Lucario

Pokemon GO Lucario is a Fighting Steel type Pokémon. It evolves from Riolu, its Generation 4 baby form.

Updated as of 10/28/2018 to reflect Lucario’s addition to the game and the CP rebalance. 

Lucario stands out with its interesting typing, as it will no longer take super effective damage from Flying, Fairy, and Psychic, and instead only take super effective damage from Fighting, Ground, and Fire types. Not to mention it boasts 8 resistances, Lucario can resist a lot of what is thrown at it, which helps as it is not the bulkiest fighter out there.

Lucario Max CP of 2703 is decent, and its 236 attack is impressive, but it does not have much for bulk with only 144 defense and 172 stamina.

In the main series, Riolu evolves when its friendship is high with its trainer in the daytime, but since this is not a mechanic in Pokémon GO, it takes a mere 50 candies to evolve.

Comparisons

Let’s take a look on how Lucario performs in the meta, when compared to existing Steel and Fighting-type Pokémon.

Steel Types:

Pokemon	Type	Max CP	Attack	Defense	Stamina	Original Generation
Lucario	Fighting Steel	2703	236	144	172	IV
Scizor	Bug Steel	2801	236	191	140	II
Steelix	Steel Ground	2439	148	333	150	II
Aggron	Steel Rock	3004	198	314	140	III
Metagross	Steel Psychic	3637	257	247	160	III
Registeel	Steel	2261	143	285	160	III
Magnezone	Electric Steel	3205	238	205	172	IV
Dialga	Steel Dragon	4038	275	211	205	IV
Heatran	Fire Steel	3521	251	213	182	IV
Cobalion	Steel Fighting	3009	192	260	182	V
Genesect (Normal)	Bug Steel	3056	252	199	142	V

Fighting Types:

This is a condensed list as there are too many amazing fighting types to come, for more view this!

Pokemon	Type	Max CP	Attack	Defense	Stamina	Original Generation
Lucario	Fighting Steel	2703	236	144	172	IV
Machamp	Fighting	2889	234	162	180	I
Hariyama	Fighting	2765	209	114	288	III
Breloom	Grass Fighting	2407	241	153	120	III
Blaziken	Fighting Fire	2631	240	141	160	III
Gallade	Fighting Psychic	3093	237	195	169	IV
Toxicroak	Poison Fighting	2488	211	133	195	IV
Conkeldurr	Fighting	3305	243	172	210	V
Cobalion	Fighting Steel	3009	192	260	182	V
Keldeo	Fighting Water	3468	260	192	182	V
Terrakion	Fighting Rock	3468	260	192	182	V
Pangoro	Fighting Dark	2759	226	149	190	VI

Possible Movesets

Based on main game level-up and TM moves that Lucario has available. Bold indicates Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB).

Lucario has been added to the game, with the following predicted moves in the movepool:

• Fast moves: Counter Fighting and Bullet Punch Steel
• Charge Moves: Close Combat Fighting, Flash Cannon Steel and Shadow Ball Ghost.

Lucario in the Meta

Lucario will not be dethroning the king of fighters (heh), Machamp, as that right goes to possibly Gallade or the bevy of Gen 5 fighting types that will hit the scene (Update: Even this won’t happen, as Machamp received a boost in the Stat Rework, and both Lucario and Gallade’s Move pool are hot garbage). Lucario can still make its mark in the ring however. As previously mentioned, it boasts several resistances, as well as taking reduced damage from several normal fighting counters due to the regular damage taken from Flying, Fairy, and Psychic. It might not make the best gym defender because of this, as that weakness to Fighting will let Machamp pound the Anubis-mon with the likes of Slaking, Blissey, and Chansey in gyms regularly.

However, consider that the resistance will play in its favor to allow it to survive longer, and with its semi-decent movepool, might allow it to perform great in certain situations. Like a Aggron raid for example, where instead of Machamp that only resists a Aggron’s Stone Edge, a Lucario could resist all of Aggron’s movesets, save Thunder. And when one takes into consideration the cost of evolving a Lucario is less than the 125 needed to fully evolve Machop to Machamp, it might be a worthwhile Pokémon to consider as a Glass Cannon pick.

As for its Steel typing, (more on the overlook of Steel types here) it is not the bulky defensive type that most Steel type Pokémon are, as well as being outclassed stat wise by current mainstays Scizor and Metagross, who improves on it in every way stat wise. Not to mention Meteor Mash Metagross controls the Steel type meta game for the foreseeable future, even with considering Dialga’s rather good Steel move pool. It could have maybe done better with Metal Claw, but it still would not have been terribly relevant, a unfortunate fate for this rather popular Pokémon.

Weather Influences:

Shiny Lucario

There is no expectation on when/if shiny Lucario will see its way into the game, however if it were to, here is its regular 3D sprite versus its shiny. Its primary blue is instead a yellow, its black accents become a dark blue, and its chest because a light blue, slightly lighter than its normal blue fur.

Regular Lucario	Shiny Lucario

Sprite Credits go to pokestadium, who in turns credits the Smogon community and Pkparaiso. 

Fun Facts

• Lucario can actually understand Human Speech!
• A fun tidbit from its Platnium Pokédex entry states, “A well-trained one can sense auras to identify and take in the feelings of creatures over half a mile away.”