Is Raikou Good in FireRed & LeafGreen Playthrough?
Trade-only legendary for FRLG players who didn't pick Squirtle as their starter (Squirtle-path players get Raikou as their native roamer). AbilityPressure doubles PP consumption. Electric with extreme Speed and Special Attack. If traded in, Raikou dominates everything Electric is good against. On original GBA cartridges the trade came in from Gold, Silver, Crystal, or Pokemon Colosseum via Link Cable. On the 2026 Switch re-release trades run over Switch local wireless — but since Colosseum isn't re-released on Switch, the only Switch-era source for an off-starter Raikou is another FRLG-Switch player who picked Squirtle and caught theirs.
Raikou trades roughly evenly with Brock's team.
Raikou resists most of Misty's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Lt. Surge's team.
Raikou trades roughly evenly with Erika's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Raikou resists most of Blaine's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou trades roughly evenly with Giovanni's team.
Raikou resists most of Lorelei's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou trades roughly evenly with Bruno's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Agatha's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Terry's team.
Catch Raikou on Roaming Kanto (interact, Lv 50, limited). After defeating Team Rocket on Five Island, if Squirtle as starter. Original GBA: successful Roar by the beast could erase it from the game permanently (bug). Switch re-release (Feb 2026): Roar glitch patched — beast remains until caught.. Roams Kanto routes after entering the Hall of Fame and unlocking the Sevii Islands; encounters trigger on random route transitions
- STARTING (Lv 50)
- LV 50ElectricSpark98100%20
- After Lt. Surge
- TM34ElectricShock Wave90100%20
- After Erika
- TM24ElectricThunderbolt135100%15
- TM15NormalHyper Beam15090%5
- After Giovanni
- TUTORNormalDouble-Edge120100%15
- LV 71ElectricThunder16570%10
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody Slam85100%15
- TM42NormalFacade70100%20
- LV 81PsychicCalm Mind—100%20
How to Get Raikou in FireRed & LeafGreen
Raikou only roams if you picked Squirtle as your starter. After beating Team Rocket on Five Island, Raikou begins roaming Kanto at level 50, catch rate 3. One shot, no respawn. On original GBA cartridges a bug called the Roar glitch could permanently remove Raikou if it landed Roar on your active Pokemon — a bug that ended many save files' legendary hunts. The 2026 Nintendo Switch re-release patches this, so Raikou persists in the roaming pool regardless of Roar's outcome.
How to Get Raikou in FireRed & LeafGreen
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.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 2x (Weak) | Ground |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Electric, Flying, Steel |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Raikou Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Raikou
In FireRed & LeafGreen, Cloyster's Explosion hits Raikou for 61-72%.
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityKeeneye ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves View Skarmory builds →
| ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityShellarmor ItemLeftovers NatureTimid Moves
Damage vs Raikou View Cloyster builds →Explosion61-72% Surf18-21% Rapid Spin12-15% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityMarvelscale ItemLeftovers NatureBold Moves
Damage vs Raikou View Milotic builds →Surf20-24% | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityTorrent ItemLeftovers NatureBold Moves
Damage vs Raikou View Blastoise builds →Surf19-23% Rapid Spin11-13% Ice Beam19-23% | ||
C | ||
Recommended Build AbilityLevitate ItemLeftovers NatureCalm Moves
Damage vs Raikou View Misdreavus builds →Thunderbolt9-10% | ||
Raikou Evolutions
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
Breeding
FRLG Raikou Best Moveset
115 Sp. Atk at 115 Speed fires MoveThunderbolt for Electric TermStab at elite speed and power. AbilityPressure doubles opponent PP drain. The moveset sweeps with MoveCalm Mind boosting both special stats simultaneously, and MoveRest plus MoveSleep Talk sustain through status. Fast, strong, and hard to stall out.
Best Build
Raikou best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Calm Mind
- Hidden Power Grass
- Substitute
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Without TMs, Raikou's movepool is bare bones. With them, you get Dark and Normal coverage and more on top of Thunder and Thunderbolt for STAB. The natural kit handles basics, but TMs are doing the real work.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
This POKéMON races across the land while barking a cry that sounds like crashing thunder.
The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it descended with lightning.
Raikou FireRed & LeafGreen Guide
Raikou is a static encounter at Roaming in FireRed & LeafGreen. Raikou appears at level 50. Prerequisite: After defeating Team Rocket on Five Island, if Squirtle as starter. Original GBA: successful Roar by the beast could erase it from the game permanently (bug). Switch re-release (Feb 2026): Roar glitch patched — beast remains until caught. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
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
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves