Is Poochyena Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Safari Zone or swarm encounter. Dark-type with AbilityRun Away. Mightyena at level 18 has AbilityIntimidate for Attack reduction. The timing and limited stats make the whole line a pass in HGSS.
Falkner's typing presses Poochyena's defenses.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Poochyena has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Chuck's Pokemon outpace and outclass Poochyena here.
Jasmine's typing presses Poochyena's defenses.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Clair's typing presses Poochyena's defenses.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Erika's team hits Poochyena's weaknesses hard.
Janine's team hits Poochyena's weaknesses hard.
Poochyena has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Mightyena has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Mightyena trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Poochyena trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Koga's typing presses Poochyena's defenses.
Bruno's Pokemon outpace and outclass Poochyena here.
Karen's team hits Poochyena's weaknesses hard.
Lance's typing presses Poochyena's defenses.
Catchable
Catch Poochyena on Route 1 (walking, Lv 2, common). Swarm.
Recommended Moves
- LV 13DarkBitePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- After Morty
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- LV 29DarkAssurancePower 75Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Clair
- TM79DarkDark PulsePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sold by the TM clerk on 3F of the Celadon Department Store
- LV 45NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- LV 49DarkSucker PunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 5
- LV 53DarkCrunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
Evolve Poochyena to Mightyena
Poochyena evolves into Mightyena at Level 18. Your Poochyena should hit Level 18 before you reach Blaine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 18)
- LV 18DarkBitePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM28GroundDigPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrengthPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a Hiker on Route 42
- After Morty
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- After Clair
- TM79DarkDark PulsePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sold by the TM clerk on 3F of the Celadon Department Store
- LV 52NormalTake DownPower 90Accuracy 85%PP 20
- LV 62DarkSucker PunchPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 5
How to Get Poochyena in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Poochyena is swarm-only, showing up common on a single Kanto route but only while its swarm is active. Watch for the swarm alert, since there is no other place it appears in the wild.
Wild Poochyena may be holding when caught:
Pecha Berry (5% chance) It may be used or held by a Pokemon to recover from poison.1 location to catch Poochyena
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Where To Catch Poochyena in HGSS
- Step 1Poochyena ✓
- Step 2Evolve into Mightyena
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Poochyena preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Poochyena in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Poochyena appears on Route 1, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Poochyena odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Poochyena 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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds calculator with Poochyena already selected.
Poochyena Weakness
Fighting and Bug moves hit Poochyena for super-effective damage. The upside? Psychic-type moves can't touch it at all. Only 2 weaknesses makes it relatively easy to build around defensively.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Ghost, Dark |
| 0x (Immune) | Psychic |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Poochyena Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Poochyena
 Hariyama Fighting | B | |
 Breloom GrassFighting | A | |
 Blaziken FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Torchic (Silph Co Gift) | ||
 Toxicroak PoisonFighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Toxicroak builds →Focus Punch 2x360-424%KO X-Scissor 2x129-152%KO | ||
 Gallade PsychicFighting | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Gallade builds →Focus Punch 2x413-486%KO X-Scissor 2x147-173%KO | ||
 Hitmonlee Fighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tyrogue (Mt Mortar Gift) | ||
 Machoke Fighting | C | |
 Primeape Fighting | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Primeape builds →Focus Punch 2x355-418%KO U-turn 2x111-131%KO | ||
 Pinsir Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Pinsir builds →Focus Punch 2x275-324%KO X-Scissor 2x221-260%KO | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Pewter City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Armaldo builds →X-Scissor 2x221-260%KO Brick Break 2x138-163%KO | ||
 Riolu Fighting | C | |
 Scyther Bug | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Poochyena View Scyther builds →X-Scissor 2x199-234%KO Brick Break 2x125-147%KO | ||
 Yanmega Bug | B | |
 Medicham FightingPsychic | C | |
Poochyena Evolutions
Poochyena evolves into Mightyena. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 200 total stats over Poochyena. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Poochyena easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Astonish, Covet, Fire Fang and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Poochyena Best Moveset
Dark type at stats below 55 everywhere with AbilityQuick Feet boosting Speed when statused. The moveset has no competitive function at these numbers. Evolve to Mightyena.
Best Build
Poochyena best EVs are HP and Attack
Mixed Revenge Killer Moveset
- Iron Tail
- Crunch
- Sucker Punch
- Double Edge
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Poochyena misses out on Astonish and Covet. That's 10 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Crunch and Dark Pulse, with coverage across 9 types rounding things out.
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 24 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It chases its prey until the victim becomes exhausted. However, it turns tail if the prey strikes back.
Poochyena HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Poochyena in HeartGold & SoulSilver can hold Pecha Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Pecha Berry.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Poochyena has 220 BST and evolves into Mightyena. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Poochyena is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Poochyena becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Game Availability
Poochyena first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 14 games across 7 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 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
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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