NationalDex
raikou
#243

Raikou

Thunder Pokémon

Electric

The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it descended with lightning.

Base Stats

HP 90
Attack 85
Defense 75
Sp. Atk 115
Sp. Def 100
Speed 115
Total 580

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Evolution Chain

Moves

Locations

Details

Category Thunder Pokémon
Height 1.9 m
Weight 178.0 kg
Base Exp 261
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 3
Base Happiness 35
Gender Genderless
Habitat Grassland
Egg Groups No Eggs
Legendary Pokémon

Sprites

raikou Front Front
raikou Back Back
raikou Front Shiny Front Shiny
raikou Back Shiny Back Shiny
raikou Official Art Official Art
raikou Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

ru Usage: 10.7%
Substitute + Calm Mind
Item
Leftovers
Nature
Timid
EVs
SpA 252
SpD 4
Spe 252
Calm Mind + 3 Attacks
Item
Fightinium Z
Nature
Rash
EVs
Def 4
SpA 252
Spe 252

Strategy Overview

Raikou is one of the premier Calm Mind users in RarelyUsed thanks to its great stats and decent movepool, allowing it to take on a multitude of threats. Its great Speed means it can outpace most of the biggest threats in RarelyUsed, including Ninetales, Espeon, and Virizion, and Speed ties with Zygarde-10%. Its amazing Special Attack, powered up by Calm Mind as well as Z-Moves, allows Raikou to punch massive holes in just about everything in the tier for neutral damage with just Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice as well as its various coverage options like Aura Sphere, Extrasensory, and Shadow Ball. Its good bulk also allows it to be an effective user of Substitute, which can allow it to safely set up. Raikou is also a very versatile and unpredictable Pokemon; it can also be a decent wallbreaker with Choice Specs, a revenge killer with Choice Scarf, or a pivot with Assault Vest and can utilize many different Z-Crystals with its Calm Mind sets. However, while Raikou has decent mixed bulk for an offensive Pokemon, its noticeably lower Defense stat means that it's vulnerable to being revenge killed by Pokemon like Choice Scarf Tyrantrum, Assault Vest Machamp, Arcanine, and especially Ground-type coverage move users. Despite Raikou's high offensive stats, its damage output is rather unimpressive without a boost or a Z-Crystal, which can potentially leave it walled by common special walls such as Florges, Snorlax, and Goodra. It is also prone to being worn down by entry hazards and Toxic, which can shorten its sweep and reduce the number of times it can use Substitute. Despite these few shortcomings, Raikou is still unparalleled as an Electric-type in RarelyUsed.

Most Used Moves

Calm Mind
86.3%

Most Used Items

Leftovers
23.3%

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc