Is Lugia Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Whirl Islands in Silver (level 40) or Pewter City in Gold (level 70, postgame). Lugia is a defensive powerhouse with incredible special bulk. In Silver, catching it before the E4 gives you one of the strongest team members available. In Gold, it's postgame only.
Lugia resists most of Falkner's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Lugia resists most of Morty's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Chuck's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Lugia resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Lugia trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Lugia resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Janine's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lugia resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Lugia resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Karen's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia resists most of Lance's coverage and hits back hard.
Catchable
Catch Lugia on Whirl Islands (interact, Lv 40, limited). Deep inside the Whirl Islands. Requires the Silver Wing received after defeating Team Rocket at the Goldenrod Radio Tower.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 40)
- LV 40FlyingAeroblastPower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Cianwood City
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 44WaterHydro PumpPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Lt. Surge
- TM42PsychicDream EaterPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 15Viridian City
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Saffron City
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Celadon Game Corner
- LV 99PsychicFuture SightPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 15
How to Get Lugia in Gold & Silver
Lugia waits deep in the Whirl Islands once you hold the Silver Wing. Silver meets it at level 40, while Gold cranks it to a level 70 postgame fight. With a catch rate of 3, bring plenty of Ultra Balls.
1 location to catch Lugia
Badge 6How to Get Shiny Lugia in Gold & Silver
Lugia waits deep in the Whirl Islands, so save right in front of it and soft reset the encounter again and again until the battle finally loads a shiny sprite. Compare Shiny Lugia odds across every game
Shiny Lugia Evolution
Does Not EvolveGold & Silver Shiny Lugia 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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the Gold & Silver shiny odds calculator with Lugia already selected.
Lugia Weakness
Electric, Ice, Rock, Ghost, and Dark moves hit Lugia for super-effective damage. The upside? Ground-type moves can't touch it at all. Lugia's overall bulk (106/130/154) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ice, Rock, Ghost, Dark |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Psychic |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fighting |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- 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 Lugia Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Lugia
 Magneton ElectricSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Magneton builds →Thunder 2x62-73% Rollout 2x7-10% | ||
 Raikou Electric | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Raikou builds →Thunder 2x61-71% Bite 2x20-24% | ||
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x38-45% Thunder 2x32-38% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Jynx builds →Blizzard 2x61-71% Thief 2x15-18% Shadow Ball 2x17-20% | ||
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Obtain MethodTeam Rocket Hq Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Electrode builds →Thunder 2x45-53% Rollout 2x7-10% | ||
 Dewgong WaterIce | C | |
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Sudowoodo builds →Rock Slide 2x39-47% Ice Punch 2x10-12% Thunder Punch 2x10-12% Feint Attack 2x9-11% | ||
 Haunter GhostPoison | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Haunter builds →Thunder 2x40-48% Shadow Ball 2x26-31% Thief 2x15-18% | ||
 Piloswine IceGround | C | |
 Delibird Ice | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Delibird builds →Blizzard 2x39-47% Thief 2x10-12% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | B | |
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Shuckle BugRock | B | |
Lugia Evolutions
A Psychic/Flying-type legendary, Lugia doesn't evolve or breed. At 680 total stats, it's meant to stand on its own. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
GS Lugia Best Moveset
154 Sp. Def and 130 Defense create the bulkiest defensive profile in the game alongside 106 Speed. MoveAeroblast for Flying TermStab, MoveIce Beam for coverage, and MoveRecover for indefinite sustain. Held ItemLeftovers adds passive recovery. Blocks everything and outlasts it. Near-unbreakable.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Psychic
- Future Sight
- Aeroblast
- Dream Eater
Moves List
Coverage runs deep. Lugia can hit 11 types beyond STAB, including Water and Normal. The offense anchors on Future Sight and Aeroblast while TMs handle everything else.
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
30 of 40 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is said that it quietly spends its time deep at the bottom of the sea because its powers are too strong.
It is said to be the guardian of the seas. It is rumored to have been seen on the night of a storm.
Lugia Gold & Silver Guide
Lugia is a static encounter at Johto Whirl Islands in Gold & Silver. Lugia appears at level 70. Prerequisite: Silver Wing. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
Game Availability
Lugia has appeared in 17 games since Gold & Silver, spanning 8 generations. As a Legendary, it's typically a one-per-save encounter tied to the story or post-game content.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Lugia.
Keep playing · Gold & SilverGold & Silver Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Gold & Silver Tier List