Is Poliwrath Good in Red & Blue Playthrough?
Water and Fighting in one slot, which is a rare combination in Red and Blue. Poliwrath handles Giovanni and contributes against Lorelei's team. Bulkier than most Water-types but slower. The Fighting angle gives it matchups that Blastoise and Starmie can't touch.
Poliwag resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Misty's typing presses Poliwag's defenses.
Poliwag trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's team hits Poliwag's weaknesses hard.
Poliwag trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Sabrina's team hits Poliwrath's weaknesses hard.
Poliwrath resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Poliwrath resists most of Giovanni's coverage and hits back hard.
Poliwrath has the type edge here and should clean up Lorelei's team.
Poliwrath resists most of Bruno's coverage and hits back hard.
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Agatha's team.
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Poliwrath trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Catch Poliwag
Catch Poliwag in Pallet Town (Good Rod fishing, Lv 10, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- After Lt. Surge
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Celadon Department Store roof
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Koga
- TM29PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Saffron City
- LV 45WaterHydro PumpPower 180Accuracy 80%PP 5
Evolve Poliwag to Poliwrath
Poliwhirl evolves into Poliwrath with a Water Stone. You can buy the Water Stone at the Celadon Department Store on the 4th floor (₽2,100).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 43)
- LV 43PsychicHypnosisPower —Accuracy 60%PP 20
- After Misty
- TM11WaterBubble BeamPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Cerulean Gym Leader Misty
- After Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- After Erika
- HM03WaterSurfPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- TM40NormalSkull BashPower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Safari Zone
- After Sabrina
- TM14IceBlizzardPower 120Accuracy 90%PP 5Pokémon Mansion
- After Koga
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Silph Co.
How to Get Poliwrath in Red & Blue
Reaching Poliwhirl is the real work, since it only comes off a Super Rod or a leveled Poliwag. Once you have one, a Water Stone finishes the job; no wild Poliwrath exists.
Catch Poliwag or Poliwhirl at any of these 25 spots to eventually evolve into Poliwrath.
Encountered via fishing with a Rod
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Badge 8How to Obtain Poliwrath in RB
To get Poliwrath, start by catching Poliwag through fishing encounters at Lv. 10-15. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 1Catch PoliwagCeladon CityLv.10Good RodRate 50%Cerulean Cave - 1FLv.10Good RodRate 50%Cerulean Cave - B1FLv.10Good RodRate 50%Cerulean CityLv.10Good RodRate 50%Cerulean GymLv.10Good RodRate 50%Cinnabar IslandLv.10Good RodRate 50%Fuchsia CityLv.10Good RodRate 50%Pallet TownLv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 10Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 11Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 12Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 13Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 17Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 18Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 19Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 20Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 21Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 22Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 23Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 24Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 25Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Route 6Lv.10Good RodRate 50%Safari Zone - CenterLv.10Good RodRate 50%Safari Zone - EastLv.10Good RodRate 50%Safari Zone - NorthLv.10Good RodRate 50%Safari Zone - WestLv.10Good RodRate 50%Seafoam Islands - B3FLv.10Good RodRate 50%Seafoam Islands - B4FLv.10Good RodRate 50%Vermilion City - CityLv.10Good RodRate 50%Vermilion City - HarborLv.10Good RodRate 50%Viridian CityLv.10Good RodRate 50%Pallet TownLv.15Super RodRate 50%Route 22Lv.15Super RodRate 50%Viridian CityLv.15Super RodRate 50%
- Step 2Catch or Evolve Poliwhirlor evolve from Poliwag (Step 1)
- Step 3Poliwrath ✓
Poliwrath Weakness
Type-wise, Poliwrath takes extra damage from Electric, Grass, Flying, and Psychic. The Water/Fighting typing picks up 5 resistances to work with. Poliwrath's physical bulk (base 95 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Grass, Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Ice, Bug, Rock |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Poliwrath Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Poliwrath
 Mewtwo Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodCerulean Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Mewtwo builds →Psychic 2x120-141%KO Solar Beam 2x106-125%KO Thunderbolt 2x85-100%KO | ||
 Venusaur GrassPoison | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Bulbasaur (Pallet Town Gift) | ||
 Exeggutor GrassPsychic | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Exeggutor builds →Solar Beam 2x132-156%KO Psychic 2x100-118%KO | ||
 Tangela Grass | C | |
 Zapdos Electric | A | |
Obtain MethodPower Plant Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Zapdos builds →Thunderbolt 2x105-124%KO Sky Attack 2x92-108%KO | ||
 Parasect BugGrass | C | |
 Hypno Psychic | C | |
 Dodrio Normal | B | |
 Moltres Fire | B | |
Obtain MethodVictory Road Interact Encounter | ||
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodCinnabar Island Gift | ||
 Articuno Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodSeafoam Islands Interact Encounter | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | B | |
 Starmie WaterPsychic | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Staryu (Route 19 Super Rod) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poliwrath View Starmie builds →Psychic 2x83-98% Thunderbolt 2x58-69% | ||
 Dragonite Dragon | B | |
Poliwrath Evolutions
Poliwag's chain ends at Poliwrath (using a Water Stone). Despite 480 base stats, this Water/Fighting type doesn't breed. The evolution from Poliwag pushed Poliwrath to 480 total stats. Defense saw the largest single gain at +55. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
RB Poliwrath Best Moveset
Water/Fighting with 90 Attack and 70 Special, where the Fighting type gets punished by Psychic dominance across the top. MoveSurf runs off the weaker Special side, and MoveBody Slam often does more practical damage. Physical Water moves don't exist yet, so the Attack stat mostly goes to Normal coverage.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Amnesia
- Hypnosis
- Submission
- Hydro Pump
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Most of Poliwrath's flexibility comes from TMs. Same-type output runs through Surf and Submission, but Normal and Ice and the rest of the TM pool push it from predictable to genuinely threatening.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
An adept swimmer at both the front crawl and breast stroke. Easily overtakes the best human swimmers.
Poliwrath Red & Blue Guide
In Red & Blue, Poliwrath plays as a balanced. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully. Submission is the primary attack.
Game Availability
Present since Red & Blue, Poliwrath appears in 20 games spanning 9 generations. Gen 1 originals like Poliwrath have the longest track record of availability in the series.
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 Poliwrath.
Keep playing · Red & BlueRed & Blue Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Red & Blue Tier List