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Ho-oh, the legendary Pokemon on the cover of Pokemon Gold, has access to some of the best moves in the game.
Residing atop the Tin Tower, Ho-oh can be caught after getting the Rainbow Wing from the Radio Director in Goldenrod City and after defeating Team Rocket in Pokemon Gold (it's in Pewter City in Pokemon Silver). The best way to describe Ho-oh is a more offensive variant of Lugia. Both Pokemon have 154 base Special Defense, Ho-oh has 130 Attack and 110 Special Attack. Ho-oh, like Lugia, can run a mixed set of physical and special attacks. With this moveset, Ho-oh really shouldn’t fear anything from any Pokemon.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinion of the writer.
The best moveset for Ho-oh in Pokemon Gold and Silver
These attacks are so strong, it’s really hard to replace them with anything else. The moveset has offensive moves to take advantage of Ho-oh’s power while also having recovery to help it survive battles.
- Sacred Fire
- Fly
- Earthquake
- Recover
Sacred Fire is, perhaps, one of the best signature moves any Pokemon has ever gotten. Not only is it incredibly powerful, but with 95% accuracy, it won’t be missing too often. What really sends Sacred Fire over the top is the 50% chance to burn. Since Ho-oh has 154 base Special Defense, physical Defense can be a blind spot for it. Burning the opponent, though, completely solves that problem.
Ho-oh has two options for Flying-type moves: Fly or Gust. It’s pretty clear which is the better choice here. It can certainly be annoying to have to wait one turn for a move to land. A 70 base power move, though, will certainly do damage, especially when considering Ho-oh’s high Attack stat.
As with most HMs, Fly should really be on at least one Pokemon in any Generation II game. If that’s the case, it’s probably better to put it on a Pokemon that will use the move instead of wasting a slot on another Pokemon.
Ho-oh can really benefit from Earthquake for several reasons. The most obvious is that it’s a contender for best move in the game. It will always be a desired move for any Pokemon that can learn it. Another reason is that Ho-oh struggles with Electric-type Pokemon. With Earthquake, Ho-oh can easily take care of Ampharos, Magneton, and similar Pokemon.
The final reason why Earthquake is really good on Ho-oh is because of the Elite Four. Earthquake helps deal with Koga, who has a Muk that spams Minimize. It’s really important to have a Pokemon that can one-hit KO Muk before it boosts up. Earthquake also helps Ho-oh deal with Karen, who has a Gengar and a Houndoom.
Recover is great on a Pokemon like Ho-oh who not only can inflict damage but is really hard to take down. Most hits that aren’t super effective, Ho-oh can just ignore with Recover. This is also going to help players get through the Elite Four as well. Since Ho-oh can recover its own health, the player can conserve Full Restores for other Pokemon.
