How To Catch Xerneas In Pokémon GO - Best Counters & Weaknesses

The next rotation of five-star Raids for the Evolving Stars event sees the legendary Fairy-type monster Xerneas appearing in Pokémon GO. In addition, Trainers may be lucky enough to encounter a Shiny Xerneas.

However, before heading into battle, they’ll need to know how to best approach and defeat it. This Raid Counter guide will explore Xerneas’ base stats and weaknesses to determine the best counters and movesets to use in Pokémon GO.

Pokémon GO Xerneas – Best Counters & Weaknesses

Xerneas is a legendary Fairy-type Pokémon who was first discovered around the Kalos region and made its return as a Raid Boss for the Evolving Stars event available in Pokémon GO. At the same time, it doesn’t have a schedule other than appearing from 10 am local time, so Trainers will need to be on the lookout for the Pokémon.

Since it is a Fairy-type Pokémon, Xerneas is weak to Bug and Steel Pokémon and attacks, which can be used to counter Xerneas’ attacks. As such, we’ve detailed the best counters and Pokémon that Trainers should use in the five-star Raid Battles against Xerneas:

Poison-type counters:

• Beedrill / Mega Beedrill: Poison Jab; Sludge Bomb
• Vileplume / Shadow Vileplume: Acid; Sludge Bomb
• Victreebel / Shadow Victreebel: Acid; Acid Spray, Sludge Bomb
• Gengar / Mega Gengar: Hex, Lick, Shadow Claw; Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave
• Roserade: Poison Jab; Sludge Bomb
• Nihilego: Acid, Poison Jab; Gunk Shot, Sludge Bomb

Steel-type counters:

• Scizor / Shadow Scizor / Mega Scizor: Bullet Punch; Iron Head
• Mega Aggron: Iron Tail; Heavy Slam
• Metagross / Shadow Metagross: Bullet Punch; Flash Cannon, Meteor Mash
• Dialga: Metal Claw; Iron Head
• Excadrill: Metal Claw; Iron Head
• Genesect: Metal Claw; Magnet Bomb

Pokémon GO Xerneas – Best Moveset & Stats

Once Trainers have gone head-to-head against Xerneas in the five-star Raids and successfully countered its attacks, they will have acquired the Fairy-type Pokémon to their PokéDex.

Most importantly, however, Trainers must know how to use the Pokémon. Before we outline how to best use Xerneas’ attacks in battle, let’s look at the Fairy-type Pokémon's stats:

• ATK: 250
• DEF: 185
• STA: 246
• CR Range: 2,073–2,160
• CR Range with Weather Boost: 2,591–2,701

With the Pokémon’s stats in mind, Xerneas is immune to attacks from Bug, Dark, Dragon, and Fighting-type Pokémon primarily due to multi-type attacks, which have high DPS stats. In addition, Xerneas also benefit from boasting a high CP which is quite a rarity for Fairy-type Pokémon.

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However, this can be a slight disadvantage as the Pokémon possesses limited Fairy-type Fast attacks, which can be exploited using Poison or Steel-type counters listed earlier. Likewise, the Pokémon is rarely used in Raids and GO Battle League encounters as it lacks powerful attacks, but it can hold its own in the Master League.

Thus far, Xerneas has an excellent record in the Master League, mainly from utilizing its Fairy, Fighting, and Psychic-type Fast and Charged attacks. However, while it’s worth mentioning that its stats are vastly similar to Zacian, if Trainers opt to use Tackle instead of Zen Headbutt as a Fast Attack, it can render Xerneas useless when dealing with shielded attacks.

When taking Xerneas into battle, whether it be Raids, GO Battle League, or the Master League, it’s best to have plenty of viable options. So while Tackle has the benefit of producing more energy per second (EPS) than Zen Headbutt, it’s pretty weak to shields.

On the other hand, its Charged Attacks Close Combat and Moonblast are great options for their specific types, especially as they provide ample coverage when battling in the Master League. Maxxing the Pokémon’s CP in the Master League requires plenty of Xerneas Candy and Stardust, so utilize the time the Pokémon is available in the five-star Raids so they’ll need to catch as many of them as possible.

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Featured image courtesy of Niantic / The Pokémon Company.