Is Sunkern Good in Platinum Playthrough?
Route 204 via PokeRadar, postgame access. AbilityChlorophyll in sun. Sun Stone for Sunflora. Sunkern has the lowest base stat total of any Pokemon. Even Sunflora can't compete with Platinum's Grass roster.
Sunkern has the type edge here and should clean up Roark's team.
Gardenia's team hits Sunflora's weaknesses hard.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Sunflora has the type edge here and should clean up Crasher Wake's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Byron's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Aaron's Pokemon outpace and outclass Sunflora here.
Sunflora has the type edge here and should clean up Bertha's team.
Flint's team hits Sunflora's weaknesses hard.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Jupiter's team.
Sunflora trades roughly evenly with Mars's team.
Saturn's team hits Sunflora's weaknesses hard.
Cynthia's team hits Sunflora's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Sunkern on Route 204 (Poké Radar, Lv 9-11, common).
Recommended Moves
- After Gardenia
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Fantina
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10Veilstone Department Store
- LV 29GrassRazor LeafPower 83Accuracy 95%PP 25
- LV 41GrassGiga DrainPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- After Candice
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Item ball on B2F of the Team Galactic HQ in Veilstone City
- LV 45GrassSeed BombPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- Post-Game
- TM53GrassEnergy BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 226
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
Evolve Sunkern to Sunflora
Sunkern evolves into Sunflora with a Sun Stone. You can find the Sun Stone hidden in Mt. Coronet. 1 other location is also available.
Recommended Moves
- After Fantina
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- LV 33GrassPetal DancePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Crasher Wake
- TM19GrassGiga DrainPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 209
- LV 41GrassSolar BeamPower 180Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 43GrassLeaf StormPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TM53GrassEnergy BallPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 226
- TUTORGrassSeed BombPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Survival Area
- TM42NormalFacadePower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Sunkern in Platinum
At one route, Sunkern shows up common at levels 9 to 11, but only via Poke Radar chains. There is no regular grass spawn for it, so the radar is the single way to turn one up.
Wild Sunkern may be holding when caught:
Coba Berry (5% chance) Held: Consumed when struck by a super-effective Flying-type attack to halve the damage.1 location to catch Sunkern
Badge 1Where To Catch Sunkern in Pt
- Step 1Sunkern ✓
- Step 2Evolve into SunfloraBREEDINGAvailableLeave a compatible parent at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Sunkern egg.
Bring the right balls: check Sunkern catch odds in the Platinum Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Sunkern in Platinum
Sunkern only sprouts from a Poké Radar chain on Route 204, so hold the chain to 40 for a shiny. Compare Shiny Sunkern odds across every game
Platinum Shiny Sunkern Calculator
3 MethodsThe best route is PokeRadar Chain at full boosts, about 1 in 200 on each try. Tune it below.
PokeRadar Chain: Chain shaking-grass patches without breaking the combo. The rate peaks at a chain of 40.
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 | 22-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 58-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 139-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 460-- | -- |
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Sunkern in the Platinum Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Sunkern Weakness
Sunkern's Grass typing leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, and Bug. The Grass typing picks up 4 resistances to work with.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Ice, Poison, Flying, Bug |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Water, Electric, Grass, Ground |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Sunkern Weak Against
FragileBest Pokemon Against Sunkern
 Monferno FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Chimchar (Route 201 Gift) | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
Obtain MethodMt Coronet Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sunkern View Golbat builds →Wing Attack 2x127-150%KO Leech Life 2x31-38% | ||
 Noctowl Normal | C | |
 Mothim Bug | C | |
 Growlithe Fire | C | |
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Sunkern View Aerodactyl builds →Wing Attack 2x152-181%KO Ice Fang 2x108-129%KO Fire Fang 2x108-129%KO | ||
 Heracross BugFighting | B | |
 Beautifly Bug | C | |
 Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Doduo Normal | C | |
 Staravia Normal | C | |
 Pineco Bug | C | |
 Beedrill BugPoison | C | |
 Drifloon Ghost | C | |
Obtain MethodValley Windworks Interact Encounter | ||
Sunkern Evolutions
To get Sunflora from Sunkern, you need an evolution item. The evolution method matters here. The evolved forms gain up to 245 total stats over Sunkern. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Sunkern easily with 45 breeding partners from the Grass egg group. Pass egg moves like Curse, Encore, Grass Whistle and 5 more to offspring.
Pt Sunkern Best Moveset
30 across every single stat, the lowest total in the game. The moveset has nothing and does nothing. Evolve to Sunflora.
Best Build
Sunkern best EVs are Attack and Sp. Atk
Screens Setter Moveset
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Encore
- Light Screen
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The natural movepool does the job, but Curse and Encore from the egg pool give Sunkern something extra. Pair those with Solar Beam and Energy Ball for STAB and Normal and Poison 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. 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
26 of 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It suddenly falls out of the sky in the morning. A year after a cold summer, their population explodes.
Sunkern Platinum Guide
Yes. Wild Sunkern in Platinum can hold Coba Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Coba Berry.
In Platinum, for a casual playthrough, Sunkern works as a placeholder. Grass coverage is useful early. The real payoff is Sunflora. That's where the stats start mattering.
Game Availability
Since Gold & Silver, Sunkern has been in 16 games. Requiring an item-based evolution to obtain means it's consistently available but requires more effort than simply catching it in the wild.
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 Sunkern.
Keep playing · PlatinumPlatinum Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Platinum Tier List