Is Ho-Oh Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Tin Tower at level 60 after getting the Rainbow Wing. Crystal requires clearing the three beast subplot and reaching the top of Tin Tower. Higher level than Gold's level 40 encounter but still before Red. Fire/Flying coverage handles the remaining Kanto content and the Battle Tower.
Ho-Oh resists most of Falkner's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Ho-Oh resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Chuck's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Ho-Oh resists most of Sabrina's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Janine's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Ho-Oh resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Karen's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Ho Oh in Tin Tower (interact, Lv 60, limited). Own Raikou, Entei and Suicune and beat the Elite Four to get the Rainbow Wing. After the Elite Four, catch Raikou, Entei and Suicune yourself; the sages on Tin Tower 1F then give the Rainbow Wing, and Ho-Oh waits on the roof.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 60)
- LV 60FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5
- LV 60FireSacred FirePower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Cianwood City
- After Clair
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 27
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORFireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
- TM42PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Viridian City
How to Get Ho-Oh in Crystal
Ho-Oh sits atop the Tin Tower at level 60, reachable once you bring the Rainbow Wing and climb to the summit. Expect the same brutal capture odds the other legendaries share.
Wild Ho-Oh may be holding when caught:
Sacred Ash (always) Fully revives all fainted Pokemon.1 location to catch Ho-Oh
Badge 7How to Get Ho-Oh in Crystal
How to Get Shiny Ho-Oh in Crystal
Ho-oh descends onto the Tin Tower at level 60; save at the summit and soft reset again and again, each attempt rolling the same flat 1 in 8,192. Compare Shiny Ho-Oh odds across every game
Shiny Ho-Oh Evolution
Does Not EvolveCrystal Shiny Ho-Oh Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here is Soft Reset, about 1 in 8,192 on each try.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
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 Crystal with Ho-Oh preloaded.
Ho-Oh Weakness
Type-wise, Ho Oh takes extra damage from Rock, Water, and Electric. Watch out for Rock attacks, those deal 4x damage. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Ho Oh's special bulk (base 154 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Rock |
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Electric |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Fighting, Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Ho Oh Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Ho-Oh
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Sudowoodo builds →Rock Slide 4x107-127%KO Thunder Punch 2x10-12% | ||
 Raikou Electric | S | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Lapras builds →Surf 2x38-45% Thunder 2x32-38% | ||
 Suicune Water | B | |
Obtain MethodTin Tower Interact Encounter | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Electabuzz Electric | C | |
 Magneton ElectricSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Magneton builds →Thunder 2x62-73% Rollout 4x20-24% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | B | |
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Obtain MethodTeam Rocket Hq Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Electrode builds →Thunder 2x45-53% Rollout 4x18-22% | ||
 Dewgong WaterIce | C | |
 Gyarados Water | B | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Gyarados builds →Hydro Pump 2x38-45% Thunder 2x25-30% | ||
Ho-Oh Evolutions
No breeding, no evolution. Ho Oh is a Fire/Flying legendary with 680 base stat total that you obtain once and build around. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
C Ho-Oh Best Moveset
MoveSacred Fire carries a 50%% burn chance on every hit, crippling physical attackers on contact. 130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk hit hard from either side. MoveRecover sustains and MoveEarthquake handles Rock types. Held ItemLeftovers adds recovery. Offensive legendary with built-in physical disruption through burns.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Fire Blast
- Sacred Fire
Moves List
Hard to wall, honestly. Ho Oh threatens 10 types beyond its own STAB, with Normal and Rock standing out. Pair that with Fire Blast and Sacred Fire and switchins need to think twice.
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.
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
26 of 36 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It will reveal itself before a pure-hearted trainer by shining its bright rainbow-colored wings.
Ho-Oh Crystal Guide
Ho-Oh is a static encounter at Johto Tin Tower in Crystal. Ho-Oh appears at level 60. Prerequisite: Own Raikou, Entei and Suicune and beat the Elite Four to get the Rainbow Wing. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
Game Availability
First obtainable in Gold & Silver, Ho Oh has been featured in 17 titles across 8 generations. Legendary status means a single encounter per playthrough in most games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
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 Ho-Oh.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List