For the Gold & Silver meta, At 580 BST, Raikou is built different. We rank it S-Tier. As a Legendary Pokemon, the raw stats back up the reputation. Best used as a sweeper. Rest with Leftovers is the standard set.

What is Raikou weak to?

In Gold & Silver, watch for Rhydon (Ground) when using Raikou. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 1 weakness means fewer dedicated counters to worry about.

What role does Raikou play in battle?

In Gold & Silver, Raikou fills the sweeper role. It's a special attacker with base 115 Sp. Atk. Base 115 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.

What counters Raikou?

For Gold & Silver, Raikou has answers, but so do you. Priority moves (Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard) bypass its speed. Bulky walls that resist its STAB also shut it down.

What are the best moves for Raikou?

In Gold & Silver, run Rest, Sleep Talk, Thunder, and Hiddenpowerice on Raikou. Rest is the most common pick at 23% usage. Thunder provides reliable STAB damage.

Raikou - Weakness, Evolution, Moveset, EVs & Stats

Special

Sweeper

STier

115Speed · Fast

Stats & Training

Raikou's built around special offense. Sp. Atk leads the charge, Defense pays for it. Near-impossible to catch, worth 3 Sp. Atk and Speed stat exp. Follows a slow 1.25M XP grind.

Base Stats

Pseudo

HP90

Attack85

Defense75

Sp. Atk115

Sp. Def100

Speed115

Total580

Details

Catch Rate

Legendary3 / 255

Growth Rate

Slow1.25M XP

Height1.9 m

Weight178.0 kg

Base XP261

Abilities

Abilities were introduced in Generation III. Shown below for reference.

Pressure

Increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one.

Inner FocusHA

Prevents flinching.

EV Yield

HPAtkDefSpA+1SpDSpe+2

Strong Speed training target

Pokedex Entries

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

Raikou Weakness

Raikou's Electric typing leaves it vulnerable to Ground. Its Electric typing keeps the defensive matchups simple. Raikou's special bulk (base 100 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.

Raikou Weakness and Resistance Chart
Damage	Types
2x (Weak)	Ground
0.5x (Resist)	Electric, Flying, Steel

Type ChartGood

1Weak

3Resist

0Immune

Score+1

Gen II Type Chart

Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
Special stat split into Sp.Atk and Sp.Def

4xCritical

None

2xWeak

Ground

½xResist

Electric Flying Steel

¼xResist

None

0xImmune

None

STAB (2)

Water Flying

How to Beat Raikou in Gold & Silver (Best Counters)

In Gold & Silver, Cloyster's Explosion hits Raikou for 68-80%. Gengar's Explosion hits Raikou for 50-59%.

CloysterWears down with Toxic, threatens with Spikes, walls physical sets WaterIce	S
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves SpikesHazard SurfSTAB Explosion ToxicUtility Damage vs Raikou Surf 26-31% Explosion 68-80% View Cloyster builds →
Gengar GhostPoison	S
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves Ice Punch Explosion Thunderbolt Destiny Bond Damage vs Raikou Explosion 50-59% Thunderbolt 12-15% View Gengar builds →
SkarmoryWears down with Toxic, sturdy guarantees survival, walls physical sets SteelFlying	A
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves Drill Peck RestRecovery CurseSetup WhirlwindUtility Damage vs Raikou Drill Peck 14-17% View Skarmory builds →
StarmieRecovers with Recover, cures status via Natural Cure WaterPsychic	A
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves SurfSTAB RecoverRecovery Rapid Spin Thunder Wave Damage vs Raikou Surf 31-36% Rapid Spin 12-14% View Starmie builds →
TentacruelWears down with Toxic, walls special sets WaterPoison	B
Recommended Build ItemLeftovers Moves SurfSTAB Sludge Bomb SubstituteUtility Swords Dance Damage vs Raikou Surf 25-30% Sludge Bomb 29-34% View Tentacruel builds →

Gold & Silver Evolution

You can't breed Raikou or evolve it into anything else. This Electric legendary packs 580 stats and doesn't need a chain to be relevant. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.

How to Evolve

No Evolution

#243RaikouDoes not evolve

Breeding

Unavailable

Undiscovered egg group

Gold & Silver Raikou Best Moveset

Best Build

Solid pick

Utility

Ability

Not in Gen 2

Item

LeftoversSUSTAIN

Nature

Not in Gen 2

Utility Moveset

RestRecovery
Sleep Talk
ThunderSTAB
Hidden Power Ice

Recommended Teammates

SnorlaxGood

CloysterGood

TyranitarDecent

Moves

Without TMs, Raikou's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Dark and Normal coverage and more on top of Zap Cannon and Thunder for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.

Level-Up Moves

Lv 1

Bite

D6010025Dark

Lv 1

Leer

——10030Normal

Lv 11

Thunder Shock

—4010030Electric

Lv 21

Roar-6

A——20Normal

Lv 31

Quick Attack+1

D4010030Normal

Lv 41

Spark

—6510020Electric

Lv 51

Reflect

C——20Psychic

Lv 61

Crunch

C8010015Dark

Lv 71

Thunder

S1207010Electric

TM Moves

TM03

Curse

C——10Ghost

HM01

Cut

—509530Normal

TM43

Detect+4

D——5Fighting

TM28

Dig

C6010010Ground

TM32

Double Team

———15Normal

TM20

Endure+4

D——10Normal

HM05

Flash

D—7020Normal

TM21

Frustration

D—10020Normal

TM02

Headbutt

D7010015Normal

TM10

Hidden Power

—6010015Normal

TM15

Hyper Beam

B150905Normal

TM23

Iron Tail

C1007515Steel

TM31

Mud-Slap

D2010010Ground

TM17

Protect+4

C——10Normal

TM09

Psych Up

D——10Normal

TM18

Rain Dance

C——5Water

TM44

Rest

S——10Psychic

TM27

Return

D—10020Normal

TM05

Roar-6

A——20Normal

TM08

Rock Smash

—2010015Fighting

TM37

Sandstorm

D——10Rock

TM35

Sleep Talk

S——10Normal

TM13

Snore

—4010015Normal

HM04

Strength

C8010015Normal

TM11

Sunny Day

C——5Fire

TM34

Swagger

C—8515Normal

TM39

Swift

C60—20Normal

TM25

Thunder

S1207010Electric

TM06

Toxic

C—8510Poison

TM07

Zap Cannon

C100505Electric

Egg Moves

Raikou doesn't have any Egg moves

Tutor Moves

Raikou can't learn any Tutor moves

Gold & Silver Raikou Locations

Raikou tops out at low spawn rates across 2 locations in late-game routes. The encounters below are sorted by rate so you can see exactly what you're working with.

Best Locations to Catch Raikou in Gold & Silver

Roaming Johto

SilverGrass Lv.40

LimitedLate

Encounter at Burned Tower

Roaming Johto

GoldGrass Lv.40

LimitedLate

Encounter at Burned Tower

Raikou Guide

For the Gold & Silver meta, At 580 BST, Raikou is built different. We rank it S-Tier. As a Legendary Pokemon, the raw stats back up the reputation. Best used as a sweeper. Rest with Leftovers is the standard set.
In Gold & Silver, watch for Rhydon (Ground) when using Raikou. They all hit it super-effectively with STAB. Only 1 weakness means fewer dedicated counters to worry about.
In Gold & Silver, Raikou fills the sweeper role. It's a special attacker with base 115 Sp. Atk. Base 115 Speed lets it outrun most of the field. And it's enough bulk to take a hit or two.
For Gold & Silver, Raikou has answers, but so do you. Priority moves (Mach Punch, Aqua Jet, Ice Shard) bypass its speed. Bulky walls that resist its STAB also shut it down.
In Gold & Silver, run Rest, Sleep Talk, Thunder, and Hiddenpowerice on Raikou. Rest is the most common pick at 23% usage. Thunder provides reliable STAB damage.

Game Availability

Raikou has appeared in 17 games since Gold & Silver, spanning 9 generations. As a Legendary, it's typically a one-per-save encounter tied to the story or post-game content.

Click a game to view version-specific details

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