruel builds →Surf 2x65-77% Ice Beam 2x44-51% | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Feraligatr builds →Surf 2x65-77% Ice Beam 2x44-51% | ||
 Bayleef Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Golduck builds →Surf 2x74-87% Ice Beam 2x49-58% | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Lapras builds →Surf 2x69-82% Ice Beam 2x69-82% | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x78-92% Ice Beam 2x52-62% | ||
 Floatzel Water | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Hippowdon View Floatzel builds →Surf 2x69-82% Ice Beam 2x46-55% | ||
 Budew GrassPoison | C | |
Hippowdon Evolutions
Hippowdon is the evolved form of Hippopotas. Breeding produces Hippopotas eggs, and they are 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 131 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Body Slam, Curse, Revenge and 5 more.
HGSS Hippowdon Best Moveset
Physical tank with weather control: 118 Defense at 108 HP absorbs physical attacks while AbilitySand Stream chips opponents and boosts Rock-type Sp. Def by 50% passively. The moveset sets MoveStealth Rock and outlasts through pure durability.
Best Build
Hippowdon best EVs are HP and Defense
Wall Moveset
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
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 Earth Power 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
All 21 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It brandishes its gaping mouth in a display of fearsome strength. It raises vast quantities of sand while attacking.
Hippowdon HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Hippowdon plays as a tank. Not the fastest, so pick your spots carefully. Earthquake is the primary attack.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Impish is the go-to nature for Hippowdon. That's +Defense / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def 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
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