Is Horsea Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Whirl Islands fishing and various Johto waterways. Water-type with AbilitySwift Swim for rain Speed or AbilitySniper boosting critical hits. Kingdra through Dragon Scale trade is the real prize. Available during the story.
Horsea has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Horsea has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Chuck's typing presses Horsea's defenses.
Horsea has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Horsea trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Clair's typing presses Horsea's defenses.
Kingdra resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Kingdra trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Kingdra trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Kingdra resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Kingdra has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Horsea on Whirl Islands (Good Rod fishing, Lv 20, rare).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Kimono Girl in the Ecruteak Dance Theater
- LV 30WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Pryce
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Item ball on Ice Path 1F
- LV 35WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- LV 42DragonDragon PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Horsea to Kingdra
Seadra evolves into Kingdra when traded. Most players are ready to trade before reaching Brock.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 41)
- LV 41WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- LV 41WaterBrinePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 41WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Kimono Girl in the Ecruteak Dance Theater
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Item ball on Ice Path 1F
- LV 57DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Horsea in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Horsea is a rod-and-surf catch with eighteen encounters across two areas. Levels climb steeply depending on the rod you use, running from the low teens all the way to 40 on the Super Rod.
Wild Horsea may be holding when caught:
Dragon Scale (5% chance) A thick and tough scale. Dragon-type Pokemon may be holding this item when caught.2 locations to catch Horsea
Encountered via fishing with a Rod, Surfing
Badge 8Where To Catch Horsea in HGSS
Horsea is the chain's first catch. You'll find fishing and surfing encounters from Lv. 10-40 across 26 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into SeadraWhirl Islands - B2FLv.15-30Surfing on waterRate 10%Seafoam Islands - B4FLv.40Super RodRate 15%Whirl Islands - 1FLv.40Super RodRate 10%Whirl Islands - B2FLv.40Super RodRate 10%or evolve from Horsea (Step 1)
- Step 3Evolve into Kingdra
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Horsea preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Horsea in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Horsea swims through the Seafoam and Whirl Islands, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker path to a shiny. Compare Shiny Horsea odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Horsea 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 Horsea already selected.
Horsea Weakness
Horsea is weak to Electric and Grass. The Water typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Horsea's physical bulk (base 70 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Horsea Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Horsea
 Roserade GrassPoison | B | |
 Sceptile Grass | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Treecko (Silph Co Gift) | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Tangrowth Grass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Horsea View Tangrowth builds →Solar Beam 2x381-449%KO Shock Wave 2x128-151%KO | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Pallet Town Gift) | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Raikou Electric | B | |
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
Horsea Evolutions
Horsea kicks off a three-stage evolution line through Seadra all the way to Kingdra. For breeding, average hatch time with a decent partner pool via two egg groups. Evolving adds up to 245 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Horsea easily with 30 breeding partners from the Dragon and Water 1 egg groups. Pass egg moves like Aurora Beam, Disable, Dragon Breath and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Horsea Best Moveset
70 Sp. Atk fires special Water damage above average for a first-stage. AbilitySwift Swim doubles 60 Speed in rain. Needs rain support and evolution to Seadra or Kingdra to function. Too fragile at 30 HP.
Best Build
Horsea best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Utility Moveset
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Rain Dance
- Signal Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Horsea gets Aurora Beam and Disable exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Dragon and Ice coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Hydro Pump and Surf.
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 19 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
If attacked by a larger enemy, it quickly swims to safety by adeptly controlling its well-developed dorsal fin.
Its big, developed fins move rapidly, allowing it to swim backward while still facing forward.
Horsea HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Horsea in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Dragon Scale (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Dragon Scale.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Horsea works as a placeholder. Water coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Seadra. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Horsea appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Horsea have the longest track record of availability in the series.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
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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