Is Politoed Good in Black & White Playthrough?
King's Rock trade on Poliwhirl. Water with AbilityWater Absorb. Postgame only. The hidden AbilityDrizzle exists in Gen 5, but standard Politoed uses AbilityWater Absorb.
Poliwhirl has the type edge here and should clean up Cilan's team.
Poliwhirl has the type edge here and should clean up Chili's team.
Poliwhirl trades roughly evenly with Cress's team.
Poliwhirl trades roughly evenly with Lenora's team.
Poliwhirl has the type edge here and should clean up Burgh's team.
Poliwhirl trades roughly evenly with Elesa's team.
Poliwhirl has the type edge here and should clean up Clay's team.
Poliwhirl trades roughly evenly with Skyla's team.
Poliwhirl trades roughly evenly with Brycen's team.
Drayden's typing presses Poliwhirl's defenses.
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Shauntal:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with 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.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Caitlin:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Marshal's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Marshal:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Alder's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Alder:
Catch Poliwhirl
Catch Poliwhirl in Wellspring Cave (Super Rod fishing, Lv 35-55, rare).
Evolve Poliwhirl to Politoed
Poliwhirl evolves into Politoed when traded. Trade it in the post-game, after the credits.
Evolve Poliwhirl to Poliwrath
Poliwhirl evolves into Poliwrath with a Water Stone. You can receive the Water Stone from an NPC in Castelia City. 8 other locations are also available. Use the Water Stone in the post-game, after the credits.
How to Get Politoed in Black & White
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.
How to Obtain Politoed in BW
Poliwag is your first catch on the way to Politoed. You'll find fishing encounters from Lv. 35-70 across 48 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve PoliwhirlChallenger's Cave - B2FLv.35-70Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotGiant Chasm - CaveLv.35-70Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotGiant Chasm - Inner CaveLv.35-70Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 1FLv.35-70Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 3FLv.35-70Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotWellspring Cave - 1FLv.35-60Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotWellspring Cave - B1FLv.35-60Super RodRate 65%AnyShaking spotChallenger's Cave - B2FLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyGiant Chasm - CaveLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyGiant Chasm - Inner CaveLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyRoute 6Lv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyRoute 6Lv.35-70Super RodRate 5%AnyShaking spotVictory Road - 1FLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyVictory Road - 3FLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyWellspring Cave - 1FLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%AnyWellspring Cave - B1FLv.35-55Super RodRate 5%Anyor evolve from Poliwag (Step 1)
- Step 3Politoed ✓BREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Poliwag egg.
How to Get Shiny Politoed in Black & White
Politoed hatches off a bred Poliwag, so let a foreign Ditto share the Day Care for a shiny, then trade evolve with a King's Rock. Compare Shiny Politoed odds across every game
Black & White Shiny Politoed Calculator
2 MethodsThe best route is Masuda Method, about 1 in 1,366 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 |
|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 144 |
| 25%one in four | 393 |
| 50%coin flip | 947 |
| 90%very likely | 3,145 |
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 Black & White with Politoed preloaded.
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
 Maractus Grass | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Lilligant Grass | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Lilligant builds →Petal Dance 2x89-105%KO | ||
 Tangrowth Grass | B | |
 Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
 Sunflora Grass | C | |
 Simisage Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Pansage (Dreamyard Gift) | ||
 Virizion GrassFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodPinwheel Forest Interact Encounter | ||
 Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Politoed View Vileplume builds →Petal Dance 2x89-105%KO | ||
 Shiftry GrassDark | C | |
 Cherrim Grass | C | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | B | |
 Serperior Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Snivy (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
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 Water 1 egg group. Notable egg moves include Bubble Beam, Encore, Endeavor and 10 more.
BW Politoed Best Moveset
Permanent rain hits the field the moment Politoed switches in through hidden ability AbilityDrizzle, enabling every rain-dependent teammate at once. 90 Sp. Atk fires boosted Water TermStab in its own rain, and 100 Sp. Def absorbs special hits. The moveset's real value is the weather it creates for the entire team.
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
Base Stats
It gathers groups of others as their leader. Its cries make Poliwag obey.
Politoed Event Distributions
In Black & White, Politoed is available only through a single Mystery Gift event distribution.
Staff Member Yamamoto's PolitoedSep 2013BlackWhiteBlack 2White 2Not shiny
Politoed Black & White Guide
Politoed is obtained by trade-evolving Poliwhirl. Catch or evolve a Poliwhirl first, then trade. The Kings Rock must be held during the trade. Bring one over from a sibling Gen 3 game if needed.
In Black & White, Drizzle is the hidden ability. It summons rain that lasts indefinitely upon entering battle. Worth hunting for if you want Politoed to compete at a higher level.
Yes. Politoed is not available during the main story. Black & White open the post-game as soon as the credits roll after N’s Castle, and no Hall of Fame entry is needed first.
In Black & White, Politoed plays as a balanced. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully. Scald is the primary attack.
In Black & White, Politoed pairs best with Ferrothorn, Thundurus Therian, and Keldeo. Ferrothorn has Good synergy and covers what Politoed can't handle on its own.
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 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
Where to go next after Politoed.
Keep playing · Black & WhiteBlack & White Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Black & White Tier List