Is Politoed Good in Black 2 & White 2 Playthrough?
Water Stone on Poliwhirl. Water with AbilityDamp. If obtained, decent bulk and a wide movepool. Handles Clay through Water. Competes with Poliwrath for the Poliwag evolution choice. Poliwrath adds Fighting, Politoed is purer Water.
Poliwrath resists most of Cheren's coverage and hits back hard.
Politoed resists most of Cheren's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Cheren:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Roxie's team.
Politoed resists most of Roxie's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Roxie:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Burgh's team.
Politoed resists most of Burgh's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Burgh:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Elesa's team.
Politoed resists most of Elesa's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Elesa:
Poliwrath resists most of Clay's coverage and hits back hard.
Politoed resists most of Clay's coverage and hits back hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Clay:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Skyla's team.
Politoed has the type edge here and should clean up Skyla's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Skyla:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Drayden's team.
Politoed trades roughly evenly with Drayden's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Drayden:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Marlon's team.
Politoed trades roughly evenly with Marlon's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Marlon:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Politoed has the type edge here and should clean up Shauntal's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Shauntal:
Poliwrath resists most of Grimsley's coverage and hits back hard.
Politoed has the type edge here and should clean up Grimsley's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Grimsley:
Caitlin's team hits Poliwrath's weaknesses hard.
Politoed trades roughly evenly with Caitlin's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Caitlin:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Marshal's team.
Politoed has the type edge here and should clean up Marshal's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Marshal:
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Iris's team.
Politoed trades roughly evenly with Iris's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Iris:
Catch Poliwrath on Route 19 (rippling water fishing, Lv 50-70, rare). Shaking/Bubbling spots.
Catch Politoed on Route 19 (rippling water fishing, Lv 50-70, rare). Shaking/Bubbling spots.
Catch Poliwhirl on Route 19 (rippling water fishing, Lv 40-70, common). Shaking/Bubbling spots.
How to Get Politoed in Black 2 & White 2
Politoed's 3-stage chain starts with Poliwag, which appears at solid rates in the locations below. Level through 3 stages while you find a trade partner. Everything except the trade step is solo.
Where To Catch Politoed in B2W2
Poliwag is your first catch on the way to Politoed. You'll find walking and fishing encounters from Lv. 40-70 across 80 total spots in the chain.
Step 1Catch PoliwagFloccesy RanchLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyGiant Chasm - CaveLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyGiant Chasm - Inner CaveLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyLostlorn ForestLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyRelic Passage - Room 2Lv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyRoute 19Lv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyRoute 20Lv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyRoute 23Lv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyRoute 6Lv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyVictory Road - 1FLv.40-55Super RodRate 70%AnyVictory Road - 3FLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyVictory Road - 4FLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyVictory Road - OutsideLv.40-70Super RodRate 70%AnyClay Tunnel - Room 2Lv.50-70Super RodRate 70%AnyClay Tunnel - Room 3Lv.50-70Super RodRate 70%AnyWellspring Cave - 1FLv.50-70Super RodRate 70%AnyWellspring Cave - B1FLv.50-70Super RodRate 70%Any
Step 2Catch or Evolve PoliwhirlFloccesy RanchLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotLostlorn ForestLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotRelic Passage - Room 2Lv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotRoute 19Lv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotRoute 20Lv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotRoute 23Lv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotRoute 6Lv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 1FLv.40-60Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 3FLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 4FLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - OutsideLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotGiant Chasm - CaveLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 55%AnyShaking spotGiant Chasm - Inner CaveLv.40-70Rippling Water FishRate 55%AnyShaking spotClay Tunnel - Room 2Lv.50-60Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotClay Tunnel - Room 3Lv.50-60Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotWellspring Cave - 1FLv.50-60Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotWellspring Cave - B1FLv.50-60Rippling Water FishRate 65%AnyShaking spotor evolve from Poliwag (Step 1)- Step 3Politoed ✓Floccesy RanchLv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 35%AnyShaking spotRoute 19Lv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 35%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - OutsideLv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 35%AnyShaking spotLostlorn ForestLv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 5%AnyShaking spotRoute 20Lv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 5%AnyShaking spotRoute 6Lv.50-70Rippling Water FishRate 5%AnyShaking spotor evolve from Poliwhirl (Step 2)
Politoed Weakness
Type-wise, Politoed takes extra damage from Electric and Grass. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart. Politoed's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Politoed Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Politoed
 Snivy Grass | D | |
Obtain MethodAspertia City Gift | ||
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Whimsicott Grass | C | |
 Leafeon Grass | B | |
 Servine Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Snivy (Aspertia City Gift) | ||
 Swadloon BugGrass | C | |
 Maractus Grass | C | |
Lilligant Grass | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
Leafeon Grass | B | |
Whimsicott Grass | C | |
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityMagic Bounce ItemRocky Helmet NatureRelaxed Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Xatu builds →U Turn9-11% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityFlashfire ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Arcanine builds →Flare Blitz12-14% Extreme Speed16-18% Close Combat23-28% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilitySturdy ItemLeftovers NatureImpish Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Donphan builds →Earthquake19-23% Rapid Spin10-11% Ice Shard4-5% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilitySand Stream ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Hippowdon builds →Earthquake18-21% | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityUnaware ItemLeftovers NatureRelaxed Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Quagsire builds →Earthquake14-17% | ||
Politoed Evolutions
Politoed is one of 2 ways Poliwhirl's chain can end. This one takes the trade route, while the siblings go different directions. Breed through Poliwag to get eggs. Poliwrath has 10 more total stats, but Politoed makes up for it with a stronger Sp.Def gain (+60 from Poliwag). View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Politoed to get Poliwag eggs easily using 78 partners from the Water1 egg group. Notable egg moves include Bubble Beam, Encore, Endeavor and 10 more.
B2W2 Politoed Best Moveset
Permanent rain through AbilityDrizzle as a hidden ability activates every AbilitySwift Swim and rain-boosted Water attack on the team simultaneously. Opponents need their own weather setter ready before Politoed touches the field. The moveset enables the entire rain archetype through a single switch-in, the defining rain setter.
Best Build
Politoed best EVs are HP and Defense
Wall Moveset
- Scald
- Encore
- Protect
- Toxic
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The egg pool carries weight here. Bubble Beam and Encore aren't available any other way for Politoed, and they meaningfully change what it threatens. Stack those on top of Hydro Pump and Surf for solid options.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Reminder Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It gathers groups of others as their leader. Its cries make Poliwag obey.
Politoed Black 2 & White 2 Guide
In Black 2 & White 2, Don't let Politoed's 500 base stat total fool you. Drizzle is what makes it tick. It punches way above its weight class. We rate it B-Tier. Scald with Leftovers is the standard set.
Politoed is obtained by trade-evolving Poliwhirl. Catch or evolve a Poliwhirl first, then trade. Trade needs a Game Boy Advance link cable and a second GBA running another Gen 3 game (FireRed, LeafGreen, Ruby, Sapphire, or Emerald). Trade Poliwhirl to a friend, then have them trade it back. The 2026 Switch re-release supports the same trade through local wireless on the Pokemon Center 2F Wireless Club, with no cables required. The Kings Rock must be held during the trade. Bring one over from a sibling Gen 3 game if needed.
In Black 2 & White 2, Run Drizzle on Politoed. It's the ability that defines how you build around it and the main reason it holds a competitive niche. Politoed also gets Water Absorb and Damp, but they don't compare.
In Black 2 & White 2, Politoed fills the balanced role. It's a special attacker with base 90 Sp. Atk. Base 70 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.
Game Availability
Politoed has been available in 17 games since Gold & Silver, though obtaining it requires a trade evolution. This extra step makes it less common than Pokemon found through standard wild encounters.
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 7LGPE
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