Is Swellow Good in Diamond & Pearl Playthrough?
AbilityGuts makes status conditions power up Swellow's attacks instead of crippling them. If imported, the Guts angle gives Swellow a niche that Staraptor can't match. Still a transfer-only import for a role Staraptor mostly handles.
Roark's team hits Swellow's weaknesses hard.
Swellow resists most of Gardenia's coverage and hits back hard.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Maylene's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Fantina's team.
Byron's team hits Swellow's weaknesses hard.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Candice's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Volkner's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Aaron's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Bertha's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Lucian's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Mars's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Jupiter's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Saturn's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Cynthia's team.
Catchable
Catch Swellow on Route 213 (Poké Radar, Lv 20-22, common).
Recommended Moves
- From Start
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Gardenia
- TM68NormalGiga ImpactPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Veilstone Department Store
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Maylene
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15Inside the Galactic Warehouse in Veilstone City
- LV 38FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 61FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
How to Get Swellow in Diamond & Pearl
Swellow chains off the Poke Radar on one route, common at level 20 to 22. The Radar is what coaxes the swallow out, so a plain walk through that grass will not turn one up.
Wild Swellow may be holding when caught:
Charti Berry (5% chance) Held: Consumed when struck by a super-effective Rock-type attack to halve the damage.1 location to catch Swellow
Badge 3Where To Catch Swellow in DP
- Step 1Obtain TaillowBREEDINGAvailableLeave Swellow with a compatible partner at the Pokemon Day Care to receive a Taillow egg.
Bring the right balls: check Swellow catch odds in the Diamond & Pearl Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Swellow in Diamond & Pearl
Swellow wheels over the Route 213 grass, where a PokeRadar chain is what drops its shiny odds right down. Compare Shiny Swellow odds across every game
Diamond & Pearl Shiny Swellow 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 Swellow in the Diamond & Pearl Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Swellow Weakness
Electric, Ice, and Rock moves hit Swellow for super-effective damage. The upside? Ground and Ghost-type moves can't touch it at all. At base 125 Speed, Swellow outspeeds most threats and doesn't need to tank what it can outrun.
| 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 Swellow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Swellow
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Rotom ElectricGhost | C | |
Obtain MethodOld Chateau Interact Encounter | ||
 Probopass RockSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swellow View Probopass builds →Thunderbolt 2x73-87% Rock Slide 2x62-74% | ||
 Luxray Electric | C | |
 Electabuzz Electric | C | |
 Pikachu Electric | C | |
 Aerodactyl Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swellow View Aerodactyl builds →Rock Slide 2x101-120%KO Thunder Fang 2x60-71% Ice Fang 2x60-71% | ||
 Anorith RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodOreburgh City Gift | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
Swellow Evolutions
Evolved from Taillow. Swellow is the final form in this two-stage line. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. Speed grew the most through evolution (+40 over Taillow), and Swellow peaks at 430 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Swellow to get Taillow eggs easily using 31 partners from the Flying egg group. Notable egg moves include Brave Bird, Mirror Move, Pursuit and 5 more.
DP Swellow Best Moveset
125 Speed is among the fastest in the game, and AbilityGuts triggered by Held ItemFlame Orb turns 85 Attack into a boosted physical threat. The moveset runs fast boosted Normal and Flying hits, and the burn prevents other status from landing. SR takes 25% per switch.
Best Build
Swellow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U Turn
- Quick Attack
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Swellow misses out on Brave Bird and Mirror Move. That's 8 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Giga Impact and Hyper Beam, with Steel and Dark coverage and more 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
27 of 28 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Transfer Moves
Base Stats
It circles the sky in search of prey. When it spots one, it dives steeply to catch the prey.
Swellow Diamond & Pearl Guide
Yes. Wild Swellow in Diamond & Pearl can hold Charti Berry (5%). Use Thief (TM46) or Covet to swipe the held item without affecting your catch chance. Quickest way to farm rare items like Charti Berry.
For Diamond & Pearl, go for it. Swellow rates A-Tier, and its Normal/Flying typing handles most of what the story throws at you.
In Diamond & Pearl, use Swellow as a pivot. Physical side carries the damage. It outspeeds most threats, Facade is the primary attack.
For Diamond & Pearl, run Jolly on Swellow. +Speed is what matters, and the -Sp. Atk cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the pivot role.
Game Availability
Available in 13 titles since its debut in Ruby & Sapphire, Swellow spans 7 generations of Pokemon games. It's accessible through wild encounters in a solid number of games.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Swellow.
Keep playing · Diamond & PearlDiamond & Pearl Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Diamond & Pearl Tier List