Is Swellow Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
AbilityGuts turns status conditions into power boosts instead of penalties. Swellow is fast with solid Attack, and a burn or poison makes it hit even harder. Native to RS from Route 104. Handles Brawly, contributes against Sidney, and the Speed carries through all of Hoenn. One of the best early catches in the game.
Roxanne's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Wattson's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Flannery's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Tate & Liza's typing presses Swellow's defenses.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Wallace'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.
Steven's team hits Swellow's weaknesses hard.
Catch Taillow
Catch Taillow on Route 104 (walking, Lv 4-5, uncommon).
Recommended Moves
- LV 8NormalQuick AttackPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 30
- LV 13FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Roxanne
- TM47SteelSteel WingPower 70Accuracy 90%PP 25Granite Cave
- 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 15Route 119
- LV 34FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
Evolve Taillow to Swellow
Taillow evolves into Swellow at Level 22. Your Taillow should hit Level 22 before you reach Flannery, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Roxanne
- TM47SteelSteel WingPower 70Accuracy 90%PP 25Granite Cave
- 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 15Route 119
- LV 38FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
How to Get Swellow in Ruby & Sapphire
Swellow has a couple of uncommon grass spots at level 25, or you can evolve a Taillow at 22. Either way it arrives around the same point in the story.
1 location to catch Swellow4 locations to catch Taillow
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3Catch Taillow at any of the 4 locations below, then level it up to 22 — it evolves into Swellow.
Badge 1
Badge 2 Badge 3Where To Catch Swellow in RS
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 Ruby & Sapphire Catch Rate Calculator before you throw.
How to Get Shiny Swellow in Ruby & Sapphire
Swellow patrols the tall grass on Route 115, so meet its wild encounters until one comes up shiny. Compare Shiny Swellow odds across every game
Ruby & Sapphire 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 Ruby & Sapphire 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
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.
RS Swellow Best Moveset
Status actually makes it dangerous: AbilityGuts turns conditions into a 50% Attack boost, and MoveFacade doubles in power when statused. MoveAerial Ace for Flying TermStab. Held ItemToxic Orb self-activates Guts for a fast physical attacker that wants to be poisoned.
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 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
SWELLOW flies high above our heads, making graceful arcs in the sky. This POKéMON dives at a steep angle as soon as it spots its prey. The hapless prey is tightly grasped by SWELLOW’s clawed feet, preventing escape.
SWELLOW is very conscientious about the upkeep of its glossy wings. Once two SWELLOW are gathered, they diligently take care of cleaning each other’s wings.
Swellow Ruby & Sapphire Guide
Swellow can be caught in the wild at Hoenn Route 115 in Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire.
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 · Ruby & SapphireRuby & Sapphire Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Ruby & Sapphire Tier List