pokemon heartgold safari zone catching guide

Safari Zone Block Items

Below is a list of all the Safari Zone Block Items and what they manipulate.

Safari Zone Areas

Plains | Meadow | Savannah | Peak | Rocky Beach | Wetland | Forest | Swamp | Marshland | Wasteland | Mountain | Desert |

Rocky Beach

Diehard GameFAN

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver – Safari Zone Strategy Guide

In the original Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal , when your Trainer traveled to Kanto you found that the Safari Zone had moved out of Fuchsia City. This meant no Safari Zone Pokemon for your character. In Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver , the Safari Zone is back… just in a brand new location. It’s the biggest and most complex Safari Zone to date, so let’s take a look at what all you’ll have to go through to catch ’em all.

First of all, the basic premise has stayed the same – you are given thirty Safari Balls and you have a limited number of steps to catch Pokemon with. Your play ends when you run out of either steps or Safari Balls. This new Safari Zone is a lot more Trainer friendly however. Remember in the old games where you’d have to waste half your steps just to get to an area where you could hopefully find a Chansey? Well, now the Safari Zone is customizable. By using your DS stylus and the touch pad, you can move around the order of the six Safari Zones. This means if all you need to complete the Pokedex is say, a Smeargle, you can set it up so that the Field area of the Safari Zone is right at the entrance, giving you a better chance of catching it. Each of the six zones features distinctly different Pokemon, so you’ll have to visit them all eventually.

The Safari Zone Warden will also have tasks he will assign to you. The first is to get him a Geodude. In return, he’ll activate the customization ability mentioned in the previous paragraph. After that, he will ask you for a Sandshrew. Once you bring him one he’ll activate a new level of customization. This will involve special items that can attract Pokemon that would otherwise not appear in the Safari Zone. Each of these special Pokemon will require a set number of items to be laid down in the Safari Zone in the area they would show up in. Now you can only have 30 items out at a time, and some Pokemon like, say, Carnivine require 25 Grassland item to be laid out in the Desert area. That leaves you only five items to place elsewhere in the zone. The good thing is that the longer you leave these items out, the more experience those items will get, and they will level up like a Pokemon. These items will eventually be worth up to seven times their original value (based on how long you leave them out for), so things will get easier to catch all the Pokemon possible in the Safari Zone. Some rarely occurring Pokemon will not only requires items to be set out, but will also require those items to sit in the area for a length of time before they appear. Remember Carnivine in our item example? Well you’ll also have to leave those items in the Desert for ten straight days before he’ll begin to appear. Because of this, you might want to consider looking for Carnivine in the Marshlands where he requires only 18 points of items, but he will then take 20 days to appear. It’s up to you.

Here now is an easy to read table of each Pokemon and the requirements you’ll need to make them appear within the Safari Zone.

Alex Lucard

30 responses to “Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver – Safari Zone Strategy Guide”

Where can you find a ghastly or a Haunter?

Where can you catch a ghastly/Haunter here?

Sprout Tower at night.

i was thinking…you know that u have 2 wait a certain amout of days for sum pokemon 2 appear…can u jus like change the date on your DS so that it makes the game think that say 20days have gone past??? any one know?

@brendan, no i don’t think it will work like that, if you change the date on your ds it takes at least 24 hours in order for anything time related to happen, as far as changing it 20 days and than waiting 24 hours i’m not sure but personally i wouldn’t waste my time trying

@Brendan, might work, changing the time from 1pm to 1am makes it night so I don’t see why not. Worth a try, it takes 2 mins to do. it’s a stupid thing to put in a game anyway, the majority of people beat the elite 4 in less than 2 weeks, then they’re done with the game, not going to sit around for 110 days for some shit pokemon to appear.

no you cant change the date but if you forward your clock to 23.29 and wait a minute then save then repete for an extra day each time thats how i got riolu

Is there anyway you can tell if you have made the rarer pokemon appear??

@Shadow Shaymin – Why 23.29, and not 23.59? I’m gonna try what you recommend.

need help to find dragon type pokemon realy strong to beat 9 gym

There is no ninth gym. There are two sets of eight.

@Shaymin: Are you just BSing? I’ve tried the same approach for bagon and then shelgon and both times was unable to catch one.

I should add that the time to set the clock to (and the time that I used) is 23:59

the date changes work for me in the safari zone as do they for the bug catching contest(tho i dont recomend jumping ahead because it records the days you do the contest i would only do that for days you missed)

on another note the the best way to get any pokemon is to have the other versions. thats how i did it i legitimantly have seen caught and curently own every pokemon in all ther evolved forms thats the best thing i can recomind because yes the waiting is bs when i can just do in 5 min on another vesion and trade over what its making me do in like 100+ days

Now if it says have 18 rocky items, do you have to have exactly 18 items or can you just wait till it counts as 18 rocky items?

@Luke, not everyone has 2 DS’s to trade the stuff over. I have 100% pokedex in diamond, but there’s not much I can do about it with one ds.

how dow you get safrizone items

thanks so so much for the floatzel cheat it really helped!!!

thnxxxxxxxxxxxx so much now i have flotzel thank you loads !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF I NEED a shelgon so i can pwn the world! help me please???

OMG I CAUGHT IT USING MY LAST SAFARI BALL! YESSSSS!!! now to save the game…

AND NOW TO BLAST BURN IT WITH CHARIZARD IN FRONT OF TWO CHILDREN ON ROUTE 14……….

THAT’LL TEACH YOU NOT TO BE SO HARD TO CATCH!!

i need a garchomp i will trade you a lv 70 mewtwo

look for the name black

I know, there are 6 areas I see, but why are there more places :S

I’m confused about the itemssss thing??

How can I get a bagon its so hard I already placed the items down and waited 120 days and it still did not show up

this always works bait mud bait mud ball mud ball mud ball mud ball mud… works evey time and if it flees its just not worthy to be in your party and a little secret your DS goes off of the time on it so dont wait months just change the date

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HeartGold / SoulSilver Safari Zone Efficiency Guide

• Thread starter Giant Octopodes
• Start date Apr 21, 2020

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How to Catch Pokémon in Safari Zone

Last Updated: May 21, 2023 References

This article was reviewed by Ishrak . Ishrak is a Gaming & Video Expert specializing in sharing Pokémon and Minecraft videos. With over seven years of gaming and streaming experience, Ishrak has a follower base of over 30,000 YouTube subscribers and over 8 million views. He is also a Pokémon ROM-Hacker and some of his most popular videos highlight tips and advice for people learning how to play Pokémon games. This article has been viewed 111,446 times.

In the Pokémon series of games, Safari Zones are special unique areas in each game where rare Pokémon that don't appear anywhere else in the game can be caught. Safari Zones always operate with different rules than the rest of the game world - instead of battling Pokémon in the wild like you normally would, you'll need to carefully use baits and deterrents to get Pokémon to let down their guards so you can catch them. This can be quite challenging, so knowing the ins and outs of Safari Zone mechanics in each game is vital for success.

Navigating the Safari Zone

Fighting and capturing pokémon.

• Note that the "run away" option functions as normal, so we won't be discussing it.

• However, using bait will also make the Pokémon more difficult to catch in a safari ball. Thus, striking a balance here can be difficult — the longer you get the Pokémon to stick around for, the harder it will be to actually capture it.

• However, there's an important downside: using rocks will also make the Pokémon more likely to run away. In fact, after taking more than a few rocks, a Pokémon is virtually guaranteed to run away — some will exit the battle sooner. Thus, once again, using rocks means striking a delicate balance as you try to capture your Pokémon.

• Note that you only have a limited supply of safari balls (depending on the game, usually 30), so save them for Pokémon you want to catch. It's generally the best use of your time to use your safari balls for Pokémon that are only found in the safari zone.

• Note that safari balls are weak compared to the pokéballs you can use in the rest of the game. In addition to this, especially rare Safari Zone Pokémon are extra-difficult to catch. [2] X Research source This can lead to some very frustrating situations — for instance, it can easily take 20 or more tries to catch an exceptionally rare Pokémon like Clefairy.

General Tips

• Bulbapedia, an online user-supported Pokémon encyclopedia, has extensive information about each game's Safari Zone, including maps and guides covering where to look for the Pokémon in each zone. See the Bulbapedia Safari Zone article to get started. [3] X Research source
• Note that there is no step limit in the Safari Zone in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. [4] X Research source

• Across all of the games in the series, the entrance fee has stayed the same: 500 P . This includes the Great Marsh in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, which is not technically a Safari Zone but behaves very similarly.
• One smart strategy is to save your game before you enter the Safari Zone. This way, if you don't catch any Pokémon you want, you can re-load to avoid paying the entrance fee again.

• As an example of the sort of equation used in the games to determine whether certain Pokémon are captured, consider the equation from the Generation games (Gold and Silver): a = max((3 × HP max - 2 × HP current ) × rate modified / (3 × HP max ), 1) + bonus status where HP max is the Pokémon's maximum HP, HP current is the Pokémon's current HP, rate modified is the catch rate of the Pokémon modified by the ball used (every Pokémon and every ball modifies this in a certain way, and bonus status is the modifier for any status condition (sleep and freeze are 10, all others are 0). [5] X Research source When you throw a ball, a random number between 0 and 255 is generated. If this number is less than or equal to a, the Pokémon is caught.

Catching Pokémon in the Kanto Safari Zone

In the following sections, we'll highlight the rare Pokémon in each Safari zone and give specific advice where applicable. To keep these tables to a reasonable size, we've included only the rarest Pokémon in each area — for exhaustive information, consult the Safari Zone guides at Serebii.net and Bulbapedia.

Catching Pokémon in the Hoenn Safari Zone

Note that the Generation 4 Hoenn Safari Zone (Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire) won't be covered here as the player is allowed to engage in ordinary battles in this zone.

Catching Pokémon in the Sinnoh Great Marsh

Though Sinnoh's Pokémon preserve has a different name, it functions virtually identically to Safari Zones in other regions.

Catching Pokémon in the Johto Safari Zone

Note that the Safari Zone is not available in Generation 2 (Gold/Silver) but is available in the Generation IV games that visit Johto (HeartGold/SoulSilver). Note also that in this Safari Zone the player can arrange the six different areas in any arrangement desired. Finally, many of the areas in the Johto Safari Zones have Pokémon appearance rates that are not yet known — only data for the known areas has been included. See Bulbapedia for more information. [6] X Research source

Expert Q&A

• Once again, the data in the tables above only deals with the most noteworthy Pokémon in each area. In fact, many more Pokémon appear in each Safari Zone. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 2
• Remember — you have a limited number of steps inside the Safari Zone, not a limited amount of time. Thus, you can take as long as you like if you control your movement carefully. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 3

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Kanto_Safari_Zone
• ↑ https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Red_and_Blue/Safari_Zone
• ↑ https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Safari_Zone
• ↑ https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Johto_Safari_Zone#Areas
• ↑ https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Catch_rate#Capture_method_.28Generation_II.29

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Safari Zone Encounter Slot Calculator

This calculator is a tool to help determine the encounter slots for the HeartGold & SoulSilver Safari Zone. Simply enter in the information for each field and click Calculate to determine which Pokémon occupy which encounter slots. The encounter slot tables and time for each block upgrade can be found on the Safari Zone slot webpage . Enjoy!

The Calculator

Appendix : HeartGold and SoulSilver walkthrough

• 1.1.1 Johto
• 1.1.2 Kanto
• 1.2 Main Storyline 2
• 1.3 Post-Game
• 1.4 See Also

Main Storyline 1

• Part 1 - Intro, New Bark Town, Routes 29 and 30, Cherrygrove City, Route 31
• Part 2 - Violet City, Sprout Tower, Route 32, Union Cave, Route 33, Azalea Town
• Part 3 - Slowpoke Well, Azalea Town, Ilex Forest, Route 34
• Part 4 - Goldenrod City, Route 35
• Part 5 - National Park, Routes 36 and 37, Ecruteak City, Burned Tower
• Part 6 - Ecruteak Gym, Union Cave, Routes 38 and 39, Olivine City, Route 40
• Part 7 - Route 41, Cianwood City, Olivine City, Route 47, Cliff Cave, Route 48, Safari Zone Gate
• Part 8 - Route 42, Mahogany Town, Route 43, Lake of Rage, Mahogany Town
• Part 9 - Lake of Rage, Goldenrod City
• Part 10 - Route 44, Ice Path, Blackthorn City
• Part 11 - Route 45, Dark Cave, Route 46, Dragon's Den
• Part 12 - Mt. Mortar, New Bark Town, Ecruteak City, Bell Tower
• Part 13 - Whirl Islands, Ruins of Alph
• Part 14 - Routes 27 and 26, Pokemon League Reception Gate, Victory Road
• Part 15 - Indigo Plateau

Main Storyline 2

• Part 16 - Return to New Bark, Olivine City, National Park, Pokéathlon Dome, Frontier Access, Safari Zone, S.S. Aqua, Vermilion City, Vermilion Gym
• Part 17 - Route 6, Saffron City, Saffron Gym, Route 8
• Part 18 - Lavender Town, Route 10, Rock Tunnel, Kanto Power Plant
• Part 19 - Route 9, Cerulean City, Routes 24 and 25, Cerulean Gym, Route 5
• Part 20 - Route 7, Celadon City, Celadon Gym
• Part 21 - Routes 16, 17, and 18, Fuchsia City, Fuchsia Gym
• Part 22 - Routes 12, 13, 14, and 15
• Part 23 - Route 11, Diglett's Cave, Route 2, Viridian Forest, Pewter City, Pewter Gym
• Part 24 - Route 3, Mt. Moon, Route 4
• Part 25 - Viridian City, Route 1, Pallet Town
• Part 26 - Route 21, Cinnabar Island, Route 20, Cinnabar Gym, Seafoam Islands, Route 19
• Part 27 - Viridian Gym, Oak's Lab, Kanto Power Plant, Cerulean Cave
• Part 28 - Routes 22 and 28
• Part 29 - Mt. Silver
• Part 30 - Oak's Lab, Silph Co., Whirl Islands and Lugia/Bell Tower and Ho-oh, Mr. Pokémon, Route 47, Embedded Tower
• Battle Frontier
• Johto Safari Zone
• Walkthroughs
• HeartGold and SoulSilver walkthrough

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Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver – Safari Zone Strategy Guide

• Add Alt Source

Diehard GameFAN writes, "In the original Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal, when your Trainer traveled to Kanto you found that the Safari Zone had moved out of Fuchsia City. This meant no Safari Zone Pokemon for your character. In Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, the Safari Zone is back… just in a brand new location. It's the biggest and most complex Safari Zone to date, so let's take a look at what all you'll have to go through to catch 'em all."

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