Pokemon Go Yveltal Raid Guide: Best Counters, Weaknesses, Raid Hours, And More Tips

Yveltal makes its return to Pokemon Go Gyms near you for a limited-time appearance in five-star raid battles. This legendary Pokemon is appearing along with the start of Pokemon Go’s Fashion Week event. Yveltal hasn’t been available in Pokemon Go since its debut in May 2021, so now is a great opportunity to catch one if you missed out before.

Yveltal Raid Schedule

Yveltal is appearing as the sole five-star raid boss in Pokemon Go from 10 AM local time on September 27, 2022 and will remain available to challenge in raids until the same time on October 8. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Yveltal raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby.

Your best chance to find Yveltal raids is during the two Raid Hours in which the Destruction Pokemon will be featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. The two Raid Hours that will occur while Yveltal is available to challenge will be on September 28 and October 5. As with all raids, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely.

Can I Catch a Shiny Yveltal?

If you’re looking for Yveltal’s white and red shiny version, you’re in luck. This appearance in raids will be the first time shiny Yveltal will be available to Pokemon Go trainers. Remember that a shiny is never guaranteed, and you won’t know if an Yveltal will be shiny until after you’ve completed the raid, so be sure to do as many as you can to increase your chances of finding a shiny.

Yveltal Weaknesses and Counters

Yveltal is a Dark and Flying-type Pokemon. This means it takes super effective damage from Rock, Electric, Ice, and Fairy-type attacks. Some recommended Pokemon include:

• Electric: Mega Manectric, Zapdos, Xurkitree, Raikou, Electivire, Magnezone, Zekrom
• Fairy: Gardevoir, Togekiss, Granbull, Zacian
• Ice: Mega Abomasnow, Mamoswine, Galarian Darmanitan
• Rock: Mega Aerodactyl, Rhyperior, Rampardos, Terrakion, Tyranitar

A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage. Note that while Mega Altaria will boost the damage of fellow Fairy types in the raid, its defensively oriented stats mean it likely won’t output enough damage of its own to be worth using. Mega Manectric, Abomasnow, or Aerodactyl would be ideal Megas to use in Yveltal raids.

Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.

Types to Avoid

Yveltal’s Dark and Flying-type attacks like Dark Pulse and Hurricane will deal super-effective damage to Psychic, Ghost, Fighting, Grass, and Bug-type Pokemon. It can also learn the Fighting-type move Focus Blast, which will hit back against the Rock and Ice-type counters used against it very hard. Also keep in mind that Yveltal’s typing provides it with resistances to Ghost, Dark, and Grass-type attacks, and double resistances to Psychic and Ground-type attacks. Stay away from Pokemon that use these types of attacks.

Usefulness

Is Yveltal worth raiding after you’ve gotten the new Pokedex entry and a shiny? Yveltal is a very good raid attacker for both of its types, and also has a strong position in the Master League meta. It’s definitely worth raiding a few to use in raids, and if you’re into Master League, it would be worth raiding to get enough Candy XL to bring one to level 50.