Pokémon: 'Pokémon Go Raikou, Entei, and Suicune Tips'

How to do you best against the second Legendary trio.

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Pokémon Go

Pokémon GO Raikou, Entei, and Suicune Tips

The Legendary Pokémon Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are the most ferocious Raid Bosses striking around the globe, so it’s time to get your Pokémon GO team ready for battle. These Pokémon are known for roaming around the world of Pokémon, and you’ll find they’re no different in the real world of Pokémon GO. Only one of these Legendary Pokémon will be available in your region at any time, but they’ll rotate out for another one at the end of each month until you’ve had a chance at all three.

These Legendary Pokémon are extremely powerful—and they’ll be extremely difficult to catch, too. Read on for some tips that will help you add these amazing Pokémon to your collection. You’ll only be able to catch them using the Premier Balls earned from battle, so you’ll need your Pokémon to perform well in battle to maximize your chances. Check out our guide to training Pokémon in Pokémon GO to get your team up to speed, and then read on for some pointers specific to Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.

Suggested Pokémon to Endure Entei

The Fire-type Entei is weak against Ground-, Rock-, and Water-type attacks. Water-type and Rock-type Pokémon also resist Fire-type attacks, so we’d suggest filling your team with Pokémon representing these types. Make sure to stay away from Steel-, Grass-, Ice-, and Bug-type Pokémon, because Entei’s Fire-type attacks will be super effective.

Several popular Pokémon are fantastic against the Volcano Pokémon, lessening the chance of its scoring an eruption of knockouts on your Pokémon. Golem and Rhydon resist Fire-type attacks and deal supereffective damage back, and this time it won’t matter if their attacks are Rock type or Ground type. Both of Omastar’s types will reduce incoming Fire-type damage, and it can deal solid damage back with its own Rock- or Water-type attacks. Vaporeon and Feraligatr will dish out similar damage to Omastar, but they’ll receive slightly more damage in return.

The next group of Pokémon are solid choices that come with minor drawbacks. Tyranitar, Gyarados, and Suicune have great stats and supereffective Charged Attacks available, but none can learn Fast Attacks that deal supereffective damage. Dragonite resists Entei’s Fire-type attacks, but it won’t deal supereffective damage in return. Sudowoodo and Starmie can dish out some serious damage, but they’re weak enough on defense that their type advantage may not save them for long. Kabutops, Kingdra, and Magcargo receive greatly reduced damage, but each leaves something to be desired on offense.

Suggested Pokémon to Sink Suicune

Challenging Suicune presents some stark differences from the encounters with most other Legendary Pokémon. Not only is Suicune the first Water-type Legendary Pokémon to appear in Pokémon GO, but unlike Raikou, Entei, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, Suicune’s Fast Attacks usually won’t match its type. Suicune’s Charged Attacks are Water type, but it’ll have either the Psychic-type Extrasensory or Hidden Power as its Fast Attack—and Hidden Power can be almost any type. Ultimately, this shouldn’t change your strategy much—Grass-type Pokémon will be your best options here, with Electric-type Pokémon as backup. Stay away from Fire-, Ground-, and Rock-type Pokémon unless you’re very confident they’ll dodge Suicune’s Charged Attacks.

Grass-type Pokémon that know Grass-type attacks provide the best matchup with Suicune: they’ll resist its Charged Attack and deal supereffective damage in return. Exeggutor, Venusaur, and Victreebel stand out as the strongest options available. Venusaur and Exeggutor are both available as Raid Bosses in lower-level Gyms, so you may want to take them on and try to catch them to prepare for Suicune. Keep these Pokémon’s other types in mind—the Poison-type Venusaur and Victreebel will be less effective than the Psychic-type Exeggutor against a Suicune that knows Extrasensory. A high-level Tangela, Bellossom, or Meganium make for solid options against Suicune that balance offense and defense.

Suicune’s other weakness is against Electric-type attacks, but be careful—Electric-type Pokémon don’t have the bonus of resisting Water-type attacks. If you’re lucky enough to have Zapdos or Raikou on your team, make sure to deploy them. They won’t endure Suicune’s attacks as well as Grass-type Pokémon, but deploying your own Legendary Pokémon is the fastest way to take down Suicune. Jolteon and Raichu will dish out—and receive—plenty of damage, while Lanturn combines a resistance to Water-type attacks with less-inspiring Electric-type damage.

Dragonite’s attacks aren’t super effective, but its resistance to Water-type attacks makes it a great choice for this encounter. Finish up with your strongest attackers if you run out of Pokémon with some sort of type advantage. But keep in mind that Tyranitar and Flareon are weak against Water-type attacks, and most Water-type Pokémon will struggle to deal much damage to Suicune, so you may need to dig deeper into your collection than usual.

Suggested Pokémon to Rough Up Raikou

Raikou is the second Electric-type Legendary Pokémon to appear in Pokémon GO, but don’t overlook it even if you’ve caught Zapdos. It’s a little sturdier than Zapdos, but what sets them apart is a Fast Attack—Thunder Shock. The difference in damage between Raikou’s Thunder Shock and Zapdos’s Charge Beam may…shock you, and it easily makes Raikou the most effective Electric-type Pokémon currently available.

Raikou is an Electric-type Pokémon only, so you’ll need to adjust the tactics you may have used against the Flying- and Electric-type Zapdos. It’s only weak to Ground-type attacks, and Ground-type Pokémon will receive the least damage from its Electric-type attacks, too. Dragon-type, Electric-type, and Grass-type Pokémon will also take reduced damage from its attacks. Stay away from the Flying-type and Water-type Pokémon—they’ll receive extra damage from its attacks instead. And keep in mind that Raikou also resists Steel-type attacks.

Ground-type Pokémon are the safest solutions to Raikou, but it can be tricky to fill your team with them—there aren’t many Ground-type Pokémon available, and of those, few have a powerful Ground-type Fast Attack. Golem and Rhydon are the best all-around choices against Raikou, but you’ll want them to know Mud-Slap and Earthquake instead of the Rock-type attacks that were more effective against Zapdos. Sandslash is another solid option to ground out Raikou if it knows Mud Shot, while the more powerful Donphan is great on defense but lacks the supereffective Fast Attack to be equally strong on offense.

There aren’t many Pokémon from other types that resist Electric-type attacks and deal significant damage in return, so we’d suggest simply moving on to your best attackers once your Ground-type Pokémon are exhausted. Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Flareon stand out as great choices, but anything that dishes out lots of damage and isn’t weak against Electric-type attacks will do. (Don’t forget that Dragonite’s Dragon type negates its Flying-type weakness to Electric-type attacks.)

Making the Throw

You’ll only get a few Premier Balls to capture your target once you’ve defeated it, so you’ll want to make each throw count. Use a Golden Razz Berry prior to each throw, and be sure to stock up on them beforehand by defeating other Raid Bosses!

The odds of catching a Pokémon are greatest while the target ring is at a small-enough diameter to score Nice, Great, or Excellent Throws, and throwing Curveballs can improve your chances further. But work within your abilities. If you don’t think you can hit Excellent Curveballs reliably, aim for Nice or Great Throws instead of risking missing the target ring completely.

You’ll waste your Premier Balls if your target is moving around when you throw. Wait for the Pokémon to start acting up and the target ring to disappear while it’s a size you’re comfortable throwing into, and then time your throw so the Premier Ball lands as the target ring reappears.

Legendary Pokémon are tough to catch, so keep at it if your target escapes. But the period when you can catch these magnificent Pokémon is running out, so quickly stock up on useful items like Max Potions, Max Revives, and Golden Razz Berries to try again later. Good luck with your Legendary Pokémon adventures, and remember to check back to Pokemon.com/Strategy for more Pokémon GO, video game, and Pokémon TCG tips.

Source: Pokémon.