Pokédex · IV (Sinnoh)

Darkrai#491

Strong point: Sp. Atk — higher than 97% of species. Overall it is one of the stronger species — above 94% of the Pokédex. It does not evolve: it does not come from anything and does not change into anything. On defense it has 3 weaknesses, 2 resistances and 1 full immunity. Psychic-type moves do nothing to it at all. This is a Mythical Pokémon — it does not appear in normal gameplay; it was handed out at events and through distributions. Very hard to catch — bring plenty of Poké Balls and something that puts it to sleep or paralyzes it.

Darkrai
Shiny version
Dark
Height: 1.5 m (4′11″) Weight: 50.5 kg (111.3 lbs)

Base stats

HP
70
51%
Atk
90
65%
Def
90
73%
SpA
135
97%
SpD
90
77%
Spe
125
97%
TOTAL
600
94%

Last column: what percentage of 1084 species and regional forms have a lower value. Strong point: Sp. Atk.

A nature can improve this entry further: its boost hits hardest on Sp. Atk, the stat in which this species already leads. Which nature does that — see the list of natures.

Which nature to choose

It hits specially: its Sp. Atk (135) is 45 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 97% 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.

Mythical
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.

Hisui #242 Legends: Arceus
Hyperspace #125 Legends: Z-A , Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension

Abilities

  • Bad Dreams Damages sleeping opponents for 1/8 their max HP after each turn.

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.

Rank 21 among 309 Pokémon in use — it is on 9.24% of teams.

Tera Type Poison 43.9% Dark 27.4% Ghost 18.1% Fairy 3.8% Electric 2.8% Fighting 2.6%
EV spreads Timid · 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD 48.4% Timid · 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def 18.1% Timid · 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP 11.6% Naive · 252 Spe / 156 SpA / 100 Atk 2.9% Timid · 252 Spe / 156 SpA / 76 HP / 24 SpD 2.8%

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

It can lull people to sleep and make them dream. It is active during nights of the new moon.

Egg Group: Undiscovered Gender: Genderless Catch difficulty: very hard (3/255) Base friendship: 0/255 Base EXP: 270
Evolution line

Resistances and weaknesses

Type chart →

How much damage Darkrai takes when it is hit by a move of each type.

Weak to Fighting ×2 Bug ×2 Fairy ×2
Resistant to Ghost ×½ Dark ×½
Immune to Psychic ×0

How it was drawn

2006–2019

The sprites come straight from the games in which Darkrai appeared — one from each release.

Gen 4 2006
Darkrai in Diamond / Pearl
Diamond / Pearl
Darkrai in Platinum
Platinum
Darkrai in HeartGold / SoulSilver
HeartGold / SoulSilver
Gen 5 2010
Darkrai in Black / White
Black / White
Gen 6 2013
Darkrai in X / Y
X / Y
Darkrai in Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire
Gen 7 2016
Darkrai in Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon
Gen 8 2019
Darkrai in Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl
Brilliant Diamond / Shining Pearl

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.

Darkrai — large render in its regular coloring
Pokémon HOME
Darkrai — large render in its shiny coloring
Pokémon HOME shiny
Darkrai — small pixel sprite in its shiny coloring
Shiny pixel sprite

TCG cards (26)

All Darkrai cards →

Darkrai has 26 cards in 13 sets. The oldest of them are shown below.

Darkrai 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 (1)

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.

Sinnoh

Below are the moves learned by leveling up. The rest (79 via TM/TR, 20 via tutor) are on the full list.

Lv. Move Type Cat. Power Acc. PP
1 Disable Normal Status — 100% 20
1 Ominous Wind Ghost Special 60 100% 5
1 Shadow Sneak Ghost Physical 40 100% 30
11 Quick Attack Normal Physical 40 100% 30
12 Hex Ghost Special 65 100% 10
20 Hypnosis Psychic Status — 60% 20
29 Feint Attack Dark Physical 60 — 20
29 Pursuit Dark Physical 40 100% 20
29 Sucker Punch Dark Physical 70 100% 5
36 Shadow Ball Ghost Special 80 100% 15
38 Night Shade Ghost Special — 100% 15
38 Nightmare Ghost Status — 100% 15
46 Psychic Psychic Special 90 100% 10
47 Double Team Normal Status — — 15
57 Haze Ice Status — — 30
66 Dark Void Dark Status — 50% 10
75 Embargo Dark Status — 100% 15
75 Nasty Plot Dark Status — — 20
84 Dream Eater Psychic Special 100 100% 15
93 Dark Pulse Dark Special 80 100% 15