Is Swellow Good in Emerald Playthrough?
AbilityGuts Normal/Flying. Swellow turns burns and poison into raw power through MoveFacade. Handles Brawly through Flying, contributes against Sidney, and the Guts damage carries through every E4 fight. In Emerald, the Wallace Champion fight is neutral for Normal. Swellow's power earns its place from Route 104 to the credits.
Roxanne's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Brawly's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Wattson's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Juan's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Wallace's team.
Catch Taillow
Catch Taillow on Route 104 (walking, Lv 4-5, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- LV 13FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Wattson
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Fortree City
- After Norman
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Given by your rival after you defeat them on Route 119
- LV 34FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 180Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSnorePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
Evolve Taillow to Swellow
Taillow evolves into Swellow at Level 22. Your Taillow should hit Level 22 before you reach Wattson, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- After Wattson
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 111
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Fortree City
- After Norman
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Norman
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 105Accuracy 95%PP 15Given by your rival after you defeat them on Route 119
- LV 38FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 180Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSnorePower 60Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
How to Get Swellow in Emerald
Swellow turns up wild on Route 115 around level 25, uncommon but real, so the evolved form is catchable late. Earlier on, a Taillow simply evolves into Swellow at level 22 once you raise one.
1 location to catch Swellow4 locations to catch Taillow
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 4Catch Taillow at any of the 4 locations below, then level it up to 22 — it evolves into Swellow.
Badge 1
Badge 2
Badge 3 Badge 4Where To Catch Swellow in E
Available earlier: catch Taillow at the very start and evolve it at Lv 22. Wild Swellow first appears at Route 115 (after Badge 3).
Bring the right balls: check Swellow catch odds in the Emerald Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Swellow in Emerald
Swellow patrols the grass on Route 115 at higher levels, the only stretch it appears wild in Hoenn, so settle into that patch and keep chaining encounters until the recolored plumage flashes. Compare Shiny Swellow odds across every game
Emerald Shiny Swellow Calculator
2 MethodsBoth methods here share the same odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try. Pick whichever fits how you play.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
Breeding: Hatch eggs of this line; each egg rolls at the base shiny rate (no Masuda before Gen IV).
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
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 Emerald 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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Swellow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Swellow
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Plusle Electric | C | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Aron SteelRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Swellow View Aron builds →Rock Tomb 2x49-59% Shock Wave 2x30-37% | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Anorith RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
 Lileep RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift | ||
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 25 partners from the Flying egg group. Notable egg moves include Mirror Move, Pursuit, Rage and 3 more.
E Swellow Best Moveset
Burn or poison activates AbilityGuts for a 50%% Attack boost, and Swellow's 125 base Speed ensures it strikes first with a boosted MoveFacade before opponents can react. The moveset is built around getting statused deliberately, turning a Toxic Orb disadvantage into the strongest physical Normal hit in the tier.
Best Build
Swellow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Aerial Ace
- Facade
- Baton Pass
- Endeavor
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without breeding, Swellow misses out on Mirror Move and Pursuit. That's 6 egg moves adding depth that the base kit lacks. STAB comes from Hyper Beam and Sky Attack, 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
All 17 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A SWELLOW dives upon prey from far above. It never misses its targets. It takes to the skies in search of lands with a warm climate.
Swellow Emerald Guide
For Emerald, go for it. Swellow rates A-Tier, and its Normal/Flying typing handles most of what the story throws at you.
In Emerald, use Swellow as a pivot. Physical side carries the damage. It outspeeds most threats, Facade is the primary attack.
For Emerald, 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 · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List