How to catch Yveltal in Pokémon Go: weaknesses and best counters (June 2024)

As of June 19, the legendary Pokémon Yveltal has become available in Pokémon Go‘s five star raid battles. As the Destruction Pokémon from Pokémon X & Y‘s Kalos region, it’s a fittingly challenging creature to defeat and capture. You only have until June 28 to obtain Yveltal for yourself (you can view the June schedule for raids here), so here’s a quick rundown of some important advice for you if you’re struggling in its raid battles.

Pokémon Go: Yveltal’s type and weaknesses

Yveltal is classified as a Dark and Flying type, meaning it has an immunity to both Psychic and Ground type attacks, as well as resistances to Ghost, Grass, and Dark attacks. Fortunately, it has several weaknesses, and takes twice as much damage from the following attack types: Rock, Electric, Ice, and Fairy. So, you’re going to want to bring your strongest Pokémon that have moves of those types, like Stone Edge, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Dazzling Gleam.

As for its own moveset, Yveltal obviously makes use of Dark and Flying type attacks, so you don’t want to take it on with any Psychic, Ghost, Grass, or Fighting type Pokémon. Unless they have a secondary type that can cancel out those weaknesses, they’ll more than likely get shredded. Yveltal can also boast the deadly Hyper Beam attack, as well as the Fighting type attack Focus Blast, which makes it risky sending out any Rock or Ice types against it unless you’re good at dodging enemy moves.

Best counters for Yveltal in Pokémon Go

Since Yveltal is a Legendary Pokémon, you’ll ideally want to send another Legendary or a Mythical Pokémon against it. The Fairy type Diancie (or its Mega Evolution) is a perfect choice since it has access to both Rock and Fairy attacks, including Moonblast (which can reduce the opponent’s attack stat), and resists Yveltal’s Dark type attacks. Alternatively, powerful Electric Legendaries like Raikou and Zekrom can work since they resist Flying type attacks and have access to Wild Charge, an Electric attack that reduces an opponent’s defence. You can even capture a Shadow Raikou in a raid battle during weekends at the time of writing.

But what if you don’t have any appropriate Legendary or Mythical Pokémon on hand? Thankfully, there are some more than worthy alternatives. For Fairy type fans, Gardevoir and its Mega Evolution are probably the next best choice. It has Charm and Dazzling Gleam as its Fairy attacks, and it can even learn the Ice move Triple Axel, which will increases Gardevoir’s attack stat as well as deal damage. Gardevoir is part Psychic too which means it has quad resistance against Fighting attacks so Focus Blast shouldn’t hit as hard if you fail to dodge it.

As for Electric types, Ampharos and Manectric are both solid choices. Both can Mega Evolve and the former can use the Rock attack Power Gem as well as Zap Cannon, which has a chance to lower the target’s attack. Manectric, meanwhile, can use the aforementioned Wild Charge attack, plus Thunder and the Fire type attack Overheat. That second one may not be super effective against Yveltal, but it deals a lot of damage regardless, though it does reduce Manectric’s attack every time you use it.

While the presence of Focus Blast may be a deterrent for bringing a Rock or Ice type, a suitably strong Rhyperior or Galarian Darmanitan can get the job done too. If you have a Rhyperior with its unique Rock Wrecker attack, it’s a perfect choice considering how powerful the attack is (if not, Stone Edge is fine too), and Galarian Darmanitan has great Ice attacks like Ice Punch and Avalanche. Aerodactyl is another great Rock type pick since it being part Flying cancels out its weakness to Fighting attacks, it can Mega Evolve, and it can use Rock Slide and Ancient Power, the latter of which can potentially boost Aerodactyl’s attack and defence.