Golbat
Golbat is a Poison/Flying-type Pokémon, the Bat Pokémon, number 42 (#0042) in the National Pokédex. It was introduced in Generation 1 and comes from the Kanto region. It is 1.6 m tall and weighs 55 kg.
Golbat's mouth takes up most of its face, and its hollow fangs work like drinking straws. Its greed can ground it: the Pokédex says it sometimes drinks so much that it is too heavy to fly.
How to pronounce Golbat
Golbat is pronounced GOL-bat. The capital letters show the stressed syllable.
Listen to Golbat said out loud:
In Japanese it is ゴルバット.
Hear every other name on the Pokémon pronunciation guide.
Lore
Biology
Golbat is a large blue bat with purple wing membranes, small slit-pupilled eyes, tiny triangular ears and a huge mouth; the fangs of a female are smaller. It is 1.6 m tall and weighs 55 kg. Its fangs can pierce even the toughest hide, yet they are surprisingly fragile, and the Pokédex says a Golbat missing fangs got that way trying to bite a Steel type. Its feet are tiny, but it walks skilfully.
Behaviour
Golbat flits about at night and sneaks up on sleeping prey before striking. One Pokédex entry says it is known to share the blood it has gathered with hungry members of its own kind.
Habitat
The Pokédex habitat is caves, and Bulbapedia calls it nocturnal. It cannot be caught in Scarlet and Violet, but Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC places it in Hyperspace Lumiose.
Diet
The Pokédex says it drinks the blood of Pokémon and people, over 300 ml (10 ounces) at one sitting.
Powers
Its Ability Inner Focus stops it flinching, and the hidden Ability Infiltrator lets its moves slip past Reflect, Light Screen and Safeguard. It bites with Poison Fang and Bite, drains health with Leech Life, confuses with Confuse Ray and traps foes with Mean Look. With 80 base Attack and 90 base Speed it is a quick, decent attacker.
Name origin
Golbat may combine 'gore', 'ghoul' or 'gulp' with 'bat'. The Japanese name is Golbat (ゴルバット).
Design inspiration
Golbat appears to be based on a bat, especially a vampire bat. Its Poison type may come from vampire bat saliva that stops blood clotting, or from bats' reputation for spreading disease, and its gaping mouth could be a caricature of the vampire myth. These are fan readings, not official statements.
Evolution notes
Golbat evolves from Zubat at level 22 and into Crobat when it levels up with high friendship. In FireRed and LeafGreen that evolution is interrupted until the player has obtained the National Pokédex.
In the games
Golbat stars in Gutsy Golbat, a Pokémon Stadium 2 mini-game about flying through a cave to collect hearts. It debuted in Red and Green (Red and Blue outside Japan).
In the anime
Koga's Golbat debuted in 'The Ninja Poké-Showdown', facing Ash's Charmander in his Gym battle. In 'The Scheme Team', Agatha's Golbat rescues Ash's Pikachu from Team Rocket, and in the Journeys series Goh caught one in 'Battling in the Freezing Raid!'.
Fun facts
- Among the core series games, only Red and Blue show Golbat's long tongue, and the last game to show it at all was Pokémon Battle Revolution.
- Its French name, Nosferalto, joins Nosferatu with the Italian word for 'high'.
- In Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! it cannot evolve at all, because Crobat is not in those games.
Base stats
- HP: 75
- Attack: 80
- Defense: 70
- Sp. Atk: 65
- Sp. Def: 75
- Speed: 90
Golbat’s base stat total is 455. Its highest stat is Speed.
Type matchups
What is Golbat weak to?
Golbat takes extra damage from Electric (2×), Ice (2×), Psychic (2×), Rock (2×) moves.
It resists Grass (¼×), Fighting (¼×), Bug (¼×), Poison (½×), Fairy (½×).
It is immune to Ground moves.
Evolution
What does Golbat evolve from?
Golbat evolves from Zubat at level 22.
How does Golbat evolve?
Golbat evolves into Crobat (Friendship).
The whole family: Zubat, Golbat, Crobat.
Abilities
- Inner Focus: Prevents flinching.
- Infiltrator (hidden ability): Bypasses Light Screen, Reflect, and Safeguard.
Moves
Moves Golbat learns by level up in Sword / Shield
| Level | Move | Type | Category | Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Screech | Normal | Status | — |
| 1 | Absorb | Grass | Special | 20 |
| 1 | Supersonic | Normal | Status | — |
| 1 | Astonish | Ghost | Physical | 30 |
| 1 | Mean Look | Normal | Status | — |
| 15 | Poison Fang | Poison | Physical | 50 |
| 20 | Quick Guard | Fighting | Status | — |
| 27 | Air Cutter | Flying | Special | 60 |
| 34 | Bite | Dark | Physical | 60 |
| 41 | Haze | Ice | Status | — |
| 48 | Venoshock | Poison | Special | 65 |
| 55 | Confuse Ray | Ghost | Status | — |
| 62 | Air Slash | Flying | Special | 75 |
| 69 | Leech Life | Bug | Physical | 80 |
TM moves (37)
Golbat can learn 37 moves from TMs in Sword / Shield: Fly, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Screech, Rest, Thief, Snore, Protect, Giga Drain, Steel Wing, Attract, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Facade, Swift, U-turn, Payback, Assurance, Venoshock, Round, Acrobatics, Air Slash, Agility, Leech Life, Substitute, Sludge Bomb, Endure, Sleep Talk, Crunch, Shadow Ball, Uproar, Heat Wave, Taunt, Brave Bird, Nasty Plot, Zen Headbutt, Venom Drench.
Egg moves (7), which Zubat can hatch knowing:Curse, Defog, Gust, Hypnosis, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack.
Move tutor moves (1): Dual Wingbeat.
Breeding & training
- Gender: 50% male, 50% female.
- Egg groups: Flying.
- Egg cycles: 15 (steps to hatch, Scarlet/Violet: 1,920).
- Catch rate: 90 out of 255.
- Base friendship (Gen 8 onward): 50.
- Growth rate: Medium (1,000,000 experience points to reach level 100).
- Defeating it gives 2 Speed effort values.
- Base experience yield: 159.
Pokédex entries
Every once in a while, you'll see a Golbat that's missing some fangs. This happens when hunger drives it to try biting a Steel-type Pokémon. (Ultra Sun)
It sinks its sharp fangs into other creatures and slurps up their blood. A closer look at the fangs reveals that they are hollow and akin to straws. (Legends: Arceus)
Its feet are tiny, but this Pokémon walks skillfully. It sneaks up on sleeping prey before sinking in its fangs and slurping up blood. (Shield)
It loves to drink other creatures' blood. It's said that if it finds others of its kind going hungry, it sometimes shares the blood it's gathered. (Sword)
It attacks in a stealthy manner, without warning. Its sharp fangs are used to bite and to suck blood. (Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Let’s Go, Eevee!)
They can suck down over 10 ounces of blood in one go. They have been known to drink so much blood that they can no longer fly. (Ultra Moon)
Names around the world
| Japanese | ゴルバット |
|---|---|
| Romaji | Golbat |
| French | Nosferalto |
| German | Golbat |
| Spanish | Golbat |
| Italian | Golbat |
| Korean | 골뱃 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 大嘴蝠 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 大嘴蝠 |
Trivia
- Taller than 77% of all Pokémon (1.6 m).
- Heavier than 68% of all Pokémon (55 kg).
- Base stat total 455, ranked #494 of 1,025.
- One of 3 Pokémon that are both Poison and Flying.
- One of 87 purple Pokémon.
- Number 42 of 151 Pokémon introduced in Generation 1 (Kanto).
- Part of an evolution family of 3 Pokémon.
- Can learn 55 different moves in Sword / Shield.
- Catch rate 90: about 11.8% per Poké Ball at full health.
- Appears in 22 distinct Pokédex entries.
Sources and fact-checking
- Stats, types, abilities, moves, evolutions, forms and Pokédex entries: PokéAPI open game data.
- Lore: written by pokee.si in our own words, researched from Bulbapedia: Golbat (Pokémon), Serebii: Golbat (Scarlet/Violet Pokédex).
- Pronunciation (GOL-bat): it follows how the English anime, games or official videos say it.
Last checked: . Every sentence of the lore was checked against Bulbapedia, Serebii and the game data.
Explore
Poison-type Pokémon · Flying-type Pokémon · Poison/Flying weaknesses and matchups · Kanto region guide · Inner Focus ability · Infiltrator ability · Compare Golbat · Full Pokédex · Type chart · All moves
Browse similar Pokémon
Gen 1 Poison-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Flying-type Pokémon · Gen 1 Pokémon list · Purple Pokémon list · Flying egg group · Pokémon that start with G · Bat Pokémon