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Rayquaza Raid Guide: How To Catch A Shiny Rayquaza In Pokémon GO

GO Fest 2020 has unlocked Dragon Week as the first part of the three-week Ultra Unlock event, and the official Legendary Raid Boss starting Friday at 4 PM Pacific is Rayqyaza. This marks the best Dragon-type attacker's first return to Pokémon GO since August 2019, where it dominated Tier Five raids for a month. Rayquaza has since, in its absence, become one of the most coveted Pokémon in the game due to its dominant attack stats and the stunning black and color palette of its Shiny. With only one week and one Raid Hour for trainers to acquire the legendary dragon this year, Bleeding Cool is here to help with our Rayquaza raid guide and the top counters so that you can defeat, catch this legendary raid boss, and hit "excellent" throws every time.

Top Rayquaza Counters

Pokebattler, which calculates all possible combinations of Pokémon and moves, lists the top 10 Rayquaza counters as such:

• Shadow Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Ice Beam)
• Galarian Darmanitan (Ice Fang, Avalanche)
• Shadow Weavile (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Mamoswine (Powder Snow, Avalanche)
• Glaceon (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Weavile (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Shadow Articuno (Frost Breath, Ice Beam)
• Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Ice Beam)
• Shadow Porygon-Z (Hidden Power Ice-Type, Blizzard)
• Shadow Abomasnow (Powder Snow, Weather Ball Ice-Type)

It is recommended to power up your counters as much as possible, and creating that amount of strong Shadow Pokémon with their moves unlocked is a tall order for even the most practiced players. Here are ten additional non-Shadow counters that can help take down Rayquaza with efficiency.

• Beartic (Powder Snow, Ice Punch)
• Jynx (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Articuno (Frost Breath, Ice Beam)
• Piloswine (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Abomasnow (Powder Snow, Weather Ball Ice-Tye)
• Porygon-Z (Hidden Power Ice-Type, Blizzard)
• Cloyster (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Kyurem (Dragon Breath, Blizzard)
• Regice (Frost Breath, Blizzard)
• Mew (Frost Breath, Blizzard)

How Many Trainers Are Needed?

Note that Rayquaza is double-weak to Ice-Type moves due to its dual typing of Dragon and Flying. Utilizing this weakness will take this heavy hitter down quicker so that players can do more raids and have a better chance of acquiring the Shiny. Like Kyurem before it, in certain cases, elements such as weather boost and best friend bonus, two-level 40 trainers with the top counters will be able to defeat Rayquaza. It is recommended that at least three trainers team up to take on the dragon in any other circumstance. If trainers are not able to guarantee the use of the top counters, four to five level 35+ trainers should be able to defeat Rayquaza with little issue.

Catching Rayquaza

While not as difficult to catch as the previous Legendary Boss, Kyurem, Rayquaza is not known to go down easily. Rayquaza is closer to the screen than many other Dragons, which a hit circle similar to Dialga. Rather than the long throw needed for Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem, Rayquaza needs a medium-length throw aimed at the middle of the screen. Wherever Rayquaza's face is is where you want to hit.

Using the circle lock technique, players can hold down the ball until Rayquaza's catch circle shrinks. Releasing when the circle is at its smallest point allows the circle to lock, guaranteeing an "Excellent" throw if the ball can hit that point. To make sure that can be done, throw the ball when Rayquaza is finishing its attack. The attack is a quick, snake-like strike at the player. The Pokémon will settle back into its place and, as it settles, throw the ball. The best berry to help catch the dragon is the Golden Razz Berry. Paired with "excellent" throws, this should lead to a successfully caught Rayquaza.

Shiny Rayquaza odds

The Shiny rate for Legendary Pokémon in raids is one in twenty. If you want that black and gold Rayquaza, the best bet is to do twenty or more raids, but remember… Mega Evolution is coming, and it gets a very over-powered Mega. The more raids you do, the more Candy you will have to prepare your best Rayquaza.

100% IVs

When looking for a Pokémon with the best stats, the 100% IV Rayquaza will have a CP of 2191 in normal weather conditions, and 2739 in either windy or snowing conditions. We hope this Raid Guide helps you catch the strongest possible Dragon… and perhaps even a shiny.

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