Is Watchog Good in Black & White Playthrough?
Patrat evolves at level 20. Normal with AbilityKeen Eye. Lenora uses one as her ace. Yours won't match hers. Falls behind by Castelia City. Better Normal options show up quickly.
Watchog resists most of Cilan's coverage and hits back hard.
Watchog resists most of Chili's coverage and hits back hard.
Watchog resists most of Cress's coverage and hits back hard.
Watchog resists most of Lenora's coverage and hits back hard.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Burgh's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Elesa's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Clay's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Skyla's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Brycen's team.
Watchog trades roughly evenly with Drayden's team.
Watchog trades roughly evenly with Shauntal's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Grimsley's team.
Watchog has the type edge here and should clean up Caitlin's team.
Watchog trades roughly evenly with Marshal's team.
Watchog trades roughly evenly with Alder's team.
Catch Watchog on Route 1 (dark grass, Lv 32-35, common). Double Grass.
Catch Patrat on Route 1 (walking, Lv 2-4, common).
How to Get Watchog in Black & White
Watchog appears at high spawn rates across 16 spots in mid-game routes. Sort by Best below if you want the highest rate, or Earliest if you want the quickest access point in your playthrough.
Where To Catch Watchog in BW
Patrat is your first catch on the way to Watchog. You'll find walking encounters from Lv. 2-60 across 26 total spots in the chain.
Step 1Catch PatratRoute 1Lv.2-4GrassRate 50%AnyRoute 2Lv.4-7GrassRate 40%AnyDreamyard - OvergroundLv.8-11GrassRate 40%AnyRoute 3Lv.8GrassRate 20%AnyRoute 3Lv.10Dark GrassRate 20%AnyDouble grass
Step 2Watchog ✓P2 LaboratoryLv.28-31FloorRate 36%AnyRoute 18Lv.28-30GrassRate 20%AnyRoute 7Lv.27-29GrassRate 10%AnyRoute 1Lv.32-35Dark GrassRate 36%AnyDouble grassRoute 18Lv.32-34Dark GrassRate 20%AnyDouble grassRoute 7Lv.31-33Dark GrassRate 10%AnyDouble grassDreamyard - OvergroundLv.47Dark GrassRate 20%AnyDouble grassRoute 15Lv.60GrassRate 5%AnyDouble grassor evolve from Patrat (Step 1)
Watchog Weakness
Fighting moves hit Watchog for super-effective damage. The upside? Ghost-type moves can't touch it at all. Just 1 weak spot to worry about, which keeps teambuilding straightforward.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Fighting |
| 0x (Immune) | Ghost |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Watchog Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Watchog
 Pignite FireFighting | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
 Cobalion SteelFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodMistralton Cave Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Cobalion builds →Sacred Sword 2x96-113%KO | ||
 Emboar FireFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Tepig (Nuvema Town Gift) | ||
Scrafty DarkFighting | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Scrafty builds →High Jump Kick 2x135-159%KO | ||
Sawk Fighting | C | |
 Virizion GrassFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodPinwheel Forest Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Virizion builds →Sacred Sword 2x96-113%KO | ||
 Terrakion RockFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodVictory Road Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Terrakion builds →Close Combat 2x169-198%KO | ||
Cobalion SteelFighting | B | |
Obtain MethodMistralton Cave Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Cobalion builds →Close Combat 2x125-147%KO | ||
 Hitmonchan Fighting | C | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Hitmonchan builds →Focus Punch 2x176-208%KO | ||
 Gurdurr Fighting | C | |
 Heracross BugFighting | B | |
Available Move Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Heracross builds →Close Combat 2x165-194%KO | ||
In Black & White, Lucario can KO Watchog with Close Combat (236-278%).
 Lucario FightingSteel | B | |
Recommended Build AbilityJustified ItemLife Orb NatureJolly Moves
Damage vs Watchog View Lucario builds →Close Combat 2x236-278%KO Extreme Speed53-62% | ||
Watchog Evolutions
Evolved from Patrat. Watchog is the final form in this two-stage line. A massive partner pool for breeding via one egg group. Eggs are average hatch time. Speed grew the most through evolution (+35 over Patrat), and Watchog peaks at 420 total stats. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
Breed with Watchog to get Patrat eggs easily using 181 partners from the Ground egg group. Notable egg moves include Assurance, Flail, Foresight and 4 more.
BW Watchog Best Moveset
85 Attack at 77 Speed with AbilityAnalytic as a hidden ability boosting damage when moving last. The moveset fires physical Normal TermStab with decent timing utility from Analytic. Outclassed by stronger Normal types at every level.
Best Build
Watchog best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch
- Swords Dance
- Super Fang
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Don't skip the egg moves. Watchog picks up Assurance and Flail only through breeding, and both fill gaps the natural movepool can't. STAB runs through Giga Impact and Hyper Beam while coverage across 9 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
Reminder Moves
Base Stats
When they see an enemy, their tails stand high, and they spit the seeds of berries stored in their cheek pouches.
They make the patterns on their bodies shine in order to threaten predators. Keen eyesight lets them see in the dark.
Watchog Black & White Guide
In Black & White, watch for Machamp (Fighting) when using Watchog. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 1 weakness means fewer dedicated counters to worry about.
For Black & White, it depends on your team. Watchog at 420 BST isn't a powerhouse, but the Normal coverage might be exactly what you're missing.
For Black & White, we rate Watchog C-Tier: a niche pick in Black & White's meta. At 420 BST, the stats are spread pretty evenly. Thunderpunch with Salacberry is the standard set.
Illuminate doubles the wild encounter rate. That's the one you want on Watchog. Analytic is the hidden ability. Niche, but it has its uses. Keen Eye works too if your team needs something different.
Base 77 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. On offense, Watchog is a physical attacker with base 85 Attack.
Game Availability
Watchog joined the series in Black & White and has been available in 7 titles so far. With 6 generations of appearances, it's established itself despite the later start.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
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 5BWDebut
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