Is Venonat Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Route 43 and National Park encounters during the story. Bug/Poison with AbilityCompound Eyes boosting move accuracy. Venomoth at level 31 is the destination. Late Johto timing means a short window before the E4.
Venonat trades roughly evenly with Falkner's team.
Venonat trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Venonat trades roughly evenly with Whitney's team.
Morty's team hits Venonat's weaknesses hard.
Chuck's team hits Venonat's weaknesses hard.
Jasmine's team hits Venomoth's weaknesses hard.
Venomoth resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Venomoth resists most of Brock's coverage and hits back hard.
Venomoth has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Venomoth resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Janine's team.
Venomoth has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Blaine's team hits Venomoth's weaknesses hard.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Venomoth has the type edge here and should clean up Will's team.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Venomoth has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Venomoth has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Venomoth trades roughly evenly with Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Venonat in the National Park (walking, Lv 10-16, uncommon). Pre-National Dex.
Recommended Moves
- After Bugsy
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- LV 25PsychicPsybeamPower 65Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 35BugSignal BeamPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- TM43NormalSecret PowerPower 70Accuracy 100%PP 20Lake of Rage
- LV 37PsychicZen HeadbuttPower 80Accuracy 90%PP 15
- LV 41PoisonPoison FangPower 75Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 47PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
Evolve Venonat to Venomoth
Venonat evolves into Venomoth at Level 31. Your Venonat should hit Level 31 before you reach Jasmine, at typical leveling pace.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 31)
- LV 31GrassSleep PowderPower —Accuracy 75%PP 15
- After Bugsy
- TM89BugU-turnPower 105Accuracy 100%PP 20Prize for defeating Bugsy
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Goldenrod Department Store
- After Jasmine
- TM36PoisonSludge BombPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10Route 43
- LV 37BugSignal BeamPower 113Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 55PsychicPsychicPower 90Accuracy 100%PP 10
- LV 59BugBug BuzzPower 135Accuracy 100%PP 10
How to Get Venonat in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Venonat spreads across five locations in grass and Headbutt trees, common to rare and active mostly at night. The bug ranges from the mid-game into the low 30s, so when you catch it depends on which region you are in.
5 locations to catch Venonat
Encountered via tall grass encounters
Badge 3
Badge 4
Badge 5
Badge 6
Badge 7
Badge 8Where To Catch Venonat in HGSS
Venonat is the chain's first catch. You'll find walking and headbutt encounters from Lv. 8-32 across 24 total spots in the chain.
- Step 2Catch or Evolve into Venomothor evolve from Venonat (Step 1)
To plan your throws, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver catch rate calculator with Venonat preloaded.
How to Get Shiny Venonat in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Venonat flits around Route 24 and Route 25 at night, but breeding it Masuda-style is the quicker route to a shiny. Compare Shiny Venonat odds across every game
HeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Venonat 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.
For time estimates and charm math, open the HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds calculator with Venonat already selected.
Venonat Weakness
Venonat is weak to Fire, Flying, Psychic, and Rock. It resists 4 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. 4 weaknesses is about average, nothing too hard to play around.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fire, Flying, Psychic, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Poison, Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Venonat Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Venonat
 Ninetales Fire | C | |
 Arcanine Fire | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Venonat View Arcanine builds →Fire Blast 2x161-190%KO Aerial Ace 2x62-74% | ||
 Golbat Poison | C | |
 Scyther Bug | C | |
 Magmar Fire | C | |
 Dodrio Normal | C | |
 Flareon Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Eevee (Goldenrod City Gift) | ||
 Farfetch'd Normal | C | |
 Fearow Normal | C | |
 Quilava Fire | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Cyndaquil (New Bark Town Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Venonat View Quilava builds →Fire Blast 2x134-159%KO Aerial Ace 2x43-51% | ||
 Gardevoir Psychic | B | |
 Noctowl Normal | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Venonat View Noctowl builds →Sky Attack 2x120-141%KO Confusion 2x40-48% | ||
 Slowbro WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Venonat View Slowbro builds →Fire Blast 2x107-126%KO Confusion 2x70-83% | ||
 Ninjask Bug | C | |
Venonat Evolutions
Venonat evolves into Venomoth. It's a two-stage chain with the method shown below. A decent partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs take an average time to hatch. Evolving adds up to 145 stat points total. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed Venonat easily with 48 breeding partners from the Bug egg group. Pass egg moves like Agility, Baton Pass, Bug Bite and 5 more to offspring.
HGSS Venonat Best Moveset
Bug/Poison with stats spread across the 40-60 range and AbilityCompound Eyes boosting move accuracy. The moveset has no offensive identity or defensive niche worth building around. Evolve to Venomoth for the actual competitive tool.
Best Build
Venonat best EVs are HP and Sp. Atk
Bulky Support Moveset
- Sludge Bomb
- Morning Sun
- Solar Beam
- Sunny Day
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Breeding opens up real options for Venonat. Agility and Baton Pass come exclusively from egg moves, and they're worth the effort. The rest of the kit covers basics through Sludge Bomb and Leech Life and Normal and Psychic coverage and more.
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 16 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
Its eyes also function as radar units. It catches and eats small bugs that hide in darkness.
Poison oozes from all over its body. It catches and eats small bugs at night that are attracted by light.
Venonat HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Venonat does the job early-game if you need a Bug/Poison type on your team. Evolve it into Venomoth before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Venonat has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 19 titles across all 9 generations. As a Gen 1 original, it's one of the most consistently available Pokemon in the franchise.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RBDebut
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
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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