HeartGold & SoulSilver Cliff Cave

Twin ladders thread the dark western cliffs, one climbing to the Safari Zone road, one dropping to a hidden beach.

Cliff Cave is in Johto. In the story you arrive from Route 47 to the east and it comes before Route 48.

CLIFF CAVE MAP

Cliff Cave is a small three-floor climb off Route 47, its ladders quick to thread, with Rock Smash to clear rubble at the bottom and Rock Climb for the walls above.

HeartGold & SoulSilver

Cliff Cave Walkthrough

0 trainers 5 items 17 species

1F

0 TRAINERS · 5 ITEMS · 17 SPECIES
1
Cliff Cave stacks three levels of the Route 47 cliffs, joined only by ladders, and just the top level opens onto the path that runs on north.
  1. Walk in from Route 47 onto the middle level, where a ladder on the left climbs and a ladder hole on the right drops down.
  2. Climb the left ladder to the top level (3F) and search the wall in its southeast corner for a hidden Ultra Ball.
  3. Leave through the top level's door to come out on the upper part of Route 47, where the path continues north.
Ultra Ball
Exit eastRoute 47 →
2
Come back once your dex has its national mode, because only then do breakable rocks fill the bottom level, ready for Rock SmashMoveRock SmashFightingClassPhysicalPower40Accuracy100%PP15The user hits with a punch that may lower the target’s Defense. It can also smash cracked boulders..
  1. From the middle level, drop through the right-hand ladder hole to the bottom level, which has its own door to a lower part of Route 47.
  2. Smash the rocks beside the ladder and near that door; each can turn up treasure or a fossil, and the fossil differs between HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Blocked pathRock Smash Rock
HM06 Rock Smash
Zephyr Badge

Requires HM06 Rock SmashMoveRock SmashFightingClassPhysicalPower40Accuracy100%PP15The user hits with a punch that may lower the target’s Defense. It can also smash cracked boulders. + Zephyr Badge

Max Ether
Big Pearl
Claw FossilHG
Root FossilSS

Pokemon Encounters

Steelix lurks at a stubborn 2 percent, the rare prize in this cave near the Safari grounds. Onix, Machop, and Graveler make up the bulk, Krabby pours out of smashed rocks at 80 percent, and the radio summons Absol, Bronzor, and Makuhita from distant regions.

Method
Type
Walking18
#042Golbat
24% - Lv 20–22
#359Absol
20% - Lv 20–22
Hoenn Sound
#436Bronzor
20% - Lv 20–22
Sinnoh Sound
#433Chingling
20% - Lv 19–20
Sinnoh Sound
#074Geodude
20% - Lv 19
#042Golbat
20% - Lv 22
#296Makuhita
20% - Lv 19–20
Hoenn Sound
#099Kingler
10% - Lv 22
#098Krabby
10% - Lv 20
#066Machop
10% - Lv 19
#095Onix
10% - Lv 20
#200Misdreavus
5% - Lv 20
#195Quagsire
5% - Lv 20
#194Wooper
5% - Lv 18
#041Zubat
5% - Lv 18
#075Graveler
4% - Lv 20
#067Machoke
4% - Lv 22
#208Steelix
2% - Lv 23
Rock Smash2
#098Krabby
90% - Lv 20–26
#099Kingler
10% - Lv 28–31
Krabby
#098

Krabby

Water
Evolves into Kingler at Lv 28
Encounter rate
90% Common
Level
20–26
EV yield
1 Attack
Here on Cliff Cave1Ftall grass90% spawn
1 in 1wild encounters
will be Krabby — about 36s of walking through grass to catch one.
Catch odds
~1m-2m
to catch one
Poke Ball29%
Great Ball44%
Ultra Ball59%
Nuzlocke
B
community tier
Score60
PickRisky
SourceDerived
EV - Attack
15
fights to cap
Raw255 fights
+ Power29 fights
+ Pokerus128 fights
Shiny hunt
1/8,192
full odds
Base1/8,192
Expected45h 31m

ITEMS

This postgame cave holds a version-exclusive fossil, the Claw Fossil in HeartGold or the Root Fossil in SoulSilver, to revive into Anorith or Lileep. A Rare Bone and a Big Pearl are easy money, with a hidden Ultra Ball tucked nearby.

Source
Item ball8
Big Pearl
Blue Shard
SO
Claw Fossil
HE
Max Ether
Pearl
Rare Bone
Red Shard
HE
Root Fossil
SO
Hidden1
Ultra Ball
ITEM BALL

Big Pearl

Found by smashing breakable rocks (10%)
Effect

A quite-large pearl that sparkles in a pretty silver color. It can be sold at a high price to shops.

Item ball8
ITEM BALL

Big Pearl

Found by smashing breakable rocks (10%)
Effect

A quite-large pearl that sparkles in a pretty silver color. It can be sold at a high price to shops.

ITEM BALL

Blue Shard

Break the rocks around the area for a 10% chance each
Effect

A small blue shard. It appears to be from some sort of implement made long ago.

ITEM BALL

Claw Fossil

Smash the breakable rocks for a 20% chance to find one
Effect

A fossil of an ancient Pokemon that lived in the sea. It appears to be part of a claw.

ITEM BALL

Max Ether

Break the rocks for a 25% chance to uncover one
Effect

It fully restores the PP of a single selected move that has been learned by the target Pokemon.

ITEM BALL

Pearl

Smash the breakable rocks for a 20% chance to find one
Effect

A somewhat-small pearl that sparkles in a pretty silver color. It can be sold cheaply to shops.

ITEM BALL

Rare Bone

Randomly found by smashing breakable rocks (5%)
Effect

A bone that is extremely valuable for Pokemon archaeology. It can be sold for a high price to shops.

ITEM BALL

Red Shard

Break the rocks around the area for a 10% chance each
Effect

A small red shard. It appears to be from some sort of implement made long ago.

ITEM BALL

Root Fossil

Smash the breakable rocks for a 20% chance to find one
Effect

A fossil of an ancient Pokemon that lived in the sea. It appears to be part of a plant root.

Hidden1
HIDDEN

Ultra Ball

3F, wall in the southeast corner (hidden)
Effect

An ultra-performance Ball that provides a higher Pokemon catch rate than a Great Ball.

Cliff Cave Guide

  • Cliff Cave is a small cavern on the western Route 47 cliff path out of Cianwood City, with two ladders linking three levels and a lower exit onto a beach. None of this existed in Gold, Silver, or Crystal. It sits on the new western corridor that runs from Cliff Edge Gate through Route 47 and Route 48 to the Safari Zone Gate, the path that leads to the rebuilt Johto Safari Zone.

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