Is Muk Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Grimer evolves at level 38. Poison-type with AbilitySticky Hold preventing item theft. Good Attack and special Defense for a Poison-type. Postgame arrival limits Muk to Battle Frontier use. Koga already proved the E4 doesn't need more Poison.
Falkner's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Grimer has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Whitney's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Morty's team hits Grimer's weaknesses hard.
Chuck's typing presses Grimer's defenses.
Grimer trades roughly evenly with Jasmine's team.
Grimer trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Muk trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Muk has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catch Grimer
Catch Grimer in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 17, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM25ElectricThunderPower 120Accuracy 70%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- LV 20PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 44PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
Evolve Grimer to Muk
Grimer evolves into Muk at Level 38. Your Grimer should hit Level 38 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 38)
- LV 38PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 38PoisonSludgePower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM35FireFlamethrowerPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- LV 54PoisonGunk ShotPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 5
How to Get Muk in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Muk shows up wild at a few spots, rare to uncommon and reaching level 32, often near the same dirty water as its base. Evolve a Grimer at level 38 if the wild sludge proves too thin to find easily.
Wild Muk may be holding when caught:
Nugget (5% chance) A nugget of pure gold that gives off a lustrous gleam. It can be sold at a high price to shops.4 locations to catch Muk5 locations to catch Grimer
Encountered via Surfing, tall grass encounters
Encountered via Surfing, tall grass encounters
Badge 8Catch Grimer at any of the 5 locations below, then level it up to 38 — it evolves into Muk.
Badge 6
Badge 7 Badge 8Where To Catch Muk in HGSS
The only way to get Muk during the story is evolving Grimer (Lv 38).
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Muk preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Muk in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Muk sludges along Route 17 and Route 18, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign-language parent at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Muk odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Muk 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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds calculator with Muk already selected.
Muk Weakness
Ground and Psychic moves hit Muk for super-effective damage. The Poison typing picks up 4 resistances to work with. Muk's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Poison, Bug |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Muk Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Muk
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Latios builds →Dream Eater 2x79-93% Earthquake 2x48-57% | ||
 Mewtwo Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodCerulean Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Mewtwo builds →Future Sight 2x109-128%KO Earthquake 2x57-68% | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Latias builds →Dream Eater 2x69-81% Earthquake 2x44-52% | ||
 Marowak Ground | C | |
 Steelix SteelGround | B | |
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
 Metagross SteelPsychic | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Metagross builds →Zen Headbutt 2x82-97% Earthquake 2x69-81% | ||
 Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
 Kadabra Psychic | A | |
 Bronzong SteelPsychic | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Muk View Bronzong builds →Future Sight 2x63-74% Earthquake 2x48-57% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
 Mr. Mime Psychic | C | |
Muk Evolutions
Muk is what Grimer becomes. Breed it for Grimer eggs (average hatch time). A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolution from Grimer pushed Muk to 500 total stats. Sp.Def saw the largest single gain at +50. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Muk to get Grimer eggs easily using 31 partners from the Amorphous egg group. Notable egg moves include Curse, Explosion, Haze and 8 more.
HGSS Muk Best Moveset
Bulky Poison attacker at 105 HP and 105 Attack with 100 Sp. Def absorbing special hits. The moveset takes special attacks and responds physically with Poison and coverage moves. AbilitySticky Hold protects the held item. 50 Speed is slow but the bulk compensates.
Best Build
Muk best EVs are HP and Attack
Physical Tank Moveset
- Poison Jab
- Explosion
- Curse
- Fire Punch
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Muk picks up Curse and Explosion only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Gunk Shot and Sludge Bomb while coverage across 9 types adds range.
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 30 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
They love to gather in smelly areas where sludge accumulates, making the stench around them worse.
Its body is made of a powerful poison. Touching it accidentally will cause a fever that requires bed rest.
Muk HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Muk in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Nugget (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Nugget.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Muk as a tank. Physical side carries the damage. Not the fastest, Set up with Curse when you get a free turn.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Heatran. These have the highest co-usage rates with Muk in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
Muk has an Alolan form that swaps the typing and reshuffles the stats. Introduced in Gen 7. Worth checking if the original version doesn't fit your team.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Adamant on Muk. +Attack is what matters, and the -Sp. Atk cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the tank role.
Game Availability
Available since Red & Blue, Muk appears in 19 games spanning 9 generations. Beyond its original form, it gained an Alolan form in Generation 7.
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 7SMAlolan
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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