Raikou
Raikou has been neglected somewhat by never being featured in a flashy Anime movie like his siblings. Even so, they made it up to him by far the strongest of the trio in terms of raid usefulness relevancy.
Raikou takes 1.6x damage from Ground .
Raikou can be beaten by 2 players in optimal weather, with max friendship and perfect level 40 counters or by 5 unfriended players using level 20 counters from this guide. When caught, Raikou will be between 1889 and 1972 cp without a weather boost. In Rainy weather, Raikou will be between 2361 and 2466 when caught.
Release Period:
September 2, 2019, at 1 p.m. to September 9, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT
Event Info
Event Info
Welcome to Week 1 of the 2019 Global Challenge Rewards!
All 3 of the Beasts (Suicune, Entei, and Raikou) will be featured from September 2, 2019, at 1 p.m. to September 9, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT.
There is no reason to believe they will have increased shiny rates at this time. All 3 of them have already had there shiny forms revealed previously. If they are not given a boost, the shiny rate will be roughly 1/20 chance. If a shiny Legendary Pokemon is encountered in a raid, it has a 100% catch chance (and thus you can use pinap berries for more candy). Note: rarely glitches occur making it possible to not catch the pokemon even under these circumstances.
This week will be themed on the region of Johto, and will also include:
– 2x Incubator Effectiveness.
– The release of Shiny Sentret and Gligar.
– Unown forms U, L, T, R, A hatching from 10k eggs.
– Other Johto pokemon in Raids.
Raikou in the Meta
Raikou in the Meta
Raid Attacker – Thunder Shock/Wild Charge
Raikou is still the reigning thunder king (although Luxray and Electivire are pretty close on it’s heel). Raikou is frequently THE top Pokemon against Water and Flying-Type Pokemon, who are also much less likely to have a coverage move against it than other counters. It’s got a strong argument as the very best Electric-Type Pokemon in the game, as well as fantastic Neutral DPS too.
Raid Attacker – Thunder Shock/Shadow Ball
Much more out there, Raikou is an occasionally usable B Tier Ghost-Type, especially when it’s Electric-Typing gives it helpful resistances. Deoxys (all of them) are one such example where it comes in handy. It’s also much more tanky than your average Ghost-Type
Gym Combat – Thunder Shock/Wild Charge
Raikou is an excellent generalist with high Neutral DPS. While Electric has very few types where it hits weakness, both Milotic and Togekiss are weak to it.
But even if you aren’t facing these staples of gym defense, Raikou is a very relevant gym attacker. It comes in 17th overall in Pokebattlers Rankings and jumps up to the #6th spot in rainy weather. A level 35 one can easily take down a maxed blissey without dodging so if you are looking for a generalist they are a fine pick.
It’s most common poor matchups are: Hippowdon, Steelix, Luxray, Ampharos and Melmetal.
Electric-Type Rankings
Electric Type Raid Rankings
RANK | Pokemon | Moveset | DPS% | TDO% | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100% | Raikou | Thunder Shock /Wild Charge | 94% | 100% | 3.11 | 0.52 | 0.75 | 1.00 | 2.19 |
99% | Electivire | Thunder Shock /Wild Charge | 98% | 78% | 3.11 | 0.52 | 0.77 | 0.99 | 2.22 |
97% | Magnezone | Spark /Wild Charge | 92% | 86% | 3.22 | 0.54 | 0.78 | 1.03 | 2.26 |
96% | Zapdos (Legacy) | Thunder Shock /Thunderbolt | 92% | 93% | 3.25 | 0.56 | 0.79 | 1.04 | 2.28 |
91% | Luxray | Spark /Wild Charge | 91% | 73% | 3.44 | 0.57 | 0.83 | 1.04 | 2.45 |
87% | Mewtwo | Psycho Cut /Thunderbolt | 85% | 87% | 3.49 | 0.60 | 0.85 | 1.22 | 2.50 |
87% | Deoxys (Normal Forme) | Charge Beam /Thunderbolt | 100% | 45% | 3.44 | 0.61 | 0.92 | 1.20 | 2.53 |
84% | Jolteon | Thunder Shock /Thunderbolt | 84% | 67% | 3.69 | 0.63 | 0.89 | 1.12 | 2.62 |
79% | Manectric | Charge Beam /Wild Charge | 84% | 51% | 3.89 | 0.67 | 0.99 | 1.18 | 2.81 |
78% | Alolan Golem | Volt Switch /Wild Charge | 77% | 77% | 4.01 | 0.65 | 1.05 | 1.23 | 2.71 |
78% | Magneton (Legacy) | Thunder Shock /Discharge | 79% | 50% | 4.07 | 0.65 | 1.03 | 1.23 | 2.72 |
77% | Alolan Raichu | Spark /Wild Charge | 80% | 52% | 4.10 | 0.66 | 1.02 | 1.22 | 2.81 |
75% | Melmetal | Thunder Shock /Thunderbolt | 70% | 91% | 3.96 | 0.68 | 1.00 | 1.34 | 3.05 |
74% | Raichu | Spark /Wild Charge | 77% | 49% | 4.22 | 0.69 | 1.04 | 1.25 | 3.02 |
73% | Mew | Charge Beam /Wild Charge | 67% | 82% | 4.09 | 0.72 | 1.03 | 1.39 | 3.07 |
73% | Electabuzz | Thunder Shock /Thunderbolt | 74% | 52% | 4.27 | 0.71 | 1.08 | 1.32 | 2.99 |
69% | Ampharos | Charge Beam /Zap Cannon | 70% | 65% | 4.77 | 0.73 | 1.04 | 1.35 | 3.05 |
65% | Arcanine | Snarl /Wild Charge | 68% | 62% | 4.71 | 0.72 | 1.28 | 1.42 | 3.48 |
65% | Deoxys (Speed Forme) | Charge Beam /Thunderbolt | 66% | 53% | 4.85 | 0.78 | 1.15 | 1.51 | 3.31 |
64% | Rotom | Thunder Shock /Thunderbolt | 69% | 41% | 4.85 | 0.81 | 1.23 | 1.40 | 3.43 |
64% | Electrode | Spark /Thunderbolt | 64% | 47% | 4.90 | 0.82 | 1.20 | 1.51 | 3.40 |
64% | Dialga | Dragon Breath /Thunder | 65% | 74% | 3.99 | 0.74 | 1.04 | 1.84 | 4.25 |
52% | Latias | Dragon Breath /Thunder | 55% | 67% | 4.85 | 0.94 | 1.22 | 2.05 | 5.56 |
48% | Deoxys (Attack Forme) | Zen Headbutt /Zap Cannon | 93% | 20% | 7.93 | 0.88 | 1.51 | 1.78 | 3.68 |
40% | Deoxys (Defense Forme) | Counter /Thunderbolt | 37% | 44% | 7.08 | 1.02 | 1.79 | 2.27 | 6.76 |
Ghost-Type Rankings
RANK | Pokemon | Moveset | DPS% | TDO% | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
98% | Darkrai | Feint Attack /Shadow Ball | 93% | 70% | 2.55 | 2.47 | 0.78 | 2.81 | 2.25 |
96% | Giratina (Origin Forme) | Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball | 87% | 100% | 2.40 | 2.65 | 0.73 | 2.86 | 2.40 |
92% | Chandelure | Hex /Shadow Ball | 97% | 62% | 2.47 | 3.03 | 0.87 | 2.86 | 2.24 |
92% | Mewtwo (Legacy) | Psycho Cut /Shadow Ball | 86% | 74% | 2.69 | 2.71 | 0.71 | 3.01 | 2.43 |
85% | Gengar (Legacy) | Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball | 100% | 53% | 2.83 | 3.01 | 0.83 | 3.38 | 2.35 |
75% | Raikou | Thunder Shock /Shadow Ball | 72% | 64% | 3.16 | 3.31 | 0.96 | 3.80 | 2.90 |
75% | Banette | Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball | 86% | 41% | 3.13 | 3.48 | 1.03 | 3.66 | 2.83 |
73% | Mismagius | Sucker Punch /Shadow Ball | 76% | 50% | 3.19 | 3.75 | 1.07 | 3.74 | 2.80 |
71% | Drifblim | Hex /Shadow Ball | 73% | 53% | 3.39 | 3.61 | 1.01 | 3.79 | 3.17 |
68% | Gardevoir | Confusion /Shadow Ball | 65% | 47% | 3.74 | 3.46 | 0.90 | 4.23 | 3.19 |
68% | Alakazam | Confusion /Shadow Ball | 73% | 41% | 3.68 | 3.87 | 0.98 | 4.21 | 2.95 |
66% | Lucario | Bullet Punch /Shadow Ball | 70% | 39% | 3.63 | 3.50 | 1.10 | 3.93 | 3.86 |
66% | Spiritomb | Sucker Punch /Shadow Ball | 65% | 40% | 3.63 | 3.91 | 1.11 | 4.11 | 3.42 |
64% | Haunter (Legacy) | Lick /Shadow Ball | 88% | 29% | 3.85 | 4.14 | 1.00 | 4.25 | 3.29 |
61% | Zangoose | Shadow Claw /Night Slash | 60% | 30% | 4.17 | 3.77 | 1.23 | 4.62 | 3.57 |
60% | Golurk | Astonish /Shadow Punch | 60% | 42% | 3.89 | 4.28 | 1.20 | 4.59 | 3.59 |
60% | Giratina (Altered Forme) | Shadow Claw /Shadow Sneak | 52% | 71% | 3.94 | 4.25 | 1.21 | 4.50 | 3.72 |
59% | Froslass | Hex /Shadow Ball | 65% | 38% | 3.90 | 4.63 | 1.33 | 4.48 | 3.74 |
57% | Ursaring | Shadow Claw /Hyper Beam | 51% | 34% | 3.94 | 4.63 | 1.41 | 4.43 | 4.27 |
56% | Typhlosion | Shadow Claw /Overheat | 59% | 42% | 3.87 | 4.56 | 1.19 | 5.12 | 4.05 |
56% | Crobat | Air Slash /Shadow Ball | 55% | 43% | 4.60 | 4.27 | 1.22 | 4.97 | 3.82 |
52% | Grumpig | Extrasensory /Shadow Ball | 50% | 39% | 4.72 | 4.72 | 1.21 | 5.56 | 4.18 |
52% | Ninjask | Fury Cutter /Shadow Ball | 65% | 27% | 4.75 | 4.71 | 1.57 | 4.97 | 4.39 |
51% | Mew | Shadow Claw /Overheat | 52% | 53% | 4.16 | 5.18 | 1.27 | 5.58 | 4.70 |
51% | Chimecho | Extrasensory /Shadow Ball | 51% | 35% | 4.79 | 5.04 | 1.37 | 5.60 | 4.12 |
50% | Glalie | Frost Breath /Shadow Ball | 48% | 33% | 4.99 | 4.29 | 1.66 | 4.91 | 5.26 |
50% | Dusknoir | Hex /Ominous Wind | 50% | 37% | 4.70 | 5.13 | 1.44 | 5.51 | 4.36 |
50% | Mr. Mime | Confusion /Shadow Ball | 52% | 29% | 5.05 | 5.21 | 1.39 | 5.53 | 4.14 |
49% | Weezing | Infestation /Shadow Ball | 52% | 37% | 4.83 | 5.17 | 1.52 | 5.27 | 4.72 |
48% | Kadabra | Confusion /Shadow Ball | 64% | 22% | 5.53 | 5.72 | 1.27 | 5.37 | 4.32 |
47% | Golbat | Wing Attack /Shadow Ball | 50% | 30% | 5.97 | 4.82 | 1.42 | 6.30 | 4.26 |
44% | Snorlax | Lick /Hyper Beam | 41% | 49% | 4.27 | 6.69 | 1.85 | 4.95 | 6.54 |
41% | Xatu | Air Slash /Ominous Wind | 44% | 24% | 6.27 | 6.39 | 1.89 | 6.22 | 5.16 |
41% | Gastly | Lick /Dark Pulse | 56% | 10% | 6.28 | 6.29 | 1.66 | 6.69 | 5.17 |
Raid Advice
Raid Advice
Moveset Advice
In terms of Fast Moves, Thunder Shock is harder to fight than Volt Switch. Raikou has 3 Electric Charge Moves and only one Ghost one, so the majority of the time you will be facing Electric Moves.
- Shadow Ball- Hardest Moveset because the ground type counters double resistance doesn’t matter here. Also Mewtwo doesn’t like it I suppose.
- Wild Charge- Strongest STAB moveset and a double bar charge move.
- Thunderbolt Another double bar charge move.
- Thunder single bar charge move. Easiest attack by far.
General Type Interactions
Raikou takes 1.6x damage from Ground .
Ground – is 2x Resistant to Electric.
Player Count Advice
3-Manning: There’s a couple different routes you can take as best friends.
If low levels are constraining you, you can look for Sunny Weather and a Raikou NOT using Shadow Ball as it’s charge attack. You need the double resistances Ground-Types have against Electric attacks! Even at Level 20 without dodging Garchomp and Groudon can pull off a trio.
Without sunny weather you will need to get to at least level 25. But if you have a couple weather boosted Groudon you should be able to pull it off! Shadow ball will remain a thorn in your side though, and is basically impossible without skillful dodging. and a team of Groudons.
At level 30 you are finally able to survive Shadow Ball and thus all movesets with just Groudon(or Garchomp). Mamoswine as well achieves this feet! Dodging is only really important with Shadow Ball to avoid rejoins, Groudon and Garchomp start being able to lazily tank Raikou’s other attacks starting around level 30.
At level 35 Rhyperior can join the team as well of folk who can survive Shadow Ball. But without dodging even now you will likely need to rejoin.
Capable of Trio in most situations:
Level 25: Groudon/Garchomp (Must Dodge)
Level 30: +Mamoswine
Level 35: +Rhyperior
Level 40: +Rayquaza
2-Manning:
While on average Raikou requires being trio’d, if you play perfectly and get very lucky, a duo is possible. Level 40 Groudon and Garchomp with Best Friend Bonus, Sunny Weather, No Dodging can pull it off against [Not-Shadow Ball]. Even with perfect IV’s this still will require getting lucky, but it has been done.
Weather Advice
Pokemon | Weather | Fast Move | Charge Move | Estimator @ L35 | ||||
Garchomp | CLEAR | Mud_Shot | Earthquake | 2.34 | ||||
Groudon | CLEAR | Mud_Shot | Earthquake | 2.36 | ||||
Rhyperior | CLEAR | Mud_Slap | Earthquake | 2.49 | ||||
Mamoswine | CLEAR | Mud_Slap | Bulldoze | 2.55 | ||||
Rhydon | CLEAR | Mud_Slap | Earthquake | 2.76 | ||||
Garchomp | NO_WEATHER | Mud_Shot | Earthquake | 2.76 | ||||
Groudon | NO_WEATHER | Mud_Shot | Earthquake | 2.77 | ||||
Donphan | CLEAR | Mud_Slap | Earthquake | 2.85 |
Top Raid Counters
Top Raid Counters
Garchomp
Mud Shot /
Earthquake
Dragon Tail
Alternate Charge Move:
Outrage
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Garchomp is an absolute monster here with it’s Dragon/Ground Typing. It can put that triple Electric resistance to good use far better than Flygon’s Stats ever allowed. It (on average) manages to be a hair ahead of Groudon thanks to having even better survivability than the king himself. It doesn’t have quite the same level of crazy survivability against shadow ball however, falling down to “only” matching Groudon. It’s possible to take Raikou down in a 2 man with 5 Garchomp each!
Garchomp is pretty hard to get your hands on however. They are a very new mon, with Pseudo-Legendary rarity in the wild, with no nests. No research rewards either so far or events. On top of that, they are a second stage Pokemon so if you have managed to get one without dumping a mountain of rare candies, congrats!
Requires 3 players with level 35 Garchomp.
Groudon
Mud Shot /
Earthquake
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
While Garchomp might be the new hotness here, Groudon has come to be our standard for a phenomenal Ground-Type. It reclaims its number 1 title against Shadow Ball, and is far from being strictly outclassed or anything.
Groudon while being a Legendary, has been featured a couple times recently and has also been available as a research reward.
Requires 3 players with level 35 Groudon.
Mamoswine
Mud-Slap /
Bulldoze
Powder Snow
Mud-Slap
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Yes, Mamoswine is also a fantastic ground attacker! While slipping a bit in both bulk and DPS from the above Tyrants, it’s actually decently likely you have a high level one already if you were playing recently.
Mamoswine was featured in a community day and Swinub has been a mainstay of all ice events. Outside of that though Swinubs are very rare, but do exist as occasional tier 1 raid bosses. Being able to find one at high level in sunny is also a nice bonus on saving a ton of candy! Sinnoh Stones are somewhat of a pain, but can be acquired from Trainer Battles.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Mamoswine.
Rhyperior
Mud-Slap /
Earthquake
Requires 4 players with level 35 Rhyperior
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
An alternative Sinnoh Evolution, Rhyperior is an even easier Pokemon to get than Mamoswine. Rhydons are a decently accessible Pokemon, and both has nests and has been featured in the Earth Day event. They also are boosted in 2 very common weathers so hopefully not too bad to get one even though it takes a lot of candy. It does require a Sinnoh stone however, which can be acquired at random from your first daily Trainer Battle.
Rhydon
Mud-Slap /
Earthquake
Requires 4 players with level 35 Rhydon
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rhydon works as well,if you are short on candy, falling just behind it’s evolution in power.
Rhydon is of course, even easier to acquire than Rhyperior. If you are short on TMs and rolled lucky on your Rhydon, you might wanna consider leaving it as is.
Donphan
Mud-Slap /
Earthquake
Requires 4 players with level 35 Donphan
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Donphan never really got a moment to excel in the game, being a bit below average-but there are so few viable ground types that he really is perfectly acceptable here!
Phanpy are an uncommon Pokemon but they do nest, and are boosted in sunny.
Alternate Counters
Alternate Raid Counters
Nidoking
Fury Cutter /
Earth Power
Requires 4 players with level 35 Nidoking
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Now here’s a weird one. Fury Cutter has a high energy build up, allowing you to spam your charge more frequently. In terms of non-stab moves it’s very good. Poison Jab however only knocks it down one rank, so don’t sweat it too much. You do want Earth Power over earthquake though.
Nidorans are of course very common, but Nidoking lost Fury Cutter in February 2017. He doesn’t become unusable without the legacy move, but falls down must closer to his sisters ranking on this list.
Rayquaza Windy
Dragon Tail /
Outrage
Requires 4 players with level 35 Rayquaza
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rayquaza used to be a viable counter to most raid bosses since there were fewer Pokemon to pick from. His stats were phenomenal so he popped up in all sorts of places he didn’t belong-such as here. There are such few ground types his positioning basically serves as drawing a line between what Ground Types are preferable to just using a generalist. Rayquaza was last featured in Raids August 2019.
Swampert [NEW ADDITION]
Mud Shot /
Hydro Cannon
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Swampert is like Gastrodon in that it’s typing is disadvantageous to facing Electric Pokemon. Mudkip Community day giving it Hydro Cannon sent it higher on the charts that it could go before though! Despite Not hitting for weakness anymore.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Swampert.
Golem
Mud-Slap /
Earthquake
Requires 4 players with level 35 Golem
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
While Golem has had it’s time in the light as the top Rock Type in Gen 1, it’s always lagged Rhydon in Ground, and now has half a dozen other blokes outclassing it.
Geodudes are not too much of a pain to acquire for most people and exist in research rewards as well. Hunt down a nest or play in partly cloudy will be enough for many to get Golem.
Hippowdon
Fire Fang /
Earth Power
Requires 4 players with level 35 Hippowdon
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Shiny terrifying Hippo! Although the Black female form isn’t actually shiny. It doesn’t have a STAB fast move, and against Raikou both perform well enough. It will make more a difference if using it against Ice or Water types however.
Hippowdon is mostly limited in availability to how new it is, leading many to not have had a chance to find high level Hippopotas yet.
Salamence Windy
Dragon Tail /
Outrage
Requires 4 players with level 35 Salamence
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Dragonite’s angry cousin has been pretty popular of late, with community day and all. Salamence getting Outrage helps it do well here, during Windy Weather especially
Palkia Rainy
Dragon Tail /
Draco Meteor
Requires 4 players with level 35 Palkia
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Palkia was released earlier this year as a Legendary, but is quite the pain to power up and Salamence does just as well.
Mewtwo
Confusion /
Shadow Ball
Requires 4 players with level 35 Mewtwo
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆
Mewtwo is only here due to its raw neutral DPS, in a lot of ways it’s a terrible choice due to it’s active weakness to Shadow Ball. But if you’re facing Electric moves and can’t be bothered to find Ground Types, yah boi got your back. It does require the legacy move of Shadow Ball however.
Flygon
Mud Shot /
Earthquake
Requires 4 players with level 35 Flygon
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Flygon is a bit down the list, but it was rocking the amazing Ground/Dragon triple resistances to Electric long before Garchomp!
But Much Like How Water/Dragon Kingdra was upstaged by Palkia, Flygon really doesn’t have the stats to make strong use of it.
Trapinch have been uncommon spawns in a couple recent events but is overall pretty difficult to acquire and doesn’t nest. 50/50 on whether it will be getting a community day someday.
Gastrodon
Mud-Slap /
Earth Power
Requires 4 players with level 35 Gastrodon
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Gastrodon is another Gen 4 rookie, but unlike Garchomp they have an unfortunate Water duel typing-which partially negates it’s Electric resistances.
Shellos while cosmetically region-locked, is still available globally otherwise. They aren’t too hard to find for the time being
Dragonite
Dragon Tail /
Outrage
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
While now there are a whole pantheon of dragons outclassing him as a specialist and a generalist, Dragonite is still a perfectly acceptable choice here. Dratini got a community day ages ago and has been infrequently sprinkled around in events since then.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Dragonite.
Dialga
Dragon Breath /
Draco Meteor
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Dialga was released earlier this year as a legendary, but is quite the pain to power up, and Salamence does just as well. It’s Steel typing does not imbue and additional resistance to Electric, but it’s lack of a Flying Type at least doesn’t negate it.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Dialga.
Rampardos
Smack Down /
Rock Slide
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
He’s just here for the raw neutral DPS. Rampardos is very new, but Cranidos was featured as a quest reward just earlier this month!
Requires 4 players with level 35 Rampardos.
Nidoqueen
Poison Jab /
Earth Power
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nidorans are very common, especially in Mt. Moon Biomes so hopefully not too much a chore to get one of these if wanted.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Nidoqueen.
Roserade
Poison Jab /
Grass Knot
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Another neutral DPS option, a little better in Cloudy.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Roserade.
Camerupt
Ember /
Earth Power
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shockingly Camerupt actually makes the list since there are so few Ground Types. Numel is very common as well.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Camerupt.
Dugtrio – Alola
Mud-Slap /
Mud Bomb
- ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
- 🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
- 📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
- 🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
The Alolan Form comes out ahead of the default due to Niantic not updating for the Gen 1 Pokemon stat buffs, but doing so for their Alolan Forms. Available both in the wild and in Alolan 7k Eggs from opening Gifts when you have an Egg Slot.
Requires 4 players with level 35 Dugtrio – Alola.
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts
Raikou is a decently popular, incredibly useful Pokemon. Topping the Electric-Type charts, makes it one of the most critical pokemon to acquire when you can! There are alternatives, but Raikou is also one of the stronger Pokemon around even when it isn’t hitting for weakness! All this to say, it’s a good pokemon to Raid for.
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