Is Mankey Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
HeartGold encounter on Route 42 after Surf. Fighting-type with AbilityVital Spirit preventing sleep. Primeape at level 28 handles Pryce's Ice gym and contributes through the Kanto stretch. SoulSilver players need to breed.
Mankey has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Mankey trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Mankey has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Mankey trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Chuck's typing presses Mankey's defenses.
Primeape resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Primeape resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Primeape resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Primeape resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Mankey on Route 42 (walking, Lv 15, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 37FightingCross ChopPower 150Accuracy 80%PP 5
- LV 41NormalThrashPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 49FightingClose CombatPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 5
Evolve Mankey to Primeape
Mankey evolves into Primeape at Level 28. Your Mankey should hit Level 28 before you reach Jasmine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM52FightingFocus BlastPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 225Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 41FightingCross ChopPower 150Accuracy 80%PP 5
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 47NormalThrashPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 59FightingClose CombatPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Mankey in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Mankey is HeartGold's side of a version split, a common catch on a pair of routes in the low teens. SoulSilver trainers get none in the wild, so the pig monkey only reaches their team through a trade.
Wild Mankey may be holding when caught:
Payapa Berry (5% chance) If held by a Pokemon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Psychic-type attack.2 locations to catch Mankey
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Mankey in HGSS
Mankey is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 13-39 across 5 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into PrimeapeRoute 9Lv.15GrassHeartGoldRate 5%Cerulean Cave - 1FLv.38-39CaveHeartGoldRate 14%Morning/dayCerulean Cave - 1FLv.39CaveHeartGoldRate 4%Nightor evolve from Mankey (Step 1)
Not landing the catch? Calculate Mankey catch rates for HeartGold & SoulSilver by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Mankey in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Mankey scrambles along Route 9 and Route 42 in HeartGold, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Mankey odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Mankey Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,639 on each try.
Masuda Method: Breed with a parent from a different-language game. Works on any breedable line.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 173-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 472-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 1,136-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 3,773-- | -- |
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 HeartGold & SoulSilver with Mankey preloaded.
Mankey Weakness
Mankey is weak to Flying and Psychic. Not many exploitable gaps in the Fighting typing defensive chart. Mankey's Fighting typing only leaves 2 gaps to cover.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug, Rock, Dark |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Mankey Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Mankey
 Scyther Bug | C | |
 Dodrio Normal | C | |
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
 Golbat Poison | C | |
 Ninjask Bug | C | |
 Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Vespiquen Bug | C | |
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
 Yanmega Bug | B | |
 Fearow Normal | C | |
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
 Murkrow Dark | C | |
 Mr. Mime Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Mankey View Mr. Mime builds →Psybeam 2x115-136%KO Aerial Ace 2x47-56% | ||
Mankey Evolutions
Mankey is the base form in a two-stage line leading to Primeape. Check the evolution method below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 150 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Mankey easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Beat Up, Close Combat, Counter and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Mankey Best Moveset
Legitimate 80 Attack on a Fighting type at this stage, but 35 Defense and 40 HP mean the moveset delivers one punch before going down. AbilityVital Spirit prevents sleep. Primeape finishes what Mankey starts.
Best Build
Mankey best EVs are Attack and Speed
Utility Moveset
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- U Turn
- Punishment
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The TM pool is where it gets interesting. Coverage across 13 types means almost nothing walls Mankey cleanly, with Focus Punch and Close Combat anchoring the STAB side. Matchup flexibility isn't a problem.
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 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It is extremely ill-tempered. Groups of them will attack any handy target for no reason.
It’s unsafe to approach if it gets violently enraged for no reason and can’t distinguish friends from foes.
Mankey HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Mankey in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Payapa Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Payapa Berry.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, for a casual playthrough, Mankey works as a placeholder. Fighting coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Primeape. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Mankey appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Mankey have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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
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