Pokémon fans can grab a shiny Rayquaza for the first time on Nintendo Switch in new raid battles

IT’S time for Pokémon to give gifts to its fans, as Scarlet and Violet players can grab a very special ‘mon.

Shiny Rayquaza is entering Pokémon Scarlet & Violet raids starting today, Friday, December 20, 2024, until Sunday, January 5, 2025.

A new raid will appear every day, so you will have multiple chances to take it on.

You will only be able to catch Rayquaza once, but you will be able to take on the raid as many times as you want.

Shiny Rayquaza is available in five-star raids, so it will be a little easier than the Unrivalled seven-star raids.

Rayquaza will be level 75, have a Dragon Tera type, and comes with a number of powerful Dragon-type moves.

The Shiny Rayquaza will have four perfect stats and two random stats, though which stats these are will change with every raid.

Here is Rayquaza’s set:

Shiny Rayquaza - Level 75

• Nature – Naughty (+ Attack, - SpDef)
• Tera type – Dragon
• Ability – Air Lock (No effects from weather)
• Moveset – Dragon Pulse, Hurricane, Earthquake, Extreme Speed. (Dragon Ascent at the start of battle, Draco Meteor at three-quarters, Dragon Dance at halfway)

There are a number of different Pokémon that you can use to take Rayquaza down.

Pretty much any Fairy-type has a good match up into Rayquaza as most of its attacks are Dragon-type, which they are immune to.

We had the most success with Azumarill, thanks to how quickly it can set up and take Rayquaza down.

Here’s the Azumarill set we recommend:

Azumarill - Level 100

• Item – Shell Bell (Recovers health when it attacks)
• Nature – Adamant (+ Attack, - SpAttack)
• Tera type – Fairy
• Ability – Huge Power (Doubles Attack)
• Moveset – Mud-slap, Belly Drum, Play Rough, Chilling Water

Rayquaza will wipe your stat boosts after a few turns, so you can start the battle by using Mud-slap and Chilling Water to lower Ray’s stats.

After Rayquaza wipes your boosts, you are free to use Belly Drum to maximize your Attack, and then Terastylize and hit back with a powerful Play Rough.

If you want to read more about Pokémon, check out the Mythical Island TCG Pocket expansion.