Is Houndoom Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Dark/Fire with strong special offense, locked behind Kanto postgame timing. Houndoom would dominate Crystal's gym circuit if it showed up in Johto. Instead it handles Will, Karen, and the Kanto rematches. Crystal's Battle Tower gives it more to do than Gold or Silver did, but the wasted potential stings.
Houndour has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Houndour resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Houndour trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Houndour has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Chuck's team hits Houndour's weaknesses hard.
Houndour has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Houndour has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Houndour's weaknesses hard.
Houndour trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Houndour has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Houndour resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Houndoom has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Houndoom has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Houndoom resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Houndoom trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Houndoom has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Houndoom resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Houndoom resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Houndoom trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Houndoom has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Houndoom trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catch Houndour
Catch Houndour on Route 7 (walking, Lv 18, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- LV 20DarkBitePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- LV 27DarkFeint AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 35FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Gift from an officer in the Route 43 gate
- After Clair
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 27
- LV 43DarkCrunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Lt. Surge
- TM42PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Viridian City
Evolve Houndour to Houndoom
Houndour evolves into Houndoom at Level 24. Your Houndour should hit Level 24 before you reach Janine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 24)
- LV 24DarkBitePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- LV 30DarkFeint AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Clair
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 27
- LV 41FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner prize (7500 coins)
- TM42PsychicDream EaterPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Viridian City
- LV 52DarkCrunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
How to Get Houndoom in Crystal
Houndoom never spawns wild in Crystal. You level a Route 7 Houndour to 24, the only road to it since the evolved form has no encounter of its own.
Catch Houndour at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Houndoom.
Encountered via tall grass encounters
- 1Catch Houndour
- 2Evolve Houndoomat Lv.24
Badge 8How to Obtain Houndoom in C
- Step 1Catch Houndour
- Step 2Houndoom ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Houndour egg.
How to Get Shiny Houndoom in Crystal
Houndoom answers no wild calls of its own, so run the nighttime Houndour hunt on Kanto's Route 7 and level the shiny up to 24. Compare Shiny Houndoom odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Houndoom Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
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 Houndoom preloaded.
Houndoom Weakness
Water, Fighting, Ground, and Rock moves hit Houndoom for super-effective damage. The upside? Psychic-type moves can't touch it at all. With 6 resistances, the defensive profile is strong. Houndoom's special bulk (base 80 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Fighting, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Ice, Ghost, Dark, Steel |
| 0x (Immune) | Psychic |
- 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 Houndoom Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Houndoom
 Marowak Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x108-128%KO Dynamic Punch 2x72-85% | ||
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Tyranitar builds →Rock Slide 2x126-148%KO Earthquake 2x111-131%KO Surf 2x55-65% Dynamic Punch 2x111-131%KO | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 2x119-140%KO Mud-Slap 2x13-16% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Rhydon builds →Earthquake 2x163-192%KO Dynamic Punch 2x108-128%KO Rollout 2x50-59% Surf 2x31-37% | ||
 Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x152-179%KO Rollout 2x31-37% Rock Smash 2x21-25% | ||
 Suicune Water | B | |
Obtain MethodTin Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Suicune builds →Surf 2x80-94% Dig 2x42-49% Rock Smash 2x15-18% | ||
 Poliwrath WaterFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Poliwag (Ecruteak City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Poliwrath builds →Surf 2x66-78% Earthquake 2x83-98% Submission 2x100-118%KO | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Lapras builds →Hydro Pump 2x96-113%KO Rock Smash 2x16-19% | ||
 Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Golduck builds →Hydro Pump 2x104-123%KO Dig 2x44-53% Dynamic Punch 2x74-88% | ||
 Nidoking PoisonGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Nidoking builds →Earthquake 2x133-157%KO Surf 2x51-60% Dynamic Punch 2x89-104%KO | ||
 Hitmonlee Fighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tyrogue (Mt Mortar Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Hitmonlee builds →High Jump Kick 2x129-152%KO Mud-Slap 2x21-25% | ||
 Sandslash Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Sandslash builds →Earthquake 2x130-153%KO Dynamic Punch 2x87-102%KO Rollout 2x26-31% | ||
 Nidoqueen PoisonGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Nidoqueen builds →Earthquake 2x121-143%KO Surf 2x46-54% Dynamic Punch 2x81-96% | ||
 Piloswine IceGround | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Houndoom View Piloswine builds →Earthquake 2x130-153%KO Rock Smash 2x18-21% | ||
Houndoom Evolutions
Evolved from Houndour. Houndoom is the final form in this two-stage line. Plenty of partners for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. HP grew the most through evolution (+30 over Houndour), and Houndoom peaks at 500 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Houndoom to get Houndour eggs easily using 66 partners from the Field egg group. Notable egg moves include Beat Up, Counter, Fire Spin and 4 more.
C Houndoom Best Moveset
MovePursuit doubles damage on opponents switching out, locking Psychic and Ghost types that try to flee. MoveFire Blast from 110 Sp. Atk hits hard alongside MoveCrunch for Dark TermStab. Held ItemLeftovers sustains. Offensive lock-in threat built to punish the switching game.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sunny Day
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Houndoom misses out on Beat Up and Counter. That's 7 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Fire Blast and Flamethrower, with coverage across 8 types rounding things out.
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
24 of 30 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The pungent-smelling flame that shoots from its mouth results from toxins burning in its body.
Houndoom Crystal Guide
Mega Evolution isn't available in Crystal, but Houndoom does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Houndoom hits 600 BST.
Yes. Houndoom is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Houndoom becomes available after the main story is complete in Crystal.
In Crystal, use Houndoom as an attacker. Special attacks are the main output. Speed is middling, Crunch is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Since debuting in Gold & Silver, Houndoom has appeared in 17 titles over 8 generations. Along the way, it received a Mega form in Generation 6, keeping it relevant across different competitive metas.
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 6ORASMega
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 Houndoom.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List