Is Swablu Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Post-game swarm encounter on Route 45. Normal/Flying with AbilityNatural Cure. Swablu evolves into Dragon/Flying Altaria at level 35, and the Dragon typing makes the evolution worth pursuing for post-game battles.
Swablu has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Swablu has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Swablu has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Morty's typing presses Swablu's defenses.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Jasmine's team hits Swablu's weaknesses hard.
Swablu has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Altaria resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Altaria resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Altaria resists most of Janine's coverage and hits back hard.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Altaria has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Will's team.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Swablu has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Karen's team.
Swablu trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Swablu on Route 45 (walking, Lv 23, common). Swarm.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- TM13IceIce BeamPower 95Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Game Corner
- LV 28NormalTake DownPower 135Accuracy 85%PP 20
- 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
- After Clair
- TM40FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Mt. Mortar
- LV 45DragonDragon PulsePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Swablu to Altaria
Swablu evolves into Altaria at Level 35. Your Swablu should hit Level 35 before you reach Brock, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- After Pryce
- TUTORDragonDraco MeteorPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Blackthorn City
- After Clair
- TM02DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Route 27
- LV 54DragonDragon PulsePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 70FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5
How to Get Swablu in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Swablu is a swarm catch, common on a single Johto route but only while its swarm runs. Outside that window the cotton bird is nowhere, so the swarm alert is what you watch for.
1 location to catch Swablu
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Where To Catch Swablu in HGSS
- Step 1Swablu ✓
- Step 2Evolve into Altaria
Want the exact numbers? Work out your catch odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver for Swablu.
How to Get Shiny Swablu in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Swablu floats along Route 45, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent at 1 in 1,638. Compare Shiny Swablu odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Swablu 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.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Swablu.
Swablu Weakness
Electric, Ice, and Rock moves hit Swablu 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 Swablu Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Swablu
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Raikou Electric | B | |
 Ampharos Electric | C | |
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swablu View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x99-117%KO Thunderbolt 2x66-78% | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter | ||
 Mamoswine IceGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swablu View Mamoswine builds →Ice Fang 2x114-135%KO Rock Tomb 2x59-70% | ||
 Luxray Electric | C | |
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Rhyhorn GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swablu View Rhyhorn builds →Rock Tomb 2x63-75% Ice Beam 2x34-40% Thunderbolt 2x34-40% | ||
 Electrode Electric | B | |
Obtain MethodTeam Rocket Hq Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swablu View Electrode builds →Thunderbolt 2x94-111%KO Rollout 2x18-22% | ||
 Minun Electric | C | |
Swablu Evolutions
Swablu evolves into Altaria. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via two egg groups. Eggs take an average time to hatch. The evolved forms gain up to 180 total stats over Swablu. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Swablu easily with 30 breeding partners from the Dragon and Flying egg groups. Pass egg moves like Agility, Dragon Rush, Feather Dance and 4 more to offspring.
HGSS Swablu Best Moveset
Normal/Flying with 75 Sp. Def and AbilityNatural Cure clearing status on every switch. The moveset has some special bulk but 40 Attack and 40 Sp. Atk threaten nothing. Evolve to Altaria.
Best Build
Swablu best EVs are Sp. Def and Defense
Bulky Support Moveset
- Outrage
- Heat Wave
- Sky Attack
- Ice Beam
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Swablu misses out on Agility and Dragon Rush. That's 7 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Take Down and Fly, with coverage across 8 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
21 of 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its wings bring cottony clouds to mind. It grooms with springwater and loves to sit on heads.
Swablu HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Swablu has 310 BST and evolves into Altaria. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Swablu is a post-game Pokemon. You need to defeat the Elite Four and enter the Hall of Fame first. Swablu becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Game Availability
Swablu first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 16 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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