Is Primeape Good in Gold & Silver Playthrough?
Fast Fighting-type that helps against Whitney, Pryce, and Karen. Gold-only, so Silver players need to trade for one. Primeape is fragile but the speed usually means it connects before taking damage.
Mankey resists most of Falkner's coverage and hits back hard.
Mankey trades roughly evenly with Bugsy's team.
Mankey has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Mankey trades roughly evenly with Morty's team.
Mankey trades roughly evenly with Chuck's team.
Mankey has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Pryce's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Clair's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Sabrina's team hits Primeape's weaknesses hard.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Janine's team hits Primeape's weaknesses hard.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Misty's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Blue's team.
Will's team hits Primeape's weaknesses hard.
Primeape trades roughly evenly with Koga's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Primeape has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Catch Mankey on Route 42 (walking, Lv 15, common).
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunder11070%10
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- TM48FireFire Punch75100%15
- TM33IceIce Punch75100%15
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrength80100%15
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingDynamic Punch15050%5
- LV 39FightingCross Chop15080%5
- LV 51NormalThrash120100%10
Your Mankey should hit Level 28 before you reach Pryce, at typical leveling pace.
- After Bugsy
- TM25ElectricThunder11070%10
- TM28GroundDig80100%10
- TM48FireFire Punch75100%15
- TM33IceIce Punch75100%15
- After Whitney
- HM04NormalStrength80100%15
- After Chuck
- TM01FightingDynamic Punch15050%5
- LV 45FightingCross Chop15080%5
- LV 63NormalThrash120100%10
How to Get Primeape in Gold & Silver
Primeape sits at moderate rates across 1 spots in early-game routes. Pick one from the sorted list and commit to it. Jumping between areas wastes more time than waiting in the right location.
Where To Catch Primeape in GS
To get Primeape, start by catching Mankey through walking encounters at Lv. 13-15. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
Step 1Catch MankeyRoute 9Lv.13GrassGoldRate 30%Route 42Lv.15GrassGoldRate 30%
Step 2Primeape ✓Route 9Lv.15GrassGoldRate 5%or evolve from Mankey (Step 1)
Primeape Weakness
Flying and Psychic moves hit Primeape for super-effective damage. Its Fighting typing keeps the defensive matchups simple. Primeape leans offensive (base 105 Atk) rather than trying to tank its weaknesses.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Flying, Psychic |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Bug, Rock, Dark |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
- Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def
What is Primeape Weak Against
AvgBest Pokemon Against Primeape
 Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Spearow Normal | C | |
 Drowzee Psychic | B | |
 Pidgey Normal | D | |
 Slowpoke WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
 Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Fearow Normal | C | |
Slowpoke WaterPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodSlowpoke Well Surfing | ||
Drowzee Psychic | B | |
Kadabra Psychic | C | |
 Scyther Bug | B | |
Butterfree Bug | C | |
 Golbat Poison | B | |
Fearow Normal | C | |
 Lugia Psychic | S | |
Obtain MethodWhirl Islands Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Primeape View Lugia builds →Dream Eater 2x99-117%KO Aeroblast 2x111-131%KO | ||
Kadabra Psychic | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Primeape View Kadabra builds →Future Sight 2x151-178%KO | ||
 Xatu Psychic | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Primeape View Xatu builds →Future Sight 2x124-147%KO Fly 2x69-81% | ||
Scyther Bug | B | |
 Jynx IcePsychic | B | |
In Gold & Silver, Alakazam can KO Primeape with Psychic (125-147%).
 Alakazam Psychic | B | |
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves
Damage vs Primeape View Alakazam builds →Psychic 2x125-147%KO | ||
Primeape Evolutions
Primeape is the evolved form of Mankey. Breeding produces Mankey eggs, and they're average hatch time. Evolving from Mankey gave Primeape the biggest boost in HP (+25), bringing the total to 455 stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Primeape to get Mankey eggs easily using 66 partners from the Ground egg group. Notable egg moves include Beat Up, Counter, Foresight and 3 more.
GS Primeape Best Moveset
105 Attack and 95 Speed power physical Fighting moves that finally have better targets with Dark types in the format. MoveEarthquake and MoveRock Slide add coverage. Held ItemLeftovers sustains through switches. Better matchups than before, though the frailty limits switch-in opportunities.
Best Build
Utility Moveset
- Cross Chop
- Rock Slide
- Body Slam
- Meditate
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Primeape picks up Beat Up and Counter only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Cross Chop and Dynamic Punch while coverage across 8 types adds range.
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
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
If approached while asleep, it may awaken and angrily give chase in a groggy state of semi-sleep.
It becomes wildly furious if it even senses someone looking at it. It chases anyone that meets its glare.
Primeape Gold & Silver Guide
In Gold & Silver, Primeape isn't fully evolved, so it's not built for competitive play. You'll want to evolve it into Annihilape to unlock its full potential. At 455 BST, it's a stepping stone rather than a team anchor.
In Gold & Silver, watch for Aerodactyl (Flying) and Alakazam (Psychic) when using Primeape. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 2 weaknesses means fewer dedicated counters to worry about.
In Gold & Silver, Primeape fills the pivot role. It's a physical attacker with base 105 Attack. Base 95 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many.
In Gold & Silver, Primeape does the job early-game if you need a Fighting type on your team. Evolve it into Annihilape before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
In Gold & Silver, run Crosschop, Rock Slide, Body Slam, and Meditate on Primeape. Crosschop is the most common pick at 0% usage. This set covers the pivot role with a mix of damage and utility.
Game Availability
Primeape has been part of the series since Red & Blue, appearing in 20 titles across all 10 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 7LGPE
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