Is Torkoal Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Breed-only. Fire with AbilityWhite Smoke preventing stat drops. Slow but bulky. Another Fire option that requires breeding from imports. HGSS Fire scarcity gives it niche value.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Falkner's team.
Torkoal resists most of Bugsy's coverage and hits back hard.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Torkoal resists most of Jasmine's coverage and hits back hard.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Clair's team hits Torkoal's weaknesses hard.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Erika's team.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Janine's team.
Sabrina's typing presses Torkoal's defenses.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Blaine's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Torkoal has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Torkoal trades roughly evenly with Karen's team.
Lance's team hits Torkoal's weaknesses hard.
Catchable
Catch Torkoal in the Safari Zone (walking, Lv 46-47). Requires 35 Peak objects placed in Savannah.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 46)
- LV 46FireFlamethrowerPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 46FireLava PlumePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 180Accuracy 85%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- After Clair
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Victory Road
- LV 55FireHeat WavePower 150Accuracy 90%PP 10
HeartGold & SoulSilver Torkoal Locations
There is no cave or mountain where Torkoal smolders in the wild here. Every one hatches from an egg, so the hard part is landing a first Torkoal to breed from.
1 location to catch Torkoal
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 8Best Locations to Catch Torkoal in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Torkoal in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Torkoal comes only from the Day Care, so breed it Masuda-style with a foreign parent for a shiny. Compare Shiny Torkoal odds across every game
Shiny Torkoal Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Torkoal 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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Torkoal in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Torkoal Weakness
Torkoal is weak to Water, Ground, and Rock. It resists 5 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Torkoal's physical bulk (base 140 Def) helps cushion physical weakness hits, but special attackers are the bigger threat.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Ground, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Torkoal Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Torkoal
 Marowak Ground | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Marowak builds →Dig 2x42-50% Rock Tomb 2x18-21% | ||
 Feraligatr Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Totodile (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Feraligatr builds →Waterfall 2x50-60% Dig 2x33-40% Rock Tomb 2x22-26% | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Slowbro builds →Surf 2x98-117%KO Dig 2x26-31% | ||
 Suicune Water | A | |
Obtain MethodBurned Tower Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Suicune builds →Surf 2x90-107%KO Dig 2x26-31% | ||
 Vaporeon Water | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Vaporeon builds →Surf 2x105-124%KO Dig 2x23-28% | ||
 Gyarados Water | S | |
Obtain MethodLake Of Rage Good Rod | ||
 Mamoswine IceGround | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Mamoswine builds →Earthquake 2x74-87% Rock Tomb 2x25-30% | ||
 Krabby Water | C | |
Obtain MethodCianwood City Old Rod Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Krabby builds →Crabhammer 2x63-74% Dig 2x33-40% Rock Tomb 2x22-26% | ||
 Quagsire WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodCliff Edge Gate Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Quagsire builds →Earthquake 2x52-62% Waterfall 2x42-50% Rock Tomb 2x18-21% | ||
 Azumarill Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Azurill (Safari Zone Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Azumarill builds →Surf 2x67-79% Dig 2x19-23% Rollout 2x8-10% | ||
 Tentacruel WaterPoison | B | |
Obtain MethodCherrygrove City Surfing | ||
 Ludicolo WaterGrass | C | |
 Sandslash Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Sandslash builds →Dig 2x48-57% Rock Tomb 2x21-25% | ||
 Gliscor Ground | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Torkoal View Gliscor builds →Dig 2x46-55% Rock Tomb 2x19-23% | ||
Torkoal Evolutions
What you see is what you get. Torkoal sits outside any evolution chain, so focus on the egg moves and a massive partner pool from one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Torkoal easily with 131 breeding partners from the Field egg group. Pass egg moves like Earthquake, Endure, Eruption and 4 more to offspring.
HGSS Torkoal Best Moveset
140 Defense tanking physical attacks with AbilityWhite Smoke preventing stat drops from any source. Fires special Fire attacks off 85 Sp. Atk. 20 Speed goes last against everything. 70 HP and 70 Sp. Def limit special durability.
Best Build
Torkoal best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Special Tank Moveset
- Rapid Spin
- Yawn
- Stealth Rock
- Flamethrower
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Torkoal gets Earthquake and Endure exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Coverage across 7 types rounds out the picture alongside Eruption and Fire Blast.
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 22 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
You find abandoned coal mines full of them. They dig tirelessly in search of coal.
Torkoal HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
- How do I catch Torkoal in the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone?
See the Locations section above for where to find Torkoal in HeartGold & SoulSilver.
Safari rules: You can only use Safari Balls. No battling. Two tactical items shift the catch/flee trade-off:
- Throw bait to keep Torkoal from fleeing (flee rate cut to 1/4) but it becomes harder to catch (catch factor halved).
- Throw a rock to make Torkoal easier to catch (catch factor doubled) but it flees twice as often.
- Each effect lasts 2-6 random turns; throwing one cancels the other.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Torkoal plays as a trick room. It's slow, so Trick Room or priority moves are key. so pick your spots carefully. Flamethrower is the primary attack.
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Modest is the go-to nature for Torkoal. That's +Sp. Atk / -Attack. Pair it with 252 HP / 252 SpA / 6 SpD EVs. Fits the trick room role.
Game Availability
Torkoal first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 15 games across 7 generations. Obtainable through wild encounters 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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