Is Taillow Good in Platinum Playthrough?
Normal/Flying from Hoenn, breed-only in Platinum. AbilityGuts boosts Attack when statused. Swellow at level 22 is the goal, but Staraptor already dominates the Flying slot from Route 201.
Roark's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow has the type edge here and should clean up Gardenia's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Fantina's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Maylene's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Crasher Wake's team.
Byron's Pokemon outpace and outclass Taillow here.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Candice's team.
Volkner's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Aaron's team.
Bertha's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Flint's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Lucian's team.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Jupiter's team.
Mars's typing presses Taillow's defenses.
Taillow trades roughly evenly with Saturn's team.
Cynthia's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Trade
Taillow cannot be caught in this game. It must be traded in from a compatible game where it appears in the wild. Cross-region trading typically becomes available after defeating the Elite Four.
Recommended Moves
- After Roark
- TM88FlyingPluckPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20Floaroma Town
- After Gardenia
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Amity Square
- After Fantina
- TM10NormalHidden PowerPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 15Veilstone Game Corner
- After Maylene
- HM02FlyingFlyPower 135Accuracy 95%PP 15Veilstone City (Galactic Warehouse)
- LV 34FlyingAerial AcePower 90Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 53FlyingAir SlashPower 113Accuracy 95%PP 20
- Post-Game
- TM42NormalFacadePower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Survival Area
- TUTORFireHeat WavePower 100Accuracy 90%PP 10Survival Area
How to Get Taillow in Platinum
The Taillow line has no wild start in Platinum, so the base form comes from breeding. Trade a Hoenn-caught parent over and hatch the egg, because neither stage is catchable in Sinnoh.
Wild Taillow may be holding when caught:
Charti Berry (5% chance) Held: Consumed when struck by a super-effective Rock-type attack to halve the damage.Catch Swellow at any of these 1 spot to eventually evolve into Taillow.
- 1Catch Taillow
- 2
Badge 5How to Obtain Taillow in Pt
How to Get Shiny Taillow in Platinum
Taillow never appears in Platinum, so breed a Swellow with a foreign Ditto at 1 in 1,638; Swellow sweeps over Route 213. Compare Shiny Taillow odds across every game
Platinum Shiny Taillow Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here 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.
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 Platinum 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
 Rampardos Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cranidos (Oreburgh City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Rampardos builds →Head Smash 2x555-654%KO Avalanche 2x149-176%KO Thunderbolt 2x108-127%KO | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Rhydon builds →Stone Edge 2x300-354%KO Avalanche 2x121-143%KO Thunderbolt 2x82-97% | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 228 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regirock builds →Stone Edge 2x240-283%KO Thunderbolt 2x89-104%KO | ||
 Tyranitar RockDark | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Tyranitar builds →Stone Edge 2x308-363%KO Thunderbolt 2x146-172%KO Ice Beam 2x146-172%KO | ||
 Magnezone ElectricSteel | A | |
 Kabutops RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Kabuto (Oreburgh City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Kabutops builds →Stone Edge 2x271-319%KO Ice Beam 2x108-127%KO | ||
 Bastiodon RockSteel | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Shieldon (Oreburgh City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Bastiodon builds →Stone Edge 2x144-170%KO Ice Beam 2x85-101%KO Thunderbolt 2x85-101%KO | ||
 Jynx IcePsychic | C | |
 Probopass RockSteel | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Probopass builds →Power Gem 2x133-157%KO Thunderbolt 2x120-141%KO | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Oreburgh City Gift) | ||
 Glaceon Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Hearthome City Gift) | ||
 Sudowoodo Rock | C | |
 Zapdos Electric | A | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Zapdos builds →Thunderbolt 2x276-325%KO Ancient Power 2x117-138%KO | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Solrock builds →Stone Edge 2x231-271%KO Charge Beam 2x50-60% | ||
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.
Pt Taillow Best Moveset
85 Speed and AbilityGuts boosting Attack under status conditions at 55 base. The moveset runs physical Normal and Flying attacks, but the stats are too thin to survive a hit. Evolve to Swellow.
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
25 of 26 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
It has a gutsy spirit that makes it bravely take on tough foes. It flies in search of warm climates.
Taillow Platinum Guide
In Platinum, Taillow has 270 BST and evolves into Swellow. Compare the two forms before you give either one a team slot.
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
Explore
Where to go next after Taillow.
Keep playing · PlatinumPlatinum Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Platinum Tier List