Its greatest asset is Sp. Atk — higher than 91% of species. Its stat total puts it at the very top: more than 91% of species fall behind. It does not evolve: it does not come from anything and does not change into anything. Defensively it can rely on 1 weakness and 3 resistances. This is a Legendary Pokémon: one per game, no offspring. Very hard to catch — bring plenty of Poké Balls and something that puts it to sleep or paralyzes it.
Base stats
Last column: what percentage of 1084 species and regional forms have a lower value. Strong point: Speed.
Sp. Atk and Speed share first place here, so any nature that raises one of them will do. The list of natures shows what each one does.
Which nature to choose
It hits specially: its Sp. Atk (115) is 30 points higher than its Attack. So the drop hits a stat the set usually does not use at all.
- Timid +Spe · −Atk Its Speed is higher than 94% of species — ten percent more lifts it past some of the benchmarks that decide who moves first.
- Modest +SpA · −Atk If you already outspeed what you want to outspeed, those ten percent are better spent on hitting power.
A conclusion drawn from base stats alone — a specific moveset can reverse it. All 25 natures.
Regional numbers 2
The header shows the national number. Inside the game the Pokédex counts from the beginning — below is the number you will see in your version.
| Johto | #238 | Gold / Silver , Crystal |
|---|---|---|
| Johto | #243 | HeartGold / SoulSilver |
Abilities
- Pressure Increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one.
- Inner Focus Prevents flinching.
How players use it
Data from 574,541 ranked battles on Smogon (Gen 9 OU, 2026-09). These are not numbers from the game — they are player habits. Gen 9 OU is the most popular format with no top-down team restrictions — everything is allowed except what was deemed too strong.
Rank 264 among 309 Pokémon in use — it is on 0.02% of teams.
Each row is a separate distribution, not a single set: the most common item and the most common move do not have to appear on the same Pokémon.
Pokédex entry
The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it descended with lightning.
Resistances and weaknesses
Type chart →How much damage Raikou takes when it is hit by a move of each type.
How it was drawn
1999–2019The sprites come straight from the games in which Raikou appeared — one from each release.
Variant gallery
The gallery shows only the appearance variants that exist for this Pokémon. Every image shows the same character and differs in source — a Pokémon HOME render or a pixel sprite — and in coloring, regular or shiny.
TCG cards (17)
All Raikou cards →Raikou has 17 cards in 12 sets. The oldest of them are shown below.
Breeding
All Egg Groups →Raikou does not breed. You cannot get an Egg from it — this is how the games treat almost all Legendary and Mythical species.
Where to catch it (9)
All locations →The levels shown are the widest range across all game versions — in a specific release it may be narrower. The exact area, catch method and chance are on the page of each location.
Alola
Galar
Hoenn
Johto
Kanto
Orre
Moves (86)
Full move list →Below are the moves learned by leveling up. The rest (72 via TM/TR, 22 via tutor) are on the full list.
| Lv. | Move | Type | Cat. | Power | Acc. | PP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charge | Electric | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 1 | Extreme Speed | Normal | Physical | 80 | 100% | 5 |
| 1 | Leer | Normal | Status | — | 100% | 30 |
| 1 | Quick Attack | Normal | Physical | 40 | 100% | 30 |
| 1 | Thunder Shock | Electric | Special | 40 | 100% | 30 |
| 6 | Spark | Electric | Physical | 65 | 100% | 20 |
| 12 | Bite | Dark | Physical | 60 | 100% | 25 |
| 18 | Calm Mind | Psychic | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 24 | Roar | Normal | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 30 | Thunder Fang | Electric | Physical | 65 | 95% | 15 |
| 36 | Howl | Normal | Status | — | — | 40 |
| 42 | Crunch | Dark | Physical | 80 | 100% | 15 |
| 48 | Extrasensory | Psychic | Special | 80 | 100% | 20 |
| 54 | Discharge | Electric | Special | 80 | 100% | 15 |
| 60 | Reflect | Psychic | Status | — | — | 20 |
| 66 | Rain Dance | Water | Status | — | — | 5 |
| 72 | Thunder | Electric | Special | 110 | 70% | 10 |
| 78 | Zap Cannon | Electric | Special | 120 | 50% | 5 |