Its strongest point is Sp. Atk — higher than 93% of species. In base stat total it is among the strongest — higher than 91% of species. It does not evolve: it does not come from anything and does not change into anything. In defense it has 2 weaknesses, 5 resistances and 1 full immunity at its disposal. Ground-type moves do nothing to it at all. This is a Legendary Pokémon: one per game, no offspring. Very hard to catch — bring plenty of Poké Balls and something that puts it to sleep or paralyzes it.
Base stats
Last column: what percentage of 1084 species and regional forms have a lower value. Strong point: Sp. Atk.
A nature can improve this entry further: its boost hits hardest on Sp. Atk, the stat in which this species already leads. Which nature does that — see the list of natures.
Which nature to choose
It hits specially: its Sp. Atk (125) is 35 points higher than its Attack. So the drop hits a stat the set usually does not use at all.
- Timid +Spe · −Atk Its Speed is higher than 84% of species — ten percent more lifts it past some of the benchmarks that decide who moves first.
- Modest +SpA · −Atk If you already outspeed what you want to outspeed, those ten percent are better spent on hitting power.
A conclusion drawn from base stats alone — a specific moveset can reverse it. All 25 natures.
Regional numbers 5
The header shows the national number. Inside the game the Pokédex counts from the beginning — below is the number you will see in your version.
| Kanto | #145 | Red/Green (Japan) , Blue (Japan) , Red / Blue , Yellow , FireRed / LeafGreen , Let's Go Pikachu / Eevee |
|---|---|---|
| Johto | #236 | Gold / Silver , Crystal |
| Johto | #241 | HeartGold / SoulSilver |
| Kalos | #152 | X / Y |
| Crown Tundra | #203 | Sword / Shield , Sword/Shield: The Crown Tundra |
Abilities
- Pressure Increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one.
- Static Has a 30% chance of paralyzing attacking Pokémon on contact.
How players use it
Data from 574,541 ranked battles on Smogon (Gen 9 OU, 2026-09). These are not numbers from the game — they are player habits.
Rank 34 among 309 Pokémon in use — it is on 5.1% of teams.
Each row is a separate distribution, not a single set: the most common item and the most common move do not have to appear on the same Pokémon.
Pokédex entry
A legendary bird POKéMON that is said to appear from clouds while dropping enormous lightning bolts.
Resistances and weaknesses
Type chart →How much damage Zapdos takes when it is hit by a move of each type. The multipliers of both its types are already combined here.
How it was drawn
1996–2019The sprites come straight from the games in which Zapdos appeared — one from each release.
Variant gallery
The gallery shows only the appearance variants that exist for this Pokémon. Every image shows the same character and differs in source — a Pokémon HOME render or a pixel sprite — and in coloring, regular or shiny.
TCG cards (29)
All Zapdos cards →Zapdos has 29 cards in 22 sets. The oldest of them are shown below.
Breeding
All Egg Groups →Zapdos does not breed. You cannot get an Egg from it — this is how the games treat almost all Legendary and Mythical species.
Where to catch it (32)
All locations →The levels shown are the widest range across all game versions — in a specific release it may be narrower. The exact area, catch method and chance are on the page of each location.
Alola
Galar
Kalos
Kanto
Orre
Sinnoh
Moves (88)
Full move list →Below are the moves learned by leveling up. The rest (75 via TM/TR, 25 via tutor) are on the full list.
| Lv. | Move | Type | Cat. | Power | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peck | Physical | 35 | 100% | 35 | |
| 1 | Thunder Wave | Electric | Status | — | 90% | 20 |
| 5 | Thunder Shock | Electric | Special | 40 | 100% | 30 |
| 10 | Light Screen | Psychic | Status | — | — | 30 |
| 15 | Pluck | Physical | 60 | 100% | 20 | |
| 16 | Leer | Normal | Status | — | 100% | 30 |
| 20 | Agility | Psychic | Status | — | — | 30 |
| 25 | Ancient Power | Rock | Special | 60 | 100% | 5 |
| 30 | Charge | Electric | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 32 | Thunderbolt | Electric | Special | 90 | 100% | 15 |
| 35 | Drill Peck | Physical | 80 | 100% | 20 | |
| 40 | Roost | Status | — | — | 5 | |
| 45 | Discharge | Electric | Special | 80 | 100% | 15 |
| 50 | Rain Dance | Water | Status | — | — | 5 |
| 55 | Thunder | Electric | Special | 110 | 70% | 10 |
| 60 | Detect | Fighting | Status | — | — | 5 |
| 65 | Magnetic Flux | Electric | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 70 | Zap Cannon | Electric | Special | 120 | 50% | 5 |
| 72 | Sky Attack | Physical | 140 | 90% | 5 |