
Is Pupitar Good in Crystal Playthrough?
Middle stage from level 30 to 55. Pupitar sits here through the bulk of Crystal's postgame content. Keep grinding past Red if you're committed to reaching Tyranitar for the Battle Tower.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Chuck's team hits Pupitar's weaknesses hard.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Pupitar resists most of Lt. Surge's coverage and hits back hard.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Erika's team hits Pupitar's weaknesses hard.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Pupitar resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Bruno's team hits Pupitar's weaknesses hard.
Pupitar has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Pupitar trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Pupitar in Mt. Silver (walking, Lv 20, rare).
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20DarkBitePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 25
- After Bugsy
- TM28GroundDigPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10National Park
- TM02NormalHeadbuttPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 15Gift from a man in Ilex Forest
- LV 22RockRock SlidePower 113Accuracy 90%PP 10
- LV 29NormalThrashPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 47DarkCrunchPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 56GroundEarthquakePower 150Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 65NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Pupitar in Crystal
Wild Pupitar is a single rare Mt. Silver spawn, buried in the postgame. Leveling a Larvitar to 30 is the only sane way up the pseudo line before then.
1 location to catch Pupitar2 locations to catch Larvitar
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Catch Larvitar at any of the 2 locations below, then level it up to 30 — it evolves into Pupitar.
Where To Catch Pupitar in C
Larvitar gets you Pupitar sooner: pick up it on Celadon City (before Badge 9) and evolve it at Lv 30. Wild Pupitar first appears at Mt. Silver (after Badge 8).
Step 3Evolve into TyranitarBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Larvitar egg.
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in Crystal for Pupitar.
How to Get Shiny Pupitar in Crystal
Pupitar shells up on Mt. Silver in the morning and daytime around level 20, but it is a rare table entry, so the summit grind runs long. Compare Shiny Pupitar odds across every game
Crystal Shiny Pupitar Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is Breed w/ Shiny Parent, about 1 in 64 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breed w/ Shiny Parent: Eggs inherit stats from a shiny parent, so about 1 in 64 hatch shiny. A shiny Ditto helps every egg, and any other shiny parent (the red Gyarados works) helps only eggs of the opposite gender.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 7-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 19-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 45-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 147-- | -- |
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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your Crystal shiny odds for Pupitar.
Pupitar Weakness
Pupitar's Rock/Ground typing leaves it vulnerable to Water, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Ground, and Steel. Water and Grass hits land at 4x, so they're the biggest threat. It shrugs off Electric-type attacks completely. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Water, Grass |
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Fighting, Ground, Steel |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Normal, Fire, Flying, Rock |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Poison |
| 0x (Immune) | Electric |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Pupitar Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Pupitar
Celebi PsychicGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Celebi builds →Solar Beam 4x252-297%KO Mud-Slap 2x15-17% | ||
Tangela Grass | C | |
Suicune Water | B | |
Obtain MethodTin Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Suicune builds →Surf 4x184-216%KO Blizzard 2x77-91% Iron Tail 2x55-65% Dig 2x33-40% | ||
Vileplume GrassPoison | C | |
Victreebel GrassPoison | C | |
Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Vaporeon builds →Hydro Pump 4x273-321%KO Blizzard 2x91-107%KO Iron Tail 2x50-59% Mud-Slap 2x10-13% | ||
Meganium Grass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chikorita (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Meganium builds →Solar Beam 4x216-255%KO Earthquake 2x60-71% Iron Tail 2x60-71% Rock Smash 2x13-15% | ||
Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Slowbro builds →Surf 4x201-237%KO Blizzard 2x84-99% Earthquake 2x55-65% Iron Tail 2x55-65% | ||
Sunflora Grass | C | |
Golduck Water | C | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Golduck builds →Hydro Pump 4x240-283%KO Blizzard 2x80-94% Iron Tail 2x60-71% Dig 2x36-43% | ||
Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Feraligatr builds →Hydro Pump 4x208-244%KO Earthquake 2x73-86% Iron Tail 2x73-86% Blizzard 2x69-81% | ||
Donphan Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Donphan builds →Earthquake 2x123-145%KO Rock Smash 2x17-21% | ||
Poliwrath WaterFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Poliwag (Ecruteak City Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Poliwrath builds →Surf 4x151-178%KO Earthquake 2x67-79% Submission 2x81-96% Blizzard 2x63-74% | ||
Marowak Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Pupitar View Marowak builds →Earthquake 2x87-103%KO Iron Tail 2x58-69% Blizzard 2x49-58% Dynamic Punch 2x58-69% | ||
Pupitar Evolutions
Partway through Larvitar's chain. Pupitar still has another evolution ahead before reaching Tyranitar. For breeding, takes forever to hatch with a decent partner pool via one egg group. So far, HP got the biggest boost (+20 from Larvitar). The final form adds another 190 stats on top. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Pupitar to get Larvitar eggs using 36 partners from the Monster egg group. Notable egg moves include Ancient Power, Focus Energy, Outrage and 2 more.
C Pupitar Best Moveset
Rock/Ground middle stage with stats improving toward Tyranitar. MoveEarthquake at reduced power. One evolution from the top of the competitive hierarchy.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Rock Slide
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Ancient Power and Focus Energy from the egg pool give Pupitar something extra. Pair those with Earthquake and Dig for STAB and Dark and Normal coverage for reach, and the kit fills out nicely.
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.
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
17 of 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It will not stay still, even while it’s a pupa. It already has arms and legs under its solid shell.
Pupitar Crystal Guide
Yes. Pupitar is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Pupitar becomes available after the main story is complete in Crystal.
In Crystal, Pupitar has 410 BST and evolves into Tyranitar. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Game Availability
Available in 18 titles since its debut in Gold & Silver, Pupitar spans 8 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through catching or hatching as a base form in most mainline games.
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 Pupitar.
