Is Taillow Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Safari Zone or swarm encounter. Normal/Flying with AbilityGuts boosting Attack when statused. Swellow at level 22 hits hard for a Flying-type. Late HGSS access limits the story window.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Jasmine's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Pryce's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Brock's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Lt. Surge's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Blaine's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Taillow in Cherrygrove City (Headbutt (rare), Lv 18-25, limited). Post-National Dex.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 18)
- LV 18FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Bugsy
- TM89BugU-turnPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Bugsy
- After Morty
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 40
- After Chuck
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15From Chuck's wife outside Cianwood Gym
- LV 34FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Jasmine
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Lake of Rage
- LV 53FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
Evolve Taillow to Swellow
Taillow evolves into Swellow at Level 22. Your Taillow should hit Level 22 before you reach Will, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 22FlyingWing AttackPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 35
- After Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 225Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- 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
- LV 38FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 61FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
How to Get Taillow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Special Headbutt trees near Cherrygrove hold Taillow, but only after the National Dex switches them on. The bird stays up in the branches rather than the grass, so thump trees once the upgrade lands.
Wild Taillow may be holding when caught:
Charti Berry (5% chance) If held by a Pokemon, it weakens a foe's supereffective Rock-type attack.1 location to catch Taillow
Where To Catch Taillow in HGSS
- Step 2Evolve into Swellow
Not landing the catch? Calculate Taillow catch rates for HeartGold & SoulSilver by ball, status, and HP.
How to Get Shiny Taillow in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Taillow shakes out of a special headbutt tree in Cherrygrove City, though a shiny hatches faster from Masuda breeding. Compare Shiny Taillow odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Taillow 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.
Want exact numbers for your session? Calculate your shiny odds in HeartGold & SoulSilver with Taillow preloaded.
Taillow Weakness
Taillow is weak to Electric, Ice, and Rock. On the flip side, it's immune to Ground and Ghost-type moves entirely.
| 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 Taillow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Taillow
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Lapras WaterIce | C | |
Obtain MethodUnion Cave Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Lapras builds →Ice Beam 2x197-232%KO Thunderbolt 2x131-155%KO | ||
 Magnemite ElectricSteel | C | |
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 36 Interact Encounter | ||
 Plusle Electric | B | |
 Flaaffy Electric | C | |
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Luxio Electric | C | |
 Onix RockGround | C | |
Taillow Evolutions
Taillow evolves into Swellow. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are quick to hatch. Evolving adds up to 185 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Taillow easily with 31 breeding partners from the Flying egg group. Pass egg moves like Brave Bird, Mirror Move, Pursuit and 5 more to offspring.
HGSS Taillow Best Moveset
Normal/Flying at 55 Attack and 85 Speed with AbilityGuts boosting Attack when statused. Burn a Taillow and it hits harder, not weaker. The moveset previews Swellow's Guts strategy. 40 HP folds to everything. Swellow turns Guts into a genuinely threatening strategy.
Best Build
Taillow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Brave Bird
- U Turn
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Taillow gets Brave Bird and Mirror Move exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Coverage across 7 types rounds out the picture alongside Sky Attack and Brave Bird.
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
19 of 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
When it gets cold, they migrate, flying over 180 miles a day. It hunts for tasty prey.
Taillow HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
Yes. Wild Taillow in HeartGold & SoulSilver 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.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Taillow has 270 BST and evolves into Swellow. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
Yes. Taillow is not available during the main story. It can only be obtained after entering the Hall of Fame. Taillow becomes available after the main story is complete in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Game Availability
Taillow first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 13 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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