Is Palkia Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Sinjoh Ruins event encounter with Arceus. Water/Dragon with AbilityPressure. If obtained, Palkia dominates the Battle Frontier. Same event dependency as Dialga.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Palkia resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Palkia trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Palkia resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Palkia resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Palkia resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Palkia resists most of Blue's coverage and hits back hard.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Palkia has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Trade
Palkia 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 Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Whitney
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Kimono Girl in the Ecruteak Dance Theater
- LV 24WaterAqua TailPower 135Accuracy 90%PP 10
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingFocus PunchPower 150Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Chuck
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM59DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Given by Clair in the Dragon's Den after the Dragon Shrine test
- LV 42WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
- LV 46DragonSpacial RendPower 150Accuracy 95%PP 5
How to Get Palkia in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Palkia is a gift in this game. Pick it up at Sinjoh Ruins — no wild encounters or spawn rates to deal with. The details below cover exactly when it becomes available.
1 location to catch Palkia
Badge 8How to Get Palkia in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Palkia in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Palkia is offered by the same Sinjoh Ruins event, so soft-reset the gift encounter until the shiny appears. Compare Shiny Palkia odds across every game
Sinjoh Ruins gift (Lv1) triggered by event Arceus. Requires event distribution.
Shiny Palkia Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Palkia 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver with Palkia preloaded.
Palkia Weakness
Palkia is weak to Dragon. Few weaknesses and 3 resistances make the typing clean. Palkia's overall bulk (90/100/120) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Fire, Water |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Palkia Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Palkia
 Rayquaza Dragon | S | |
Obtain MethodEmbedded Tower Interact Encounter | ||
 Latios DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter | ||
 Latias DragonPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodPewter City Interact Encounter | ||
 Dragonite Dragon | A | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Dratini (Dragons Den Gift) | ||
 Garchomp DragonGround | S | |
 Salamence Dragon | B | |
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
 Flygon GroundDragon | A | |
Palkia Evolutions
Palkia is a powerhouse with 680 total stats as a Water/Dragon legendary. Can't breed it, so you're locked to whatever you catch or receive. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
HGSS Palkia Best Moveset
Water/Dragon coverage from 150 Sp. Atk at 100 Speed hits nearly everything for unresisted damage. The moveset adds MoveFire Blast and MoveThunderbolt for the few resistances. Water/Dragon means only Dragon hits super-effectively. Banned from standard play.
Best Build
Palkia best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Revenge Killer Moveset
- Spacial Rend
- Thunder
- Surf
- Hydro Pump
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Aqua Tail and Earth Power bring the raw damage. But Palkia also picks up coverage across 10 types from TMs, making it tough to find a safe switch. You're not locked into one angle here.
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 36 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its total control over the boundaries of space enable it to transport itself to faraway places or even other dimensions.
Palkia HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
No. Palkia isn't catchable in HeartGold & SoulSilver. Find it in Pearl or Platinum, then trade it over.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Palkia plays as a sweeper. It outspeeds most threats, so it can pressure opponents before they move. Surf is the primary attack.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Palkia pairs best with Kyogre, Dialga, and Giratina Origin. Kyogre has Good synergy and covers what Palkia can't handle on its own.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Hasty is the go-to nature for Palkia. That's +Speed / -Defense. Pair it with 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the sweeper role.
Game Availability
First obtainable in Diamond & Pearl, Palkia has been featured in 13 titles across 6 generations. Legendary status means a single encounter per playthrough in most games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DPDebut
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