Is Rayquaza Good in Emerald Playthrough?
Sky Pillar at level 70 before the E4. Dragon/Flying with AbilityAir Lock negating all weather. 680 BST makes Rayquaza the strongest non-event Pokemon in Emerald. In the story, Rayquaza calms Groudon and Kyogre at Sootopolis, the climactic moment of Emerald's plot. Catchable afterward. Nothing in the game challenges it.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Roxanne's team.
Rayquaza resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Rayquaza resists most of Norman's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza resists most of Winona's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Tate & Liza's team.
Rayquaza resists most of Juan's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza resists most of Sidney's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Rayquaza has the type edge here and should clean up Glacia's team.
Rayquaza resists most of Drake's coverage and hits back hard.
Rayquaza resists most of Wallace's coverage and hits back hard.
Catchable
Catch Rayquaza in Sky Pillar (interact, Lv 70, limited). Waits at the top of Sky Pillar after the Sootopolis City crisis. Climb back up with the Mach Bike to battle it.
Recommended Moves
- STARTING (Lv 70)
- LV 70DragonOutragePower 135Accuracy 100%PP 15
- LV 70DragonDragon ClawPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15
- After Flannery
- TM50FireOverheatPower 140Accuracy 90%PP 5Prize for defeating Flannery
- After Norman
- TM38FireFire BlastPower 120Accuracy 85%PP 5Lilycove Department Store
- TM22GrassSolar BeamPower 120Accuracy 100%PP 10Safari Zone
- After Tate & Liza
- TUTORNormalDouble-EdgePower 120Accuracy 100%PP 15Sootopolis City
- TM26GroundEarthquakePower 100Accuracy 100%PP 10Seafloor Cavern
- LV 75NormalHyper BeamPower 150Accuracy 90%PP 5
- Post-Game
- TUTORNormalBody SlamPower 85Accuracy 100%PP 15Battle Frontier
- TUTORRockRock SlidePower 75Accuracy 90%PP 10Battle Frontier
- TUTORNormalSwiftPower 60Accuracy 100%PP 20Battle Frontier
How to Get Rayquaza in Emerald
Rayquaza sits at the very top of the Sky Pillar, the one you climb to stop the weather war before the Sootopolis climax. Unlike the other two, which you catch after the credits, it is a static level 70 dragon you can catch after the Sootopolis crisis, before the Elite Four.
1 location to catch Rayquaza
Badge 8How to Get Rayquaza in Emerald
How to Get Shiny Rayquaza in Emerald
Rayquaza coils atop the Sky Pillar, reached by scaling its crumbling floors on the Mach Bike. Save in front of the level-70 dragon and soft-reset the encounter over and over until it finally shines. Compare Shiny Rayquaza odds across every game
Shiny Rayquaza Evolution
Does Not EvolveEmerald Shiny Rayquaza Calculator
1 MethodThe only route here is Soft Reset, about 1 in 8,192 on each try.
Soft Reset: Save in front of a static, gift, or legendary encounter, then reset until it sparkles.
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.
Planning a longer hunt? Set up Rayquaza in the Emerald Shiny Odds Calculator to compare every method side by side.
Rayquaza Weakness
Rayquaza is weak to Ice, Rock, and Dragon. Watch out for Ice attacks, those deal 4x damage. On the flip side, it's immune to Ground-type moves entirely. It resists 5 types, giving it decent defensive coverage. Rayquaza's overall bulk (105/90/90) lets it take a hit or two from most weaknesses before going down.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Ice |
| 2x (Weak) | Rock, Dragon |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Water, Fighting, Bug |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Rayquaza Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Rayquaza
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Walrein builds →Ice Beam 4x126-148%KO Rock Tomb 2x20-24% | ||
 Regice Ice | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 105 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Regice builds →Ice Beam 4x132-155%KO Ancient Power 2x17-20% | ||
 Glalie Ice | C | |
 Altaria Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Altaria builds →Ice Beam 4x65-77% Dragon Claw 2x43-51% | ||
 Aggron SteelRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Aggron builds →Ice Beam 4x59-70% Rock Tomb 2x38-45% Dragon Claw 2x25-30% | ||
 Solrock RockPsychic | C | |
Obtain MethodMeteor Falls Surfing | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Move Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 2x43-51% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
 Flygon GroundDragon | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Flygon builds →Dragon Claw 2x46-54% Rock Tomb 2x23-28% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Rhydon builds →Rock Tomb 2x44-52% Ice Beam 4x49-58% | ||
 Graveler RockGround | C | |
 Shelgon Dragon | C | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Rayquaza View Shelgon builds →Dragon Claw 2x38-45% Rock Tomb 2x22-27% | ||
 Magcargo FireRock | C | |
Rayquaza Evolutions
Rayquaza is a powerhouse with 680 total stats as a Dragon/Flying legendary. Can't breed it, so you're locked to whatever you catch or receive. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
E Rayquaza Best Moveset
150 in both Attack and Sp. Atk with 95 base Speed make Rayquaza the most versatile offensive Pokemon in Emerald, running physical or special movesets with equal power. AbilityAir Lock negates all weather effects, shutting down both Kyogre's rain and Groudon's sun to level the playing field.
Best Build
Rayquaza best EVs are Attack and Speed
Physical Setup Sweeper Moveset
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power Flying
- Dragon Dance
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
The TM pool is where it gets interesting. Coverage across 12 types means almost nothing walls Rayquaza cleanly, with Outrage and Fly anchoring the STAB side. Matchup flexibility isn't a problem.
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 36 TMs are obtainable before the Elite Four
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
A POKéMON that flies endlessly in the ozone layer. It is said it would descend to the ground if KYOGRE and GROUDON were to fight.
Rayquaza Emerald Guide
Mega Evolution isn't available in Emerald, but Rayquaza does have a Mega form in Gen 6-7 games (X/Y, ORAS, Sun/Moon). Mega Rayquaza hits 780 BST.
Rayquaza is a static encounter at Sky Pillar in Emerald. Rayquaza appears at level 70. Save before the encounter. These one-shot Pokemon don't respawn if you knock them out or run out of Poke Balls.
In Emerald, Rayquaza plays as a wallbreaker. Speed is middling, so pick your spots carefully.
In Emerald, Rayquaza pairs best with Latios, Kyogre, and Deoxys Attack. Latios has Good synergy and covers what Rayquaza can't handle on its own.
In Emerald, Adamant is the go-to nature for Rayquaza. That's +Attack / -Sp. Atk. Pair it with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe EVs. Fits the wallbreaker role.
Game Availability
Rayquaza has appeared in 16 games since Ruby & Sapphire, spanning 7 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 2GS
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RSDebut
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 6ORASMega
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
Explore
Where to go next after Rayquaza.
Keep playing · EmeraldEmerald Tier ListThe best Pokemon ranked tier by tierSee Emerald Tier List