Shadow Aerodactyl Raid Counters Guide

Shadow Aerodactyl

Shadow Aerodactyl can be captured from Tier 3 Shadow Raids and it can be shiny!

This Raid Boss can be caught with the following CP values, with an IV floor of 6/6/6:

• 1456 – 1590 CP (no weather boost, 100% Aerodactyl at Level 20)
• 1821 – 1988 CP (Partly Cloudy or Windy weather, 100% IV Aerodactyl at Level 25)

Shadow Aerodactyl is a Rock and Flying type and as such, it is weak to Electric, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Water type attacks.

Shadow Aerodactyl is a hard-to-beat Tier 3 raid due to how Shadow Raids work. You will need to be well prepared with the best counters, correct moveset, powered-up Pokémon, and most importantly, Purified Gems.

Avoid weather that boosts Aerodactyl, that is, Partly Cloudy or Windy weather, and ensure that you are using top-tier counters. These are much more difficult raids than your usual tier 3 raid. If you are lower level or without ideal counters, you will definitely need to bring a friend, or two!

Best Shadow Aerodactyl Counters

The best raid counters according to our GO Hub battle simulator for Shadow Aerodactyl are:

#	Attacker	Fast Move	Charge Move	DPS	Faints	TTW
1.	Crowned Sword Zacian	Metal Claw	Behemoth Blade	40.13	3	102s
2.	Crowned Shield Zamazenta	Metal Claw	Behemoth Bash	39.13	1	106s
3.	Dusk Mane Necrozma	Metal Claw	Sunsteel Strike	38.40	3	106s
4.	Primal Kyogre	Waterfall	Origin Pulse	35.28	3	117s
5.	Shadow Metagross	Bullet Punch	Meteor Mash	33.92	4	122s
6.	White Kyurem	Ice Fang	Ice Burn	34.63	6	122s
7.	Mega Swampert	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon	31.52	3	132s
8.	Shadow Kyogre	Waterfall	Origin Pulse	31.62	5	130s
9.	Shadow Dialga	Metal Claw	Iron Head	30.44	4	136s
10.	Shadow Rhyperior	Smack Down	Rock Wrecker	30.68	5	137s
11.	Mega Blastoise	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon	29.10	5	143s
12.	Metagross	Bullet Punch	Meteor Mash	28.61	4	145s
13.	Shadow Empoleon	Metal Claw	Hydro Cannon	29.28	5	140s
14.	Shadow Raikou	Thunder Shock	Wild Charge	29.92	6	138s
15.	Black Kyurem	Dragon Tail	Freeze Shock	29.45	7	140s
16.	Mega Tyranitar	Smack Down	Stone Edge	27.92	4	148s
17.	Mega Manectric	Thunder Fang	Wild Charge	29.17	7	142s
18.	Xurkitree	Thunder Shock	Discharge	29.46	7	141s
19.	Mega Diancie	Rock Throw	Rock Slide	30.35	7	137s
20.	Shadow Swampert	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon	27.97	6	148s
21.	Mega Gyarados	Waterfall	Hydro Pump	27.35	4	150s
22.	Shadow Excadrill	Metal Claw	Iron Head	27.99	5	146s
23.	Zekrom	Charge Beam	Wild Charge	27.73	5	150s
24.	Dawn Wings Necrozma	Metal Claw	Moongeist Beam	27.42	6	152s
25.	Kyogre	Wterfall	Origin Pulse	26.94	5	153s
26.	Shadow Zapdos	Thunder Shock	Thunderbolt	28.41	7	146s
27.	Origin Dialga	Metal Claw	Iron Head	26.11	4	157s
28.	Shadow Magnezone	Volt Switch	Wild Charge	26.99	5	144s
29.	Mega Lucario	Bullet Punch	Aura Sphere	26.44	5	154s
30.	Mega Aerodactyl	Rock Throw	Rock Slide	27.67	7	153s

Shadow Aerodactyl  Overview

	Shadow Aerodactyl RockFlying
Max CP	3147
ATK	221
DEF	159
HP	190
Weak to
Resists
Fast moves	Rock Throw Bite Steel Wing
Charge moves	Rock Slide Ancient Power Earth Power Iron Head Hyper Beam

Shiny Sprite

	Regular Sprite	Shiny Sprite
Aerodactyl

Shadow Raid Information & Advice

As a shadow raid, Aerodactyl will dish out more damage than ever before, so make sure your counters are powered up, have the right moveset, and aren’t weak to the raid bosses moves. These tier 3 raids are tough to beat, even for the most prepared trainers, and you will need Purified Gems to defeat them. Shadow Raid Bosses will grow enraged as you battle them, boosting their attack and defense.

You will need to subdue Shadow Aerodactyl by using Purified Gems, a new item that can be assembled from Shadow Shards.

Shadow Shards are mysterious gem pieces that may be dropped by Team GO Rocket grunts, leaders, and Shadow Raids. You will need to gather enough shards to use Professor Willow’s newly invented Shard Refiner, and in return, you’ll be rewarded with a Purified Gem. Be sure to have collected as many as you can before you attempt a Shadow Aerodactyl raid, as without them you won’t be able to return it to its normal, non-enraged state.

There are multiple ways Purified Gems can assist your battle against enraged Shadow Raid Bosses:

• When you use a Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss’s attack and defense will be lowered temporarily. This can give you the opening you need to take them down.
• You and your fellow Trainers can use more than one Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid. If used at the same time, their effects will stack.
• If enough Purified Gems are used, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss will be subdued—returned to its non-enraged state—which might give you the edge you need to defeat it!

Purified Gems will show in the bottom left corner of the raid battle when you are able to use them, so be sure to communicate with your raid group to stack their effects!