Hello students! My name is Professor Geekbeak, and today, I wish to draw attention to Shadow Raikou. Even though Raikou is a bit of an older raid, it is still a great Electric attacker, if you need one. Shadow Raikou especially is still a great choice for an Electric Type. Grab your notebooks, class is in session. For those who wish to do their research independently, our raw data can be found here. And for those who wish for a simple visual guide, go ahead and take a look at the below visual guide by CaptGoldfish.

NOTE: Some visual guides will be outdated for the duration of GO FEST. They will remain mostly accurate, but lack modern counters, such as the Mega Mewtwo duo, or Eternatus.

Course Schedule

This counter is one of many GO FEST raids. There are too many to put a coherent schedule here, but rest assured, pretty much every legendary, mega, and shadow under the sun will be going at some point. Look to your local GO FEST event or the Pokebattler.com raid schedule to see exactly what raids will be going.

As with most Electric Types, Raikou can be beaten easily by Ground types.

Effectiveness	Types
Double Resist (0.4x)	—
Resist (0.6x)	Flying Steel Electric
Neutral	Normal Fighting Poison Rock Bug Ghost Fire Water Grass Psychic Ice Dragon Dark Fairy
Super Effective (1.6x)	Ground
Double Super Effective (2.6x)	—

Shadow Raikou’s moveset includes the following charge moves:

• Shadow Ball
• Thunder
• Thunderbolt
• Wild Charge
• Aura Sphere
• Frustration

The Dean’s List consists of the top 5 counters to Shadow Raikou. As always, the Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and the Third Ranked will have their best moveset alternatives in a table with their rankings and a table detailing their defensive prowess against the charge moves listed above.

Primal Groudon A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Precipice Blades

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★★★★★

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Mud Shot	Precipice Blades	100%
Mud Shot	Earthquake	89%
Dragon Tail	Precipice Blades	79%
Dragon Tail	Earthquake	72%
Mud Shot	Fire Blast	63%
Mud Shot	Fire Punch	60%

Shadow Groudon A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Precipice Blades

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Mud Shot	Precipice Blades	100%
Mud Shot	Earthquake	88%
Dragon Tail	Precipice Blades	79%
Dragon Tail	Earthquake	71%
Mud Shot	Solar Beam	61%
Mud Shot	Fire Blast	58%

Mega Garchomp A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Earth Power

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★★★★★

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Mud Shot	Earth Power	100%
Mud Shot	Earthquake	98%
Dragon Tail	Earth Power	91%
Dragon Tail	Earthquake	86%
Mud Shot	Breaking Swipe	81%
Dragon Tail	Breaking Swipe	75%

Defensive Grades for Top 3

Boss Move
Aura Sphere	—	—	—
Thunder	🛡🛡	🛡🛡	🛡🛡
Shadow Ball	—	—	—
Wild Charge	🛡🛡	🛡🛡	🛡🛡
Thunderbolt	🛡🛡	🛡🛡	🛡🛡

Landorus Therian A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Sandsear Storm

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Regigigas A

Best Moveset: Hidden Power / Crush Grip

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★★☆☆☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Also Noteworthy: A: Shadow Mamoswine

We here at Pokebattler Pokémon Research Institute can’t expect you to have the best counters every time. So, here are some of our other best options, most of which will be easier to find than the members of the Dean’s List.

Shadow Garchomp A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Earth Power

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Groudon A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Precipice Blades

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★☆☆

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Mega Mewtwo Y A

Best Moveset: Psycho Cut / Psystrike

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★☆☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Landorus A

Best Moveset: Mud Shot / Earth Power

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Excadrill A

Best Moveset: Mud-Slap / Scorching Sands

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

3

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Of course, besides our 10 best counters, there are plenty of Pokémon that also work against Shadow Raikou. Here are a few star choices, worthy of praise.

A	Mega Mewtwo XEternatusShadow RhyperiorMega RayquazaMega SwampertBlack KyuremShadow RhydonExcadrillMamoswineRegigigasMega LucarioGarchompMega BlazikenShadow MewtwoLandorusShadow DonphanShadow HippowdonShadow GolemShadow Ursaluna

Sometimes, the weather can be your most powerful ally. In certain weather conditions, certain Pokémon on our list excel. The most transformative cases are noted below.

Sunny/Clear

Shadow Mamoswine (2.4)Shadow Excadrill (2.5)Shadow Garchomp (2.5)

Windy

Mega Mewtwo Y (2.5)Mega Mewtwo X (2.5)Eternatus (2.6)

Overall, Shadow Raikou is quite an easy raid. Bringing along a few strong ground types and a few friends will make this legendary beast look not quite so legendary. Even the shadow form will look like nothing special. Of course, if you wish to do more research on your box’s best Pokémon for the job, Pokebattler.com itself can be a great help! Remember, the best counter is the one you have powered up and ready to go. I grant extra credit to those who use their best friend bonus and the weather to their advantage. Class dismissed!