
Is Taillow Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Route 104, one of the first catches available. AbilityGuts boosts Attack when statused, which is excellent. Swellow evolves at 22 and becomes one of the best Normal/Flying attackers in RS. Status conditions power up Swellow instead of crippling it. The local bird that puts imports to shame.
Roxanne's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Taillow resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Wattson's team hits Taillow's weaknesses hard.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Norman's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Winona's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Swellow has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Phoebe's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Glacia's team.
Swellow trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Steven's team hits Swellow's weaknesses hard.
Catch Taillow on Route 104 (walking, Lv 4-5, uncommon).
- LV 8NormalQuick Attack60100%30
- LV 13FlyingWing Attack90100%35
- After Roxanne
- TM47SteelSteel Wing7090%25
- After Brawly
- TM43NormalSecret Power105100%20
- TM10NormalHidden Power90100%15
- After Norman
- TM42NormalFacade105100%20
- After Winona
- HM02FlyingFly13595%15
- LV 34FlyingAerial Ace90100%20
Your Taillow should hit Level 22 before you reach Flannery, at typical leveling pace.
- STARTING (Lv 22)
- LV 22FlyingWing Attack90100%35
- After Roxanne
- TM47SteelSteel Wing7090%25
- After Brawly
- TM43NormalSecret Power105100%20
- TM10NormalHidden Power90100%15
- After Norman
- TM42NormalFacade105100%20
- After Winona
- TM15NormalHyper Beam22590%5
- HM02FlyingFly13595%15
- LV 38FlyingAerial Ace90100%20
How to Get Taillow in Ruby & Sapphire
Easy grab on Taillow with high spawn rates across 8 locations in early-game routes. The sorted list below shows the full spread so you can pick the most convenient spot.
Where To Catch Taillow in RS
To get Taillow, start by catching Taillow through walking encounters at Lv. 4-25. The chain covers 2 catchable stages before reaching the final form.
Step 1Taillow ✓Route 116Lv.6-8GrassRate 20%Route 104Lv.4-5GrassRate 10%Petalburg WoodsLv.5-6GrassRate 5%Route 115Lv.23-25GrassRate 40%
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 |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Taillow Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Taillow
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 2x144-169%KO Thunderbolt 2x88-104%KO | ||
Manectric Electric | C | |
Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regice builds →Ice Beam 2x222-262%KO Thunderbolt 2x148-174%KO Ancient Power 2x57-68% | ||
Pikachu Electric | C | |
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 2x140-165%KO Thunderbolt 2x88-104%KO | ||
Manectric Electric | C | |
Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regice builds →Ice Beam 2x221-261%KO Thunderbolt 2x147-174%KO Ancient Power 2x56-66% | ||
Pikachu Electric | C | |
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Manectric Electric | C | |
Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Aggron builds →Rock Tomb 2x131-155%KO Thunderbolt 2x101-120%KO Ice Beam 2x101-120%KO | ||
Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Regice builds →Ice Beam 2x229-269%KO Thunderbolt 2x152-180%KO Ancient Power 2x56-66% | ||
Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 2x219-258%KO Rock Tomb 2x67-79% | ||
In Ruby & Sapphire, Jolteon can KO Taillow with Thunderbolt (288-339%). Doduo threatens a KO with Double-Edge (163-192%). Abra's Psychic also KOs at 93-110%.
Jolteon Electric | A | |
Recommended Build AbilityVoltabsorb ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Jolteon builds →Thunderbolt 2x288-339%KO | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityEarlybird ItemChoice Band NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Doduo builds →Drill Peck109-129%KO Double Edge163-192%KO | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilitySynchronize ItemSalacberry NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Abra builds →Psychic93-110%KO | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityArenatrap ItemChoice Band NatureAdamant Moves View Diglett builds →
| ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityTrace ItemLeftovers NatureBrave Moves
Damage vs Taillow View Porygon builds →Psychic62-74% Facade57-67% | ||
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
RS Taillow Best Moveset
Normal/Flying pre-evolution heading toward Swellow. AbilityGuts boosts Attack by 50% when statused, turning burn and paralysis into power-ups. Stats too low to exploit the boost. Evolve for the Speed.
Best Build
Taillow best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Sweeper Moveset
- Facade
- Aerial Ace
- Double Edge
- Quick Attack
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Egg moves make a real difference. Taillow gets Mirror Move and Pursuit exclusively through breeding, filling gaps that TMs and level-up can't touch. Steel and Dark coverage rounds out the picture alongside Sky Attack and Fly.
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
TAILLOW courageously stands its ground against foes, however strong they may be. This gutsy POKéMON will remain defiant even after a loss. On the other hand, it cries loudly if it becomes hungry.
TAILLOW is young - it has only just left its nest. As a result, it sometimes becomes lonesome and cries at night. This POKéMON feeds on WURMPLE that live in forests.
Taillow Ruby & Sapphire Guide
In Ruby & Sapphire, Taillow does the job early-game if you need a Normal/Flying type on your team. Evolve it into Swellow before the later gyms and it holds up fine through the story.
Game Availability
Taillow first appeared in Ruby & Sapphire and has been available in 14 games across 8 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 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