How To Get Hippowdon & the Best Competitive Moveset in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Hippowdon is one of the lucky previous-Generation ‘Mons to be included in the Paldea Region of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and has quickly made it’s way into the top selection of most viable Pokemon to use in competitive battle. You won’t be making the most of Hippowdon’s full potential until you consider hold items, moves, and EVs. We know how confusing and daunting this can all be, so don’t worry; we’ve covered all the information you’ll need. Follow along below for everything you need to know about how to get Hippowdon and the best competitive moveset to use in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

How to Get Hippowdon in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Unlike the majority of creatures in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Hippowdon is not able to be caught in the wild, and its Pokedex entry simply states that its habitat in the Paldea Region is unknown. Don’t worry, though, because you can easily obtain a Hippowdon by evolving Hippopotas, and we have all the information you’ll need to do so below.

Luckily, Hippopotas is only available to find in one habitat within the Paldea Region, so this makes narrowing down your search extremely useful. The area in which you’ll want to head to for your hunt is Asado Desert, where Hippopotas can be encountered roaming the sandy grounds. If Hippopotas isn’t walking around, they can sometimes be found partially buried in the sand with their face and top half of their body sticking out.

Evolving Hippopotas into Hippowdon

Evolving Hippopotas into Hippowdon is super simple, with no need to worry about the likes of special items or trade evolutions. All you need to do is raise your Hippopotas to level 34, and the evolution process will trigger automatically.

Best Hippowdon Nature & Moveset For Competitive Battle

Now that you have your freshly evolved Hippowdon, you can start looking at how you want to set it up for competitive battle. From everything including stat building, nature, and moveset, here’s the best choices you’ll want to select when aiming to build Hippowdon up as a viable asset for competitive battle.

Best Nature for Hippowdon

The best Nature to use for Hippowdon in most scenarios and builds is the Impish Nature. This Nature boosts Hippowdon’s already tanky defense further, and allows it to operate as a both a strategic lead Pokemon, or strong physical wall to help slim your opponent’s chances of victory.

• Impish: Boosts Defense with a small cost to Sp. Atk.

Build and Moveset for Impish Hippowdon (Lead Build)

EV Spread: 252 HP, 52 Defense, 204 Sp. Def.

Best Hold Items: Leftovers

Best Ability: Sand Stream

This build focuses on the use of Stealth Rock + Sandstorm to chip away at your opponent’s health while also doing strong damage with the likes of Earthquake. Thanks to Sand Stream, Sandstorm will trigger as part of Hippowdon’s ability when it is sent into battle, and the Leftovers hold item allows Hippowdon to regenerate HP every turn, making up the slight damage that Sandstorm causes. Yawn is present to put your opponent to sleep, giving you a chance to deal damage more freely, and allow them to be hit by Sandstorm without you taking damage from their attacks. Whirlwind is also there to force a switch from your opponent, allowing Stealth Rock to be used as a much bigger threat.

Here’s a complete breakdown of Stealth Rock, Earthquake, Yawn, and Whirlwind, and why they are useful to use on Hippowdon as your lead Pokemon.

• Stealth Rock: This is a great move to have on your lead Pokemon, as it deploys pointed rocks onto the field that damage the enemy Pokemon each time they are switched into the battle. Stealth Rock also lasts the entire duration of the match, no matter if Hippowdon faints. The only exception to this is if the enemy has a Pokemon that uses Rapid Spin, which will clear the rocks until you use the move again. This means that by combining Stealth Rock with Sandstorm, you can chip away at the oppnent’s HP, which will be a nuisance for them to deal with.
• Earthquake: Earthquake is a great physical attack for Hippowdon, dealing powerful damage with a 100% accuracy rate, meaning it’s very useful to get extra, consistent damage on top of the likes of Sandstorm and Stealth Rock.
• Yawn: Yawn puts the target Pokemon to sleep on the following turn, so utilizing this move to your advantage during Sandstorm can cause your opponent some trouble, as well as buy you some time to recover HP with Leftovers. You can also follow up Yawn with Whirlwind, as this will both force a switch for damage on Stealth Rock, and the sleeping Pokemon will remain asleep once it’s switched out.
• Whirlwind: Stealth Rock gives Whirlwind the perfect opportunity to play the game in an increasingly frustrating manner for your opponent, both forcing a switch and causing damage due to Stealth Rock’s effect. Just when they bring out the perfect counter to Hippowdon, bam! Blown away again, and another Pokemon is forced to the field to take damage.

Build and Moveset for Impish Hippowdon (Physical Wall Build)

EV Spread: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 4 Sp. Def.

Best Hold Items: Rocky Helmet

Best Ability: Sand Stream

This build works similarly to the lead build Hippowdon, switching out Whirlwind and Stealth Rock for Ice Fang and Slack Off, giving Hippowdon more longevity in battle with stronger physical attacks and an option for HP replenishment. The moveset that works best for a Physical build Hippowdon is Ice Fang, Yawn, Earthquake and Slack Off. Here’s a full breakdown of these moves below.

• Ice Fang: Ice Fang is a great move to have on your team as it counters the strong Dragon-types that make up the rest of the top 10 competitive Pokemon of the game. Ice Fang also has a chance to freeze the opponent on a hit, for opportunity to stall them in battle.
• Yawn: Yawn puts the target Pokemon to sleep on the following turn. This can pair well with Slack Off, allowing you to replenish HP without taking a hit from he enemy.
• Earthquake: Earthquake is a great physical attack for Hippowdon, dealing powerful damage with a 100% accuracy rate, meaning it’s very useful to get extra, consistent damage in on top of the likes of Yawn,
• Slack Off: Slack Off heals the user of half of it’s max HP, making it a useful move to keep Hippowdon in the battle and outlive its opponent. It can be paired with the likes of Yawn to ensure Hippowdon gets the chance to regain HP without taking further damage..

That’s everything you need to know about how to get Hippowdon and the best competitive moveset in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. For more gameplay guides, lists, news and quizzes, check out the rest of our content. We have a range of Pokemon topics to help you overcome any obstacles on your journey through Paldea, such as how to use the flying speed glitch with Miraidon and Koraidon, all TM locations,  and where to get TM 140 Nasty Plot.