Is Poliwag Good in X & Y Playthrough?
Water with AbilityWater Absorb. Wild on surfing routes. Poliwrath adds Fighting for Grant and Wulfric coverage. Arrives mid-game and contributes through the E4 without standing out.
Poliwag trades roughly evenly with Viola's team.
Poliwag has the type edge here and should clean up Grant's team.
Poliwag trades roughly evenly with Korrina's team.
Ramos's team hits Poliwag's weaknesses hard.
Clemont's team hits Poliwag's weaknesses hard.
Poliwag trades roughly evenly with Valerie's team.
Olympia's typing presses Poliwag's defenses.
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Wulfric's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Wulfric:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Malva's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Malva:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Wikstrom's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Wikstrom:
Drasna's team hits Poliwrath's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Drasna:
Siebold's team hits Poliwrath's weaknesses hard.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Siebold:
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Diantha's team.
Your evolution path matters here. Pick a branch to see how it fares against Diantha:
Catchable
Catch Poliwag on Pokémon Village (horde, Lv 25, uncommon). Horde encounter.
Evolve Poliwag to Poliwrath
Poliwhirl evolves into Poliwrath with a Water Stone. You can pick up the Water Stone in Route 12. 2 other locations are also available.
Evolve Poliwag to Politoed
Poliwhirl evolves into Politoed when traded. Most players are ready to trade before reaching Wulfric.
How to Get Poliwag in X & Y
Poliwag spreads across ten Kalos spots, split between grass hordes and fishing, its levels running from 15 to 35 and evenly stocked in X and Y.
Where To Catch Poliwhirl in XY
To get Poliwhirl, start by catching Poliwag through fishing and special encounters at Lv. 15-35. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 2Poliwhirl ✓Laverre CityLv.15Old RodRate 100%Route 14Lv.15Old RodRate 100%Route 15Lv.15Old RodRate 100%Route 16Lv.15Old RodRate 100%Frost Cavern - 2FLv.20Old RodRate 100%Frost Cavern - OutsideLv.20Old RodRate 100%Couriway TownLv.25Old RodRate 100%Route 19Lv.25Old RodRate 100%Pokémon VillageLv.30Old RodRate 100%Route 21Lv.30Old RodRate 100%Pokémon VillageLv.25Horde encounterUncommonHorde battleVictory Road - Cave 1Lv.35Old RodRate 100%Victory Road - Cave 4Lv.35Old RodRate 100%Victory Road - Outside Section 3Lv.35Old RodRate 100%or evolve from Poliwag (Step 1)
Available in-game· 2 pathsPick one
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in X & Y for Poliwhirl.
How to Get Shiny Poliwag in X & Y
Poliwag bites on the Old Rod at Couriway Town; reel from the same tile without moving to build a Chain Fishing streak toward 1 in 96. Compare Shiny Poliwag odds across every game
X & Y Shiny Poliwag Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is Chain Fishing at full boosts, about 1 in 96 on each try. Tune it below.
Chain Fishing: Fish one rippling spot and reel only when the rod rattles. The bonus tops out at a 20-reel chain.
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 | 11 |
| 25%one in four | 28 |
| 50%coin flip | 67 |
| 90%very likely | 220 |
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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your X & Y shiny odds for Poliwag.
Poliwag Weakness
Poliwag is weak to Electric and Grass. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Water Absorb grants an additional Water immunity, reshaping the matchup chart.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Steel |
What is Poliwag Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Poliwag
 Heliolisk ElectricNormal | B | |
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Lumiose City Gift) | ||
 Roselia GrassPoison | C | |
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Poliwag View Exeggutor builds →Wood Hammer 2x220-260%KO | ||
 Chesnaught GrassFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chespin (Aquacorde Town Gift) | ||
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | B | |
 Simisage Grass | C | |
 Gogoat Grass | C | |
 Plusle Electric | C | |
 Jolteon Electric | B | |
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Bellossom Grass | C | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
Poliwag Evolutions
Poliwag's evolution chain splits 2 ways into Poliwrath and Politoed. The method you choose determines which form you get. Evolving adds up to 210 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Poliwag easily with 87 breeding partners from the Water 1 egg group. Pass egg moves like Bubble Beam, Encore, Endeavor and 10 more to offspring.
XY Poliwag Best Moveset
Water at 40 in most stats with AbilitySwift Swim in 5-turn rain instead of permanent. The shortened rain window reduced the value of rain setup on pre-evolutions. The moveset can't compete. Poliwrath adds Fighting typing.
Best Build
Poliwag best EVs are Attack and Speed
Utility Moveset
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Waterfall
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Poliwag gets Bubble Beam and Encore exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Normal and Ground coverage and more rounds out the picture alongside Hydro Pump and Surf.
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
Base Stats
Its slick black skin is thin and damp. A part of its internal organs can be seen through the skin as a spiral pattern.
The direction of the spiral on the belly differs by area. It is more adept at swimming than walking.
Poliwag X & Y Guide
In X & Y, Poliwag does the job early-game if you need a Water type on your team. Evolve it into Poliwhirl before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Poliwag has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 20 titles across all 9 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
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 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 Poliwag.
Keep playing · X & YX & Y Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee X & Y Tier List