Is Ho-Oh Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Bell Tower static encounter. Level 45 in HeartGold during the story, level 70 in SoulSilver postgame. Fire/Flying with AbilityPressure. The HeartGold box legendary handles Jasmine, Pryce, and Karen's Vileplume. One of the strongest Fire-types you can field.
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 resists most of Whitney's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
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 Brock's team.
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 Lt. Surge'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 Sabrina'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 has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Ho Oh in Bell Tower (interact, Lv 45, limited). Encounter atop Bell Tower after collecting the Rainbow Wing and Clear Bell.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 45)
- LV 45FlyingBrave BirdPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 45FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5
- LV 45FireSacred FirePower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
- After Bugsy
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- LV 99FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Ho-Oh in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Ho-Oh sits atop the Bell Tower with a catch rate of 3. HeartGold reaches it as a level 45 story encounter, while SoulSilver faces a level 70 one later on, so each game gets the same bird at a different point.
Wild Ho-Oh may be holding when caught:
Sacred Ash (always) It revives all fainted Pokemon. In doing so, it also fully restores their HP.1 location to catch Ho-Oh
Badge 8How to Get Ho-Oh in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Ho-Oh in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Ho-Oh descends to the top of the Bell Tower, so save before it and soft-reset the 1 in 8,192 odds until the shiny shows. Compare Shiny Ho-Oh odds across every game
Shiny Ho-Oh Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver 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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Ho Oh Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Ho-Oh
 Rampardos Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cranidos (Pewter City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Rampardos builds →Head Smash 4x314-370%KO Thunderbolt 2x20-23% Surf 2x20-23% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Rhydon builds →Stone Edge 4x171-202%KO Thunderbolt 2x15-18% Surf 2x15-18% | ||
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Tyranitar builds →Stone Edge 4x175-206%KO Thunderbolt 2x26-31% Surf 2x26-31% | ||
 Kabutops RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Kabuto (Pewter City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Kabutops builds →Stone Edge 4x153-180%KO Waterfall 2x62-73% | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Pewter City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Armaldo builds →Stone Edge 4x165-194%KO Water Pulse 2x14-16% | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Solrock builds →Stone Edge 4x130-154%KO Charge Beam 2x9-11% | ||
 Omastar RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Omanyte (Pewter City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Omastar builds →Ancient Power 4x59-70% Hydro Pump 2x58-68% | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Aerodactyl builds →Stone Edge 4x143-168%KO Thunder Fang 2x31-37% | ||
 Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Aggron builds →Stone Edge 4x149-175%KO Thunderbolt 2x18-22% Surf 2x18-22% | ||
 Gyarados Water | S | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Gyarados builds →Stone Edge 4x110-130%KO Aqua Tail 2x74-88% Thunderbolt 2x18-22% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Pewter City Gift) | ||
 Suicune Water | A | |
Obtain MethodBurned Tower Interact Encounter | ||
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
HGSS Ho-Oh Best Moveset
Offensive legendary at 130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk with 154 Sp. Def absorbing special hits. The moveset fires physical Fire and Flying damage behind MoveSacred Fire with its 50% burn chance. AbilityPressure doubles PP costs. 25% HP from MoveStealth Rock is the defining weakness. Banned from standard play.
Best Build
Ho-Oh best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
- Roost
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Hard to wall, honestly. Ho Oh threatens 12 types beyond its own STAB, with Normal and Psychic standing out. Pair that with Sky Attack and Brave Bird 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. 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
32 of 33 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 HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Ho-Oh is a static encounter at Johto Bell Tower in HeartGold & SoulSilver. Ho-Oh appears at level 45. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Ho-Oh plays as a wallbreaker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Ho-Oh pairs best with Groudon, Dialga, and Giratina Origin. Groudon has Good synergy and covers what Ho-Oh can't handle on its own.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Adamant is the go-to nature for Ho-Oh. That's +Attack / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the wallbreaker role.
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
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