Is Raikou Good in HeartGold & SoulSilver Playthrough?
Roaming Johto after the Burned Tower event. Electric-type with AbilityPressure draining PP. One of the three legendary beasts. Fast with strong special Attack. Catching a roaming legendary takes patience, but Raikou handles Lance's Gyarados and Red's Blastoise.
Raikou resists most of Falkner's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Bugsy's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Whitney's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Morty's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Chuck's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Jasmine's team.
Raikou resists most of Pryce's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Clair's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Brock's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Misty's team.
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 Janine's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Sabrina's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Blaine's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Blue's team.
Raikou resists most of Will's coverage and hits back hard.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Koga's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Bruno's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Karen's team.
Raikou has the type edge here and should clean up Lance's team.
Catchable
Catch Raikou on Roaming Johto (walking, Lv 40, limited). After encountering at Burned Tower.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 40)
- LV 40ElectricSparkPower 98Accuracy 100%PP 20
- After Bugsy
- TM24ElectricThunderboltPower 143Accuracy 100%PP 15Goldenrod Game Corner
- TM15NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5Goldenrod Department Store
- After Morty
- TM30GhostShadow BallPower 80Accuracy 100%PP 15Prize for defeating Morty
- LV 50ElectricThunder FangPower 98Accuracy 95%PP 15
- LV 57ElectricDischargePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 78PsychicCalm MindPower —Accuracy 100%PP 20
- LV 85ElectricThunderPower 180Accuracy 70%PP 10
HeartGold & SoulSilver Raikou Locations
Raikou starts roaming Johto the moment you trigger the legendary beasts at the Burned Tower. From then it wanders the region at level 40 with a catch rate of 3, so a fast Pokemon and patience are the real tools.
Best Locations to Catch Raikou in HeartGold & SoulSilver
How to Get Shiny Raikou in HeartGold & SoulSilver
Raikou roams across Johto once loosed from the Burned Tower, so track it with the Marking Map and hope it turns up shiny. Compare Shiny Raikou odds across every game
Il leggendario trio di Johto!; The Legendary Trio of Johto!
Shiny Raikou Evolution
Does Not EvolveHeartGold & SoulSilver Shiny Raikou Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here is Full Odds, about 1 in 8,192 on each try.
Full Odds: Walk through grass, surf, or fish. Every encounter is its own independent shiny roll.
How many you have done, or plan to do.
| Chance | Encounters | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10%lucky few | 864-- | -- |
| 25%one in four | 2,357-- | -- |
| 50%coin flip | 5,678-- | -- |
| 90%very likely | 18,862-- | -- |
Time assumes -- at your pace and does not change your shiny odds.
How is this calculated?
Every encounter has the same shiny chance, the Shiny Odds Per Try shown above. Each one is a separate roll that does not care how many you have already done, so the more you hunt, the higher your overall chance of at least one shiny. The formula below turns your odds and your number of tries into that combined chance.
chance after N tries = 1 − (1 − p)^N, where p = 1 / odds per try
Example at 1 in 8,192 (classic full odds): about 864 encounters for a 10 percent chance, 5,678 for 50 percent, and 18,862 for 90 percent.
The table above flips that around: it shows how many encounters it takes to reach a 10, 25, 50, and 90 percent chance at your current odds. Turning on boosts like the Shiny Charm, sandwiches, or chains improves your odds, so the encounter numbers drop.
These are estimates, not promises. Most games have no pity counter, meaning no guaranteed shiny no matter how many you hunt, so even Very Likely is not guaranteed: some hunters find one early, others go well past that point.
Curious how fast a hunt could go? Work out your HeartGold & SoulSilver shiny odds for Raikou.
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 |
- Fairy type does not exist — Dragon has fewer checks
- Physical / Special split now per-move (introduced Gen IV)
What is Raikou Weak Against
Good
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
HGSS Raikou Best Moveset
115 Sp. Atk at 115 Speed, one of the fastest special attackers in the game. Fires special Electric and coverage damage before almost anything moves. AbilityPressure doubles PP consumption. 90 HP and 100 Sp. Def provide real special bulk.
Best Build
Raikou best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Special Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Aura Sphere
- Calm Mind
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
Raikou develops a solid moveset just through leveling. Thunder and Hyper Beam show up naturally, and the progression handles both STAB and utility without leaning on TMs for the core attacks.
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
All 27 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it descended with lightning.
A Pokémon that races across the land while barking a cry that sounds like crashing thunder.
Raikou Event Distributions
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, Raikou is available through a handful of Mystery Gift event distributions rather than as a regular giveaway.
The Legendary Trio of Johto!HeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumAlways shiny
The Legendary Pokemon I Chose: RaikouHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumAlways shiny
Shiny Legendary Pokemon RaikouHeartGoldSoulSilverDiamondPearlPlatinumAlways shiny
Raikou HeartGold & SoulSilver Guide
In HeartGold & SoulSilver, use Raikou as a sweeper. Special attacks are the main output. It outspeeds most threats, Thunderbolt is the primary attack.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, build your team around Gyarados. These have the highest co-usage rates with Raikou in competitive formats. They cover each other's weaknesses.
For HeartGold & SoulSilver, run Rash on Raikou. +Sp. Atk is what matters, and the -Sp. Def cut doesn't hurt this set. Fits the sweeper role.
Game Availability
Raikou has appeared in 17 games since Gold & Silver, spanning 8 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 7Let's Go
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
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