How to prepare for the Chesnaught Raid Event in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

The raids stop for no one

You know, I gotta hand it to Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. These games ensure I’ll never run out of things to do.

I mean, this Friday only has The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and a beta for Diablo 4 coming out, so I was worried that I might fit some sleep in sometime this weekend. Sure enough, Game Freak had decided to throw its hat into the ring and give us another Tera Raid event for trainers to bash their head against too. I’m sure the residents of Hell and Hyrule will understand that they’ll have to wait another day before I visit.

Timing musings aside, 7-Star Chesnaught will indeed make its appearance in Paldea from May 12 to May 14. Adhering to recent tradition, it will reappear from May 19 to May 21. Unlike previous events, I imagine the rerun weekend will be much more popular. Either way, this Grass/Fighting-Type Pokemon will appear with the Rock Tera Type, which has the potential to be very funny depending on what moves it winds up using.

Let’s look at how we should prepare for this encounter. After all, what else are you going to be doing until Friday?

Consider Chesnaught’s potential moveset

Given Chesnaught’s stat distribution, it will likely use physical attacks. So far, all 7-Star Tera Raids have given Pokemon attacking moves corresponding with their native typing and their Tera Type. Since Chesnaught only learns physical Rock-Type attacks, we can rule out a strictly special attacker. Its strongest Fighting and Grass-Type attacks are physical as well, though it technically has some strong special attacks in its movepool.

We should also assume based on past Tera Raids that Chesnaught will know its Hidden Ability Bulletproof. While Bulletproof isn’t quite as deadly as some Abilities we’ve contended with, its effect potentially squashes a few strategies. Namely, it nullifies “ball and bomb moves,” meaning Acid Spray, Aura Sphere, Energy Ball, and Focus Blast all won’t work. This shuts down Special-focused Fighting-Type Pokemon in particular, who would otherwise make for potent counters to Chesnaught. After all, this monster’s Defense is way higher than its Special Defense.

Beyond this, Chesnaught’s move set could go in a variety of directions. It could use Flying, Psychic, Ghost, or Ice-Type attacks, all of which would impact which monsters counter this raid best. Chesnaught also has access to the rare move Spiky Shield, which functions similarly to Protect while simultaneously punishing Pokemon that use Contact moves like Drain Punch. We haven’t seen a Tera Raid encounter use defensive moves like this, but we shouldn’t discount the possibility that it could pop up.

Catch Pokemon to counter Chesnaught

As with every 7-Star raid encounter, the more Pokemon you have in your roster, the better. That way, when we figure out which monsters work best, you’ll have the ability to build your counter right away. Rock-Type Pokemon are weak to Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water-Type Pokemon. However, Chesnaught’s typing means Fighting and Grass Pokemon will likely excel. That said, as mentioned above, Chesnaught may potentially make life harder for Fighting-Type Pokemon.

In light of this, here are some potential picks to counter Chesnaught when it goes live.

Lurantis: This Pokemon already proved to be a winner during the surprisingly difficult Pikachu raid. Leaf Storm is an incredibly powerful special attack, and the Contrary Hidden Ability makes the move buff Lurantis’ stats. Additionally, Lurantis has valuable self-sustain in Giga Drain and Synthesis.

Gholdengo: Because of its Ghost/Steel typing, Gholdengo completely nullifies Fighting-Type attacks that would normally shut Steel-Types down. Additionally, its high Special Attack makes it an especially good counter.

Koraidon: Even as a physical attacker, Koraidon is so strong that it could defeat Chesnaught regardless. It may need to equip a Punching Glove if Chesnaught uses Spiky Shield.

Grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl makes for a good generalist support option for raids, and it has some appealing options here. Namely, Reflect and Taunt could prove vital depending on Chesnaught’s strategy. Access to Fake Tears to lower Special Defense helps too.

Annihilape: I don’t necessarily have any reason to think Annihilape will dominate here. However, after seeing it ruin three raids in a row, I’ve learned not to doubt the meta monkey.

Stock up on TMs

Just like past Tera Raid events, keeping a healthy stock of TMs makes building counters much easier. After all, hunting down that last Sunkern to craft a move you need is time consuming. Many moves from our best support TMs list should work well here, so grab those if you haven’t already.

Additionally, consider grabbing the following moves:

(TM073) Drain Punch – If you wind up using a Fighting-Type physical attacker, Drain Punch will prove to be essential.

(TM110) Liquidation – Unlikely to see use, but a physical attacker could wind up using this. If you’re lucky, you’ll reduce Chesnaught’s high Defense stat too.

(TM111) Giga Drain – Self-sustain is vital in Tera Raids, and inflicting Super Effective damage in the process is even better.

(TM123) Surf – If you’ve ever played a Pokemon game, you know Surf is a very good move.

(TM133) Earth Power – Though a limited number of Pokemon can use it, Earth Power fills a unique niche as a powerful special Ground-Type attack.

(TM149) Earthquake – Conversely, physical attackers with no effective STAB moves against Chesnaught will almost always want Earthquake.

(TM159) Leaf Storm – This exists for Lurantis.

Make lots of money

From here, preparation remains the same as always. If you’re waiting for the raid to debut to find out who exactly you should build, having a ton of money on hand will expedite the process. This will let you throw your face right at the encounter as soon as it goes live.

If you have cash on hand, all you have to do to instantly max your Pokemon’s EVs and IVs is visit Chansey Supply in Mesagoza. Getting everything you need for one Pokemon should cost approximately 500,000-600,000 dollars. This is a steep price, but fortunately, you can reduce the grind significantly by following a few steps.

Check out our money farming guide here!

Check for updates

Finally, make sure your game is fully updated by the time the event goes live. We (fortunately) haven’t seen any nasty glitches like the Walking Wake and Iron Leaves event, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe.

There are plenty of battle preparations you can make, but in the end, don’t go overboard covering every base. Stock up on the things you think you might need and grab the resources to fully build two or three Pokemon if you plan to farm the event. One-and-done players can wait for solo builds to appear, so feel free to take any angle that keeps your grinding to a minimum.

Timothy Monbleau

Guide Editor – Timothy started writing community blogs for Destructoid in 2012. He liked it so much he decided to write articles for the site professionally. His love for RPGs and the Ys series will endure forever.