Raikou Raid Guide

Raikou

Raikou is a Tier 5 Legendary Raid Boss in Pokémon GO, with a Raid Boss CP of 45435. Raikou is a pure Electric type, meaning it is weak to Ground types, while resisting Electric, Flying and Steel types. It is boosted by Rainy weather.

Raikou can be caught in the following CP-ranges:

• 1889-1972 CP for a regular Level 20 encounter
• 2361-2466 CP for a Rainy weather boosted encounter (Level 25)

Raikou duo is possible, but it would require maxed out counters, as well as Best Friend Bonus, Sunny weather Boost, and a good amount of luck. We suggest you to take on Raikou in groups of 4-6 for high-level players, or 7-20 for lower level players.

Raikou is one of the Johto Beasts (together with Entei and Suicune), a Legendary Trio originally discovered in the Johto Region (Gen II). This guide has been updated as of July 2021.

Raikou Counters

#	Pokemon	Fast Move	Charge Move	Time to win	Deaths
1.	Gengar (Mega)	Shadow Claw Ghost	Shadow Ball Ghost	551.51s	27.50
2.	Garchomp	Mud Shot Ground	Earth Power Ground	659.55s	9.13
3.	Charizard (Mega Y)	Ember Fire	Blast Burn Fire	593.50s	31.38
4.	Excadrill	Mud-Slap Ground	Drill Run Ground	651.40s	16.00
5.	Landorus (Therian)	Mud Shot Ground	Earthquake Ground	647.28s	19.50
6.	Groudon	Mud Shot Ground	Earthquake Ground	672.61s	12.50
7.	Rhyperior	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground	682.38s	12.50
8.	Landorus (Incarnate)	Mud Shot Ground	Earth Power Ground	664.78s	20.00
9.	Landorus	Mud Shot Ground	Earth Power Ground	664.64s	20.00
10.	Blastoise (Mega)	Water Gun Water	Hydro Cannon Water	642.41s	31.38
11.	Charizard (Mega X)	Fire Spin Fire	Blast Burn Fire	690.54s	19.88
12.	Krookodile	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground	722.19s	15.13
13.	Aerodactyl (Mega)	Rock Throw Rock	Earth Power Ground	656.32s	34.00
14.	Houndoom (Mega)	Snarl Dark	Foul Play Dark	695.37s	26.75
15.	Beedrill (Mega)	Poison Jab Poison	Drill Run Ground	661.16s	37.13
16.	Venusaur (Mega)	Vine Whip Grass	Frenzy Plant Grass	738.68s	18.00
17.	Golurk	Mud-Slap Ground	Earth Power Ground	742.99s	18.14
18.	Rhydon	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground	754.85s	16.50
19.	Mamoswine	Mud-Slap Ground	Bulldoze Ground	759.65s	17.38
20.	Gyarados (Mega)	Bite Dark	Hydro Pump Water	725.31s	28.13
21.	Lopunny (Mega)	Pound Normal	Hyper Beam Normal	740.85s	26.88
22.	Donphan	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground	779.52s	13.83
23.	Steelix (Mega)	Thunder Fang Electric	Earthquake Ground	801.10s	9.17
24.	Golem	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground	788.15s	13.33
25.	Absol (Mega)	Snarl Dark	Payback Dark	713.13s	39.50
26.	Flygon	Mud Shot Ground	Earth Power Ground	829.30s	10.67
27.	Mewtwo	Psycho Cut Psychic	Psystrike Psychic	774.77s	32.33
28.	Regigigas	Hidden Power Normal	Giga Impact Normal	861.95s	13.00
29.	Abomasnow (Mega)	Razor Leaf Grass	Weather Ball Ice	816.74s	21.40
30.	Haxorus	Dragon Tail Dragon	Earthquake Ground	800.12s	25.3

All data and numbers used in this article are extracted from our GO Hub Database.

For more accessible options, Swampert, Nidoking, Hippowdon, and even Seismitoad (yes really) all make the list after the top 30.

Please note that this list is based on overall performance against all Raikou movesets, and Pokémon in this list have maxed out stats (powered up to level 40). Actual results may vary, depending on the moveset on the Raid Boss and the conditions of the Raid Battle.

Raikou has access to the following moves:

*Best moveset for Raikou is in bold

• Thunder hits hard, but it gets resisted by Ground types
• Wild Charge and Thunderbolt don’t hit as hard as Thunder, and also get resisted by Ground types
• Shadow Ball is a powerful move, but doesn’t deal Super Effective damage to any of your counters (unless you choose to fight with Mewtwo)

Again, you don’t need to worry about any of these moves, as almost all counters resist Electric moves due to their Ground typing.

Weather Effects

Raikou is boosted by Rainy weather, while being more vulnerable in Sunny weather.
Rainy weather will give you the chance to catch Raikou at level 25, but the battle will be harder because of Raikou’s boosted Electric moves. If you want the fight to be easier, challenge Raikou in Sunny weather to boost your Ground counters.