Is Magikarp Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Same deal as every game: fish one up, suffer through the levels, and Gyarados at 20 is one of the best Pokemon in Crystal. The Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage is a guaranteed catch if you don't want to grind. Either way, Gyarados is worth the slot.
Falkner's Pokemon outpace and outclass Magikarp here.
Bugsy's Pokemon outpace and outclass Magikarp here.
Whitney's typing presses Magikarp's defenses.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Gyarados's weaknesses hard.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Gyarados resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Gyarados has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Gyarados trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Magikarp in New Bark Town (Old Rod fishing, Lv 10, common).
Recommended Moves
- LV 15NormalTacklePower 35Accuracy 95%PP 35
Evolve Magikarp to Gyarados
Magikarp evolves into Gyarados at Level 20. Your Magikarp should hit Level 20 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Game Corner prize (5500 coins)
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Ecruteak City
- After Pryce
- HM07WaterWaterfallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Ice Path
- LV 40WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Lt. Surge
- TUTORFireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- TUTORIceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod City
- TUTORElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod City
- LV 50NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Magikarp in Crystal
Magikarp is the most common catch in the entire game, 172 fishing encounters across 52 bodies of water. Cast a rod almost anywhere and you'll hook one, so the only trick is evolving it.
50 locations to catch Magikarp
Encountered via fishing with a Rod, Surfing
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Magikarp in C
Magikarp is where the line starts, caught through fishing and surfing encounters at Lv. 5-40. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 1Magikarp ✓Blackthorn CityLv.5-19Surfing on waterRate 100%Dark Cave - EastLv.5-19Surfing on waterRate 100%Dark Cave - WestLv.5-19Surfing on waterRate 100%Route 45Lv.5-24Surfing on waterRate 100%Dragon's Den - B1FLv.10Old RodRate 100%Lake of RageLv.10Old RodRate 100%Route 43Lv.10-24Surfing on waterRate 100%Route 45Lv.10Old RodRate 100%Fuchsia CityLv.10Old RodRate 100%Fuchsia CityLv.10-24Surfing on waterRate 100%Dragon's Den - B1FLv.10-19Surfing on waterRate 90%Lake of RageLv.10-19Surfing on waterRate 90%Route 45Lv.10Good RodRate 90%Route 32Lv.5Old RodRate 85%the Qwilfish swarm that Fisher Ralph reports byBlackthorn CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Cherrygrove CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Cianwood CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Dark Cave - EastLv.10Old RodRate 85%Dark Cave - WestLv.10Old RodRate 85%Ecruteak CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Goldenrod CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Ilex ForestLv.10Old RodRate 85%Mt. Mortar - 1F EntranceLv.10Old RodRate 85%Mt. Mortar - 2FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Mt. Mortar - B1FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Mt. Silver - 2FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Mt. Silver - OutsideLv.10Old RodRate 85%New Bark TownLv.10Old RodRate 85%Olivine CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Olivine City - HarborLv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 30Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 31Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 32Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 34Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 35Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 40Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 41Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 42Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 43Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 44Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Ruins of Alph - OutsideLv.10Old RodRate 85%Slowpoke Well - B1FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Slowpoke Well - B2FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Union Cave - 1FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Union Cave - B1FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Union Cave - B2FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Violet CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Whirl Islands - B2FLv.10Old RodRate 85%Whirl Islands - B2F Inner CaveLv.10Old RodRate 85%Whirl Islands - SELv.10Old RodRate 85%Whirl Islands - SWLv.10Old RodRate 85%Cinnabar IslandLv.10Old RodRate 85%Pallet TownLv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 10Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 12Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 13Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 14Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 19Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 20Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 21Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 22Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 24Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 25Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 26Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 27Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 28Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 6Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 9Lv.10Old RodRate 85%Tohjo FallsLv.10Old RodRate 85%Vermilion City - CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Vermilion City - HarborLv.10Old RodRate 85%Viridian CityLv.10Old RodRate 85%Route 45Lv.10Super RodRate 60%Dragon's Den - B1FLv.20Good RodRate 90%Lake of RageLv.20Good RodRate 90%Fuchsia CityLv.20Good RodRate 90%Blackthorn CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Cherrygrove CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Cianwood CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Dark Cave - EastLv.20Good RodRate 35%Dark Cave - WestLv.20Good RodRate 35%Ecruteak CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Goldenrod CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Ilex ForestLv.20Good RodRate 35%Mt. Mortar - 1F EntranceLv.20Good RodRate 35%Mt. Mortar - 2FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Mt. Mortar - B1FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Mt. Silver - 2FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Mt. Silver - OutsideLv.20Good RodRate 35%New Bark TownLv.20Good RodRate 35%Olivine CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Olivine City - HarborLv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 30Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 31Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 32Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 32Lv.20Good RodRate 35%the Qwilfish swarm that Fisher Ralph reports byRoute 34Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 35Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 40Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 41Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 42Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 43Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 44Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Ruins of Alph - OutsideLv.20Good RodRate 35%Slowpoke Well - B1FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Slowpoke Well - B2FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Union Cave - 1FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Union Cave - B1FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Union Cave - B2FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Violet CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Whirl Islands - B2FLv.20Good RodRate 35%Whirl Islands - B2F Inner CaveLv.20Good RodRate 35%Whirl Islands - SELv.20Good RodRate 35%Whirl Islands - SWLv.20Good RodRate 35%Cinnabar IslandLv.20Good RodRate 35%Pallet TownLv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 10Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 12Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 13Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 14Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 19Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 20Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 21Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 22Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 24Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 25Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 26Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 27Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 28Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 6Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Route 9Lv.20Good RodRate 35%Tohjo FallsLv.20Good RodRate 35%Vermilion City - CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Vermilion City - HarborLv.20Good RodRate 35%Viridian CityLv.20Good RodRate 35%Lake of RageLv.40Super RodRate 70%Fuchsia CityLv.40Super RodRate 70%Dragon's Den - B1FLv.40Super RodRate 60%Blackthorn CityLv.40Super RodRate 20%Dark Cave - EastLv.40Super RodRate 20%Dark Cave - WestLv.40Super RodRate 20%Ecruteak CityLv.40Super RodRate 20%Ilex ForestLv.40Super RodRate 20%Mt. Mortar - 1F EntranceLv.40Super RodRate 20%Mt. Mortar - 2FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Mt. Mortar - B1FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Mt. Silver - 2FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Mt. Silver - OutsideLv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 30Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 31Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 32Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 35Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 42Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 43Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 44Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Ruins of Alph - OutsideLv.40Super RodRate 20%Slowpoke Well - B1FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Slowpoke Well - B2FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Union Cave - 1FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Union Cave - B1FLv.40Super RodRate 20%Violet CityLv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 10Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 12Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 13Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 22Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 24Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 25Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 28Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 6Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Route 9Lv.40Super RodRate 20%Tohjo FallsLv.40Super RodRate 20%Viridian CityLv.40Super RodRate 20%
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into GyaradosLake of RageLv.15-19Surfing on waterRate 10%Lake of RageLv.20Good RodRate 10%Fuchsia CityLv.20Good RodRate 10%Lake of RageLv.30Interact with PokemonLimitedor evolve from Magikarp (Step 1)
Not landing the catch? Calculate Magikarp catch rates for Crystal by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Magikarp in Crystal
Magikarp bites on any rod nearly everywhere water flows in Johto; toss the Old Rod around Blackthorn or Cherrygrove and burn through cheap, rapid encounters. Compare Shiny Magikarp odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Magikarp 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 Magikarp preloaded.
Magikarp Weakness
Electric and Grass moves hit Magikarp for super-effective damage. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Magikarp's physical bulk (base 55 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 |
- 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 Magikarp Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Magikarp
 Magneton ElectricSteel | C | |
 Raikou Electric | S | |
 Jolteon Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Electabuzz Electric | C | |
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Obtain MethodTeam Rocket Hq Interact Encounter | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Magikarp View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 2x268-315%KO | ||
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Magikarp View Sunflora builds →Petal Dance 2x258-304%KO | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Pichu Electric | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 34 Gift | ||
 Skiploom Grass | C | |
Magikarp Evolutions
Magikarp evolves into Gyarados. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A small partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs hatch fast. The evolved forms gain up to 340 total stats over Magikarp. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Magikarp easily with 13 breeding partners from the Dragon and Water 2 egg groups.
C Magikarp Best Moveset
Zero competitive value from zero competitive stats. MoveSplash literally does nothing. Gyarados at level 20 is the only purpose this Pokemon has ever served.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Tackle
- Flail
- Splash
Moves List
Magikarp's options are limited here. You've got Water STAB for STAB damage, but there isn't much beyond Water hitting power. TMs help fill gaps, though the kit stays tight.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This weak and pathetic POKéMON gets easily pushed along rivers when there are strong currents.
Magikarp Crystal Guide
In Crystal, Magikarp does the job early-game if you need a Water type on your team. Evolve it into Gyarados before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Magikarp has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 22 titles across all 9 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Magikarp.
Keep playing · CrystalCrystal Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Crystal Tier List