Is Lugia Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Not native to Hoenn. Trade from Colosseum XD: Gale of Darkness. AbilityPressure doubles PP drain. Lugia's defensive stats are absurd. If imported, nothing in RS can take it down on the special side. The rarest import with the highest defensive ceiling.
Roxanne's Pokemon outpace and outclass Lugia here.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Lugia trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Lugia resists most of Winona's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Lugia has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Lugia resists most of Drake's coverage and hits back hard.
Lugia trades roughly evenly with Steven's team.
Trade
Lugia 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
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Mauville Game Corner
- After Flannery
- TM06PoisonToxicPower —Accuracy 85%PP 10Fiery Path
- After Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Route 119
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- After Tate & Liza
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 44WaterHydro PumpPower 120Accuracy 80%PP 5
- LV 77FlyingAeroblastPower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
- LV 99PsychicFuture SightPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 15
How to Get Lugia in Ruby & Sapphire
Lugia does not exist in Hoenn, with no whirlpool islands to guard like in Johto. It only comes in by trade, and its catch rate of 3 made it one of the hardest captures around.
Lugia 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 Lugia in Ruby & Sapphire
Lugia keeps its distance from Hoenn, so a shiny only arrives by trading one in from another game where this legendary can be obtained. See every game where Shiny Lugia can be hunted
Shiny Lugia Evolution
Does Not EvolveLugia 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
What is Lugia Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Lugia
 Banette Ghost | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Banette builds →Shadow Ball 2x46-54% Thunderbolt 2x24-28% Feint Attack 2x16-18% | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Shiftry builds →Shadow Ball 2x27-32% Thief 2x17-20% Rock Tomb 2x17-20% | ||
 Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
 Manectric Electric | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Manectric builds →Thunderbolt 2x43-50% Bite 2x18-22% | ||
 Absol Dark | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Absol builds →Shadow Ball 2x34-40% Ice Beam 2x22-26% Thunderbolt 2x22-26% Bite 2x21-25% | ||
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
 Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Regice builds →Ice Beam 2x42-49% Thunderbolt 2x28-33% Ancient Power 2x12-14% | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 2x40-47% Rock Tomb 2x14-17% | ||
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Electrode builds →Thunderbolt 2x34-41% Thief 2x10-12% Rollout 2x7-8% | ||
 Plusle Electric | C | |
 Glalie Ice | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Glalie builds →Ice Beam 2x34-41% Crunch 2x20-23% Shadow Ball 2x22-26% | ||
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Dusclops Ghost | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Lugia View Dusclops builds →Shadow Ball 2x30-36% Ice Beam 2x18-22% Rock Tomb 2x13-15% Pursuit 2x8-10% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
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
RS Lugia Best Moveset
154 Sp. Def and 130 Defense on the bulkiest frame available. AbilityPressure doubles PP drain while MoveCalm Mind boosts both special stats from the tank position. MoveIce Beam for coverage, MoveRecover for infinite sustain. Held ItemLeftovers adds passive healing. Near-unbreakable.
Best Build
Lugia best EVs are HP and Defense
Wall Moveset
- Recover
- Toxic
- Whirlwind
- Reflect
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Coverage runs deep. Lugia can hit 10 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. 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 39 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
LUGIA’s wings pack devastating power - a light fluttering of its wings can blow apart regular houses. As a result, this POKéMON chooses to live out of sight deep under the sea.
Lugia Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Lugia isn't catchable in Ruby & Sapphire. Obtain it through event distribution in Emerald, FireRed, or LeafGreen, then trade it to Ruby & Sapphire.
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
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