
Is Ho-Oh Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Not native to Hoenn. Trade from Colosseum. AbilityPressure for PP drain. Ho-Oh's offensive power is enormous and Fire/Flying handles Sidney, Glacia, and Steven's Skarmory. Import-only but devastating if you get one in.
Roxanne's Pokemon outpace and outclass Ho-Oh here.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Ho-Oh trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Ho-Oh trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Ho-Oh resists most of Glacia's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-Oh trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Ho-Oh has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
Trade
Ho Oh cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Brawly
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Mauville Game Corner
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- After Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Route 119
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 44FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5
- LV 77FireSacred FirePower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
How to Get Ho-Oh in Ruby & Sapphire
There is no Tin Tower in Hoenn for Ho-Oh to perch on, so it never appears in Ruby or Sapphire. Trade it over from Johto, where a catch rate of 3 turned the fight into a marathon.
Ho-Oh cannot be caught in the wild in Ruby & Sapphire, but you can still get it via these paths:
Obtain and trade from these games:
Then trade to Ruby & Sapphire.
Also Obtainable In:
Pokemon transfers only go forward through generations, never backward. Direct cross-gen trades aren't supported.
How to Get Shiny Ho-Oh in Ruby & Sapphire
Because no Hoenn encounter holds Ho-oh, a shiny of the rainbow bird has to be traded in from another game that offers it. See every game where Shiny Ho-Oh can be hunted
Shiny Ho-Oh Evolution
Does Not EvolveHo-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
What is Ho Oh Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Ho-Oh
Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 4x84-98% Thunderbolt 2x16-19% | ||
Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 4x100-118%KO Water Pulse 2x14-16% | ||
Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Rhydon builds →Rock Tomb 4x88-103%KO Thunderbolt 2x15-18% Surf 2x15-18% | ||
Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Walrein builds →Surf 2x40-47% Rock Tomb 4x39-46% | ||
Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
Manectric Electric | C | |
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Aggron builds →Rock Tomb 4x75-89% Thunderbolt 2x18-22% Surf 2x18-22% | ||
Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Swampert builds →Surf 2x36-43% Rock Tomb 4x50-59% | ||
Raichu Electric | C | |
Magcargo FireRock | C | |
Electrode Electric | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Electrode builds →Thunderbolt 2x34-41% Rollout 4x18-21% | ||
Graveler RockGround | C | |
Pelipper Water | C | |
Obtain MethodDewford Town Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Pelipper builds →Hydro Pump 2x50-59% Shock Wave 2x17-20% | ||
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
RS Ho-Oh Best Moveset
MoveSacred Fire carries a 50% burn chance, crippling physical attackers on contact. 130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk hit hard from both sides while AbilityPressure stalls PP. MoveRecover sustains and MoveEarthquake handles Rock types. Held ItemLeftovers adds recovery. Offensive legendary with built-in burn disruption.
Best Build
Ho-Oh best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Support Moveset
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
TMs carry this one. Ho Oh learns Overheat and Fire Blast naturally for STAB, but the offensive range comes almost entirely from technical machines. Normal and Rock and beyond give it real matchup play.
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 35 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
HO-OH’s feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This POKéMON is said to live at the foot of a rainbow.
Ho-Oh Ruby & Sapphire Guide
No. Ho-Oh isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Obtain it through event distribution in Emerald, FireRed, or LeafGreen, then trade it over.
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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