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Christmas has come inPokemon Scarlet & Violetwith the arrival of Shiny Rayquaza! For a limited time, players will be able to treat themselves to this rare present from GameFreak this holiday season. However, this present doesn’t exactly come free.
True to its reputation, Rayquaza puts up a fight in a five-star tera raid battle. Although not the strongest tera battle to date, Rayquaza is still a fearsome legendary pokemon. You’ll want to enter its lair with the optimal pokemon or risk facing a stocking full of carkoal this year.
Shiny Rayquaza Raid Event Information
You cancatch Shiny Rayquaza until Sunday, May 11, 2025, at 3:59 p.m. PST.
This event is significant becauseRayquaza cannot be encountered in Scarlet & Violetnormally. Additionally, it has the rare shinyblack coloring.
You can only catch one Shiny Rayquazaduring this event, but additional prizes will be rewarded if you manage to defeat it more than once. These prizes include but are not limited to:
If you’re struggling to find Rayquaza’s tera den, tryopening your PokePortal and choosing the Tera Raid Battle option. Rayquaza should appear as an option on the following menu.
Friends can link together by a host first finding Rayquaza’s den (indicated by a shining Dragon Tera symbol) and creating a group and a Link Code; friends can then join by using the Link Code option on the Tera Raids portion of the Poke Portal.
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Air Lock - Cancels all active weather effects
Dragon Ascent, Hurricane, Earthquake, Extreme Speed, Draco Meteor
The greatest threat Rayquaza poses is its unpredictability.It has balanced physical and special attack stats(slightly leaning depending on its randomized nature).
Its three most concerning moves are:
Due to the rank of the raid,Rayquaza has a 35 multiplier to its base HP statbut no apparent effects on its offensive or other defensive stats. Its bulkiness will require at least one solid offensive Pokemon on a raid team.
Best Pokemon For Shiny Rayquaza
While Shiny Rayquaza can be bested with a wide assortment of good Pokemon,we have a list of those that rise above the rest:
Just an all-rounder.
Gardevoir
Its fragility means it should wear a Shell Bell for survivability.
Zacian
Should not wear the Rusted Sword as a result of Earthquake; better with another item
Can switch easily between offensive and defensive positions. Versatile.
Fluttermane
Like Gardevoir, should wear a Shell Bell. Ghost and Fairy type gives immunity to Rayquaza’s Extreme Speed and Dragon-type moves.
Mimikyu
Similar to Fluttermane, but has heightened survivability with its Ability allowing a hit against Mimikyu for no damage.
Clefairy
Similar to Azumarill with a bigger lean toward support than offense.
Grimmsnarl
Able to use status effect moves with priority, possibly outspeeding Rayquaza’s Extreme Speed, when it has the Prankster ability.
Arceus (Fairy Plate)
High, balanced stats on-par with Rayquaza’s. Judgement turns into a Fairy move and has a higher damage output than Moonblast.
These pokemon all have the Fairy typing in common, but you’ll notice that not all Fairy Types are on this list. This is becauseRayquaza’s Earthquake is a dangerous counter to usually-powerful Fairy types with the Steel typing, such as Iron Valiant, Tinkaton, and Magearna.
The strongest of these choices will be those that have the ability to both lower Rayquaza’s stats and raise their own in an efficient way.
you may make use of Steel-cross Fairies if you give them an Air Balloon, their second typing is Steel and their Tera type is Fairy, if they have the Levitate ability, or if you have a supporting pokemon with Life Tear, Heal Pulse, or defensive team stat boosts.
Dragon and Ice types can also see successin these Tera Raids, but they must be cautious that their offensive bonuses against Rayquaza will come at the cost of increased damage to your own team.
If you don’t have a strong Fairy type from the list above, you canfocus instead on these alternative strategies:
Tips And Strategies For Shiny Rayquaza
On the first turnof any encounter with Shiny Rayquaza,it will always use Dragon Ascent.This is why Fairy-type Pokemon are optimal; with a Fairy Pokemon, Dragon Ascent will deal no damage.
Afterward,your first goal should be lowering Rayquaza’s stats. Fake Tears, Screech, Tickle, Snarl, etc. are all optimal moves.
Do not use stat bonuses on your own pokemon until after Rayquaza reaches 80 percent healthand clears stat changes for your team. You can safely do so after as Rayquaza will not repeat this later in the encounter.
Once Rayquaza has cleared the field, you can start focusing on your own team. Your goal should be toraise your stats and gear up for Terastallization. Ideally,buff yourself three timesor until you feel threatened.
As soon as you can Terastallize safely, you shoulddo so.
Rayquaza will use Dragon Dance at 50 percent health.At such a point, you shouldplay aggressivelyto prevent taking unnecessary damage, fainting, and reducing the timer.
There will also be two Draco Meteorsat 60 and 30 percent health respectively. If you are a Fairy-type, this is negligible.
If you’re having issues with staying alive until you are ready to Terastallize, you should try putting a Shell Bell on your Pokemon or use a health-draining move such as Draining Kiss.
So long as youremember the following strategy, you can complete this tera raid without needing to team-up if you are unable or unwanting:
While you cannot catch Rayquaza any more than once, you can challenge it to battle an unlimited number of times. This can be an excellent way to farm Herba Mystica, Tera Shards, and Ability Patches while also helping out your friends.
Although its IVs and Nature will be randomly calculated, Rayquaza will always have the following moves when you catch it:
With these legendary, shiny Rayquaza in your hands, we hope you’ll both have a very, very happy holidays together.
