Which Pokemon are night-only in Pokemon Gold and Silver?

On grass tables, several species only appear at night (18:00–03:59), including Hoothoot, Noctowl, Oddish, Gloom, Spinarak/Ariados on Gold, the Gastly line in towers, Murkrow, Houndour, Misdreavus, Sneasel, and more. Houndour and Misdreavus are present in both Gold and Silver; use the filters for route-level differences.

What time is morning, day, and night in Gold and Silver?

Morning is 04:00–09:59, day is 10:00–17:59, and night is 18:00–03:59 on the in-game real-time clock. Grass maps load separate encounter slots per band; water and fishing tables do not split by time.

Is Sunkern only available during the day?

Yes. On original Gold and Silver grass tables, Sunkern only appears in the day band (10:00–17:59). Hunt it on Route 24 in Kanto or in National Park in Johto with the Day filter.

Do Gold and Silver share the same time-of-day exclusives?

Not entirely. Bug-line tables differ—Spinarak/Ariados favor Gold night grass while Ledyba/Ledian favor Silver morning grass—and several routes swap other species. Switch the Gold/Silver control to see each cart’s exclusive list.

Night Only & Morning Exclusive Pokemon Gold Silver - Day Night Wild Encounters

Time of day · Grass wild tables · Original GBC Gold / Silver

Night-only & morning-exclusive Pokémon

Generation 2 grass maps load separate morning, day, and night encounter tables. This tool lists every grass species on each cart, highlights true time exclusives (only appear in one clock band), and links straight into the map, Pokédex, Mechanics Lab clock, weekly calendar, and catch checklist. Surf and rods do not split by time.

Morning 04:00–09:59 Day 10:00–17:59 Night 18:00–03:59 Grass only Gold ≠ Silver tables

Composite banner: morning, day, and night exclusive wild Pokemon for Gold and Silver with clock bands and Route 29 grass — Morning · Day · Night grass tables · original Game Boy Color Gold / Silver

Fast answer

How time gates wild grass

1. Your cartridge clock sets three bands: morning 04:00–09:59, day 10:00–17:59, night 18:00–03:59 (see Mechanics Lab).
2. Only grass (and indoor grass-like floors such as towers) swap full slot tables per band. Surf / fishing stay the same all day.
3. Use Exclusive only below to list species that never appear in the other two bands on the selected cart—ideal for Nuzlocke planning and living-dex routing.
4. Gold and Silver diverge on bug lines and other grass rows (Spinarak night vs Ledyba morning, plus version-exclusive families on shared routes). Flip the version control before you hunt.

RTC bands

Morning, day, and night windows

Open Mechanics Lab Weekly events calendar

Morning · 04:00–09:59

Early grass tables. Signature exclusive on Gold: Butterfree (Route 2 window). On Silver, Ledyba / Ledian / Beedrill morning-only grass rows stand out. Daytime species such as Sunkern are still absent.

Day · 10:00–17:59

Sunkern is the clean day-only grass exclusive on both versions. Most common routes show their “default” day tables—owls and many ghosts drop out until evening.

Sunkern Pokédex

Night · 18:00–03:59

The largest exclusive pool: Hoothoot / Noctowl, Oddish / Gloom, tower Gastly / Haunter, Murkrow, Sneasel, Gold night bugs (Spinarak / Ariados), Mt. Silver Misdreavus, Route 7 Houndour, and more.

Hoothoot Pokédex

Emulator / VC tip: If your clock is frozen, night exclusives never rotate. Fix RTC support or advance the host clock, then re-check this tool. Pair with the weekday calendar for Friday Lapras and contests.

Interactive list

Grass encounter finder

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No species match these filters. Clear search or switch Exclusive / Present mode.

Rates are summed slot percentages for that map view. Levels show the min–max range across matching slots. Open a location to jump into the interactive map marker layer.

What players actually hunt

Signature exclusives by cart

Band	Gold grass exclusives	Silver grass exclusives
Morning	Butterfree	Beedrill, Ledian, Ledyba
Day	Sunkern	Sunkern
Night	Ariados, Gastly, Gloom, Haunter, Hoothoot, Houndour, Misdreavus, Murkrow, Noctowl, Oddish, Sneasel, Spinarak, Venomoth	Gastly, Gloom, Haunter, Hoothoot, Houndour, Misdreavus, Murkrow, Noctowl, Oddish, Sneasel, Venomoth

Owls & Dark types

Hoothoot and Noctowl are early Johto night hunts. Murkrow is much later: its original G/S grass rows are on Kanto Routes 7 and 16 at night.

Route 29 map Route 7 (Murkrow)

Ghost towers

Gastly and Haunter fill Sprout Tower / Tin Tower night tables. Day visits see different ratios or absences—check the tool before grinding for a Haunter trade.

Sprout Tower map Trade evolutions

Version bug lines

Gold leans on night Spinarak / Ariados; Silver leans on morning Ledyba / Ledian. Cross-trade via link cable or plan your version around the line you want—see version differences.

Version choice guide Dex requirements

Local progress

Time-gated catch checklist

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Checks store in this browser only. Mirror living-dex progress in the catch checklist when you want a full National Dex board.

FAQ

Common time-of-day questions

Why can’t I find Hoothoot during the day?

Hoothoot’s grass slots are night-only on original G/S. Wait until 18:00 in-game (or set the host clock), then soft-reset routes such as Route 29 / 30 / 31 / 34–36 and National Park night grass.

Does fishing change at night?

No. Rod and Surf tables ignore the morning/day/night bands. Only grass (and similar floor encounter tables) swap. That is why Lapras is a weekday gate, not a clock-band gate—see the Friday Lapras section.

Is this the same as HeartGold / SoulSilver?

No. Remakes change encounter tables, Pokéwalker, and several time events. This page is parsed for original Game Boy Color Gold and Silver only. Use Crystal’s map hub if you are on that cart’s expanded legendary path.

How does this help Nuzlockes?

First encounters depend on when you enter a route. Entering Route 29 at night can lock Hoothoot instead of a day bird. Filter Exclusive only, then mark routes in the Nuzlocke tracker.

Keep exploring