Is Spearow Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Route 33 near Azalea Town. Normal/Flying with AbilityKeen Eye. Fearow at level 20 is faster than Pidgeot early, and the rivalry between the two comes down to whether you want power now or consistency later.
Spearow trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Spearow has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Spearow trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Jasmine's team hits Fearow's weaknesses hard.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Fearow trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Brock's team hits Fearow's weaknesses hard.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's team hits Fearow's weaknesses hard.
Fearow resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Fearow trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Fearow trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Fearow has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Fearow trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Spearow on Route 33 (walking, Lv 6, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- LV 17FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM89BugU-turnPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Bugsy
- After Morty
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 40
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- After Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Lake of Rage
- LV 37FlyingDrill PeckPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Brock
- TM47SteelSteel WingPower 70Accuracy 90%PP 25From the celebrity in the Route 28 house
Evolve Spearow to Fearow
Spearow evolves into Fearow at Level 20. Your Spearow should hit Level 20 before you reach Morty, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 20)
- LV 20FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 20FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM89BugU-turnPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Bugsy
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- After Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Lake of Rage
- LV 47FlyingDrill PeckPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
How to Get Spearow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Spearow blankets seventeen locations across Johto and Kanto, common in morning and day grass with the odd Headbutt slot mixed in. The bird is an easy early grab almost anywhere you walk through open routes.
18 locations to catch Spearow
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Spearow in HGSS
Spearow is where the line starts, caught through walking, headbutt, and more encounters at Lv. 2-31. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
- Step 1Spearow ✓Route 3Lv.5-8GrassHeartGoldRate 55%Morning/dayRoute 4Lv.5-8GrassHeartGoldRate 55%Morning/dayRoute 46Lv.2-5Headbutting treesRate 50%Azalea TownLv.3-8Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 33Lv.3-8Headbutting treesHeartGoldRate 50%Route 22Lv.3-5GrassRate 50%Morning/dayVermilion City - CityLv.11-16Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 42Lv.13-16Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 11Lv.13-16Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 9Lv.13-15GrassSoulSilverRate 50%Morning/dayRoute 7Lv.15-20Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 42Lv.14-16GrassSoulSilverRate 40%Morning/dayRoute 46Lv.2-3GrassRate 35%Morning/dayRoute 3Lv.5-8GrassSoulSilverRate 35%Morning/dayRoute 4Lv.5-8GrassSoulSilverRate 35%Morning/dayRoute 4Lv.5GrassHeartGoldRate 30%NightRoute 42Lv.14-16GrassHeartGoldRate 30%Morning/daySafari Zone - WetlandLv.15-17FloorRate 30%Morning/dayRoute 33Lv.6GrassRate 20%Morning/dayRoute 9Lv.13GrassHeartGoldRate 20%Morning/dayRoute 44Lv.21-24Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 45Lv.23-27Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 16Lv.26-30Headbutting treesRate 50%Route 10Lv.16GrassRate 30%Morning/dayRoute 7Lv.17GrassRate 30%Morning/dayRoute 35Lv.20Gift from NPCLimitedRequires at least one open party slot before borrowing the gatehouse guard's SpearowRoute 47Lv.31GrassRate 5%
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into FearowSafari Zone - DesertLv.15-17FloorRate 30%NightSafari Zone - WastelandLv.15-17FloorRate 30%NightRoute 22Lv.7GrassRate 5%Morning/dayRoute 9Lv.15GrassRate 5%Morning/dayor evolve from Spearow (Step 1)
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver for Spearow.
How to Get Shiny Spearow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Spearow darts around Route 10 and Route 22, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Spearow odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Spearow Calculator
3 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.
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 | 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Spearow.
Spearow Weakness
Electric, Ice, and Rock moves hit Spearow for super-effective damage. The upside? Ground and Ghost-type moves can't touch it at all.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Electric, Ice, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground, Ghost |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Spearow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Spearow
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Spearow View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x189-224%KO Thunderbolt 2x127-149%KO | ||
 Luxray Electric | C | |
 Rhyhorn GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Spearow View Rhyhorn builds →Rock Tomb 2x101-120%KO Ice Beam 2x63-75% Thunderbolt 2x63-75% | ||
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter | ||
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Pupitar RockGround | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Onix RockGround | C | |
 Pichu Electric | D | |
Obtain MethodIlex Forest Interact Encounter | ||
 Shuckle BugRock | B | |
Obtain MethodCianwood City Gift | ||
Spearow Evolutions
Spearow evolves into Fearow. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 180 total stats over Spearow. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Spearow easily with 31 breeding partners from the Flying egg group. Pass egg moves like Astonish, False Swipe, Feather Dance and 7 more to offspring.
HGSS Spearow Best Moveset
Physical Normal/Flying attacks at 60 Attack and 70 Speed. The moveset runs the same role as Pidgey but with slightly more power and less Speed. AbilityKeen Eye is irrelevant. Evolve to Fearow.
Best Build
Spearow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Utility Moveset
- Heat Wave
- Return
- Pluck
- U Turn
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Spearow misses out on Astonish and False Swipe. That's 10 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Sky Attack and Fly, with coverage across 7 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
19 of 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It flaps its short wings to flush out insects from tall grass. It then plucks them with its stubby beak.
Very protective of its territory, it flaps its short wings busily to dart around at high speed.
Spearow HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- Where in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone can I find Spearow?
See the Locations section above for where to find Spearow in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Spearow from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Spearow easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Spearow does the job early-game if you need a Normal/Flying type on your team. Evolve it into Fearow before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Spearow has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 18 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
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