Is Phanpy Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
HeartGold encounter on Route 45 and Mt. Silver. Ground-type with AbilityPickup. Donphan at level 25 has strong Attack and excellent Defense. Available late in Johto, but Ground coverage helps through the back half. SoulSilver players breed for it.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Morty's typing presses Phanpy's defenses.
Chuck's Pokemon outpace and outclass Phanpy here.
Phanpy has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Pryce's team hits Phanpy's weaknesses hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Donphan resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Donphan resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Erika's team hits Donphan's weaknesses hard.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Donphan resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Donphan has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Donphan trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Phanpy on Route 45 (walking, Lv 20, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 37NormalLast ResortPower 130Accuracy 100%PP 5
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 42NormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Phanpy to Donphan
Phanpy evolves into Donphan at Level 25. Your Phanpy should hit Level 25 before you reach Clair, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 25)
- LV 25NormalHorn AttackPower 65Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TUTORNormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Ilex Forest
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Jasmine
- TM23SteelIron TailPower 100Accuracy 75%PP 15Prize for defeating Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 46GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 54NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Phanpy in HeartGold & SoulSilver
HeartGold lets you catch an uncommon Phanpy early on a Johto route and again on Mt. Silver later. SoulSilver fills those same spots with Teddiursa, making Phanpy a trade-only pickup for that version.
Wild Phanpy may be holding when caught:
Passho Berry (5% chance) If held by a Pokemon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Water-type attack.2 locations to catch Phanpy
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Where To Catch Phanpy in HGSS
Phanpy is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 20-50 across 17 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into DonphanMt. Silver - 1FLv.44CaveHeartGoldRate 30%Victory Road - 1FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Victory Road - 2FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Victory Road - 3FLv.33CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Route 28Lv.40GrassHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - BaseLv.42CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 1F Central ChamberLv.47-48CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 1F Upper ChamberLv.47-48CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 3FLv.47CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - Upper mountainsideLv.47CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - 2FLv.48-50CaveHeartGoldRate 20%Mt. Silver - Lower mountainsideLv.50CaveHeartGoldRate 10%or evolve from Phanpy (Step 1)
Bring the right balls: check Phanpy catch odds in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Phanpy in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Phanpy trots along Route 45 in HeartGold, though a shiny hatches faster from Masuda breeding. Compare Shiny Phanpy odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Phanpy 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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Phanpy in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Phanpy Weakness
Phanpy's Ground typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Grass, and Ice. It shrugs off Electric-type attacks completely. 3 weaknesses is about average, nothing too hard to play around.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Grass, Ice |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Rock |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Phanpy Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Phanpy
 Carnivine Grass | C | |
 Gyarados Water | S | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Phanpy View Gyarados builds →Aqua Tail 2x112-131%KO Ice Fang 2x54-64% | ||
 Cacturne GrassDark | B | |
 Tangrowth Grass | C | |
 Jumpluff Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodSafari Zone Surfing | ||
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Phanpy View Ludicolo builds →Solar Beam 2x149-175%KO Surf 2x119-140%KO Ice Beam 2x79-93% | ||
 Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) | ||
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Phanpy View Feraligatr builds →Waterfall 2x85-101%KO Ice Beam 2x72-85% | ||
 Krabby Water | C | |
Obtain MethodCianwood City Old Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Phanpy View Krabby builds →Crabhammer 2x107-127%KO Ice Beam 2x33-39% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
Phanpy Evolutions
Phanpy evolves into Donphan. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 170 total stats over Phanpy. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Phanpy easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Ancient Power, Body Slam, Counter and 6 more to offspring.
HGSS Phanpy Best Moveset
Ground type with 90 HP for a first-stage, surprisingly bulky. 60 Attack and 40 Speed provide basic physical presence. The moveset has MoveEarthquake access but not the stats to use it effectively. Evolve to Donphan.
Best Build
Phanpy best EVs are Attack and HP
Hazard Setter Moveset
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Head Smash
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Ancient Power and Body Slam from the egg pool give Phanpy something extra. Pair those with Earthquake and Earth Power for STAB and coverage across 8 types for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
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 19 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It swings its long snout around playfully, but because it is so strong, that can be dangerous.
As a sign of affection, it bumps with its snout. However, it is so strong, it may send you flying.
Phanpy HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Phanpy in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Passho Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Passho Berry.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Phanpy does the job early-game if you need a Ground type on your team. Evolve it into Donphan before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Phanpy first appeared in Gold & Silver and has been available in 16 games across 8 generations. Obtainable through catching or hatching as a base form in most titles where it appears.
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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