
Is Zapdos Good in Yellow Playthrough?
The strongest legendary bird for a Yellow playthrough. Zapdos combines speed, massive special damage, and enough bulk to not fold immediately. Found in the Power Plant and immediately useful against Lorelei's Water-types. Hard to leave out of any serious team.
Zapdos trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Zapdos resists most of Misty's coverage and hits back hard.
Zapdos trades roughly evenly with Lt. Surge's team.
Zapdos resists most of Erika's coverage and hits back hard.
Zapdos resists most of Koga's coverage and hits back hard.
Zapdos trades roughly evenly with Sabrina's team.
Zapdos has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Zapdos trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Zapdos resists most of Lorelei's coverage and hits back hard.
Zapdos has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Zapdos has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Zapdos has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Zapdos has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Catchable
Catch Zapdos in the Power Plant (interact, Lv 50, limited). Found deep inside the Power Plant east of Route 10. Surf south from the Pokemon Center near Rock Tunnel to reach the entrance. Zapdos is at the end of the facility.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 50)
- LV 50FlyingDrill PeckPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Brock
- TM45ElectricThunder WavePower —Accuracy 100%PP 20Route 24
- After Lt. Surge
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Vermilion Gym Leader Lt. Surge
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Rocket Game Corner
- TM10NormalDouble-EdgePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 15Rocket Hideout
- LV 51ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
- LV 55PsychicAgilityPower —Accuracy 100%PP 30
- After Giovanni
- TM43FlyingSky AttackPower 210Accuracy 90%PP 5Victory Road
How to Get Zapdos in Yellow
The abandoned Power Plant hides Zapdos, found once you Surf your way in. Level 50, catch rate of 3, and no second chance: faint it and the thunderbird is gone from your file.
1 location to catch Zapdos
How to Get Zapdos in Yellow
Zapdos Weakness
Ice and Rock moves hit Zapdos for super-effective damage. The upside? Ground-type moves can't touch it at all. 4 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Zapdos's special bulk (base 125 Special) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ice, Rock |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Grass, Fighting, Flying, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Only 15 types exist — Dark, Steel, and Fairy are absent
- Ghost has no effect on Psychic (a known bug, fixed in Gen II)
- Special stat governs both offense and defense — no Sp.Atk / Sp.Def split
What is Zapdos Weak Against
ExcellentBest Pokemon Against Zapdos
Rhydon GroundRock | S | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Zapdos View Rhydon builds →Rock Slide 2x75-89% Blizzard 2x24-28% | ||
Articuno Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodSeafoam Islands Interact Encounter | ||
Lapras WaterIce | B | |
Obtain MethodSilph Co Gift | ||
Dewgong WaterIce | C | |
Graveler RockGround | C | |
Omastar RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Omanyte (Cinnabar Island Gift) | ||
Kabutops RockWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Kabuto (Cinnabar Island Gift) | ||
Onix RockGround | C | |
Zapdos Evolutions
A Electric/Flying-type legendary, Zapdos doesn't evolve or breed. At 615 total stats, it's meant to stand on its own. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Y Zapdos Best Moveset
Electric/Flying TermStab from MoveThunderbolt and MoveDrill Peck covers nearly everything without being resisted, and 125 Special fires both with top-tier power. 100 Speed outspeeds most threats, and Ground immunity via Flying removes the one type that Electric fears. MoveThunder Wave cripples anything faster. Complete offensive and defensive coverage.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Drill Peck
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Agility
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Level-up moves are just the starting point for Zapdos. TMs unlock Normal coverage and turn a straightforward STAB kit around Sky Attack and Thunder into something with actual range.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- 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.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM 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 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 20 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This legendary bird POKéMON is said to appear when the sky turns dark and lightning showers down.
Zapdos Yellow Guide
Zapdos is a static encounter at Power Plant in Yellow. Zapdos appears at level 50. Prerequisite: Surf. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
In Yellow, use Zapdos as a setup sweeper. Splits damage between physical and special. It outspeeds most threats, Thunderbolt is the primary attack. Set up with Agility when you get a free turn.
Zapdos has a Galarian form that swaps the typing and reshuffles the stats. Introduced in Gen 8. Worth checking if the original version doesn't fit your team.
Game Availability
First obtainable in Red & Blue, Zapdos has been featured in 20 titles across 9 generations. Legendary status means a single encounter per playthrough in most games.
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 8SwShGalarian

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 Zapdos.