Is Ho-Oh Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Tin Tower in Gold (level 40) or Tin Tower in Silver (level 70, postgame). Ho-Oh is the offensive counterpart to Lugia with massive Attack and Special. In Gold, catching it before the E4 makes the Champion fight considerably easier. Fire/Flying handles most of the late game.
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 trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
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 40, limited). Atop the Tin Tower in Ecruteak City. Requires the Rainbow Wing received after defeating Team Rocket at the Goldenrod Radio Tower.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 40)
- LV 40FireSacred 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
- LV 44FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner
- TM42PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Viridian City
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Saffron City
How to Get Ho-Oh in Gold & Silver
Which game you own decides how hard Ho-Oh hits: a manageable level 40 in Gold, a punishing level 70 in Silver. Either way you climb the Tin Tower with the Rainbow Wing and grind down a catch rate of 3.
Wild Ho-Oh may be holding when caught:
Sacred Ash (always) Fully revives all fainted Pokemon.1 location to catch Ho-Oh
Badge 6How to Get Ho-Oh in Gold & Silver
How to Get Shiny Ho-Oh in Gold & Silver
Ho-oh waits at the top of the Tin Tower, so park your save beside it, then reset and re-enter the fight again and again, checking every attempt for the sparkle. Compare Shiny Ho-Oh odds across every game
Shiny Ho-Oh Evolution
Does Not EvolveGold & Silver 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 Gold & Silver 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 | |
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 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 | |
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 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% | ||
 Quagsire WaterGround | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 32 Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Quagsire builds →Surf 2x31-37% Rollout 4x27-33% | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Mt Mortar Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Azumarill builds →Surf 2x29-35% Rollout 4x18-22% | ||
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
GS Ho-Oh Best Moveset
130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk with Fire/Flying TermStab from MoveSacred Fire that has a 50%% burn chance on every hit. MoveRecover provides reliable HP recovery, and MoveEarthquake handles Rock types. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Burns, hits hard from both sides, and recovers. Offensive legendary with built-in disruption.
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
Legends claim this POKéMON flies the world’s skies continuously on its magnificent seven-colored wings.
A legend says that its body glows in seven colors. A rainbow is said to form behind it when it flies.
Ho-Oh Gold & Silver Guide
Ho-Oh is a static encounter at Johto Tin Tower in Gold & Silver. Ho-Oh appears at level 40. Prerequisite: 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 · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List