How to Beat Groudon in Pokemon Go

Groudon has invaded Pokemon Go and players will need to bring their A-game if they want to take down this powerful new Pokemon.

Players may recognize Groudon as the “mascot Legendary” of Pokemon Ruby and the Pokemon at the heart of Team Magma’s plans to expand the Hoenn Region’s landmass. While Groudon is missing some of its key abilities and attacks in Pokemon Go, it’s still extremely powerful and a “must have” for any trainer.

Groudon instantly slots in as the strongest Ground-Type Pokemon in the game and is one of the game’s best overall Pokemon. Only Mewtwo and Slaking have higher Attack stats, and its Defense stat is outclassed only by a few Pokemon.

Because Groudon is such a fearsome Pokemon, players might struggle when facing it in a Raid Battle. As with any Raid Boss, your best chance is to simply overwhelm Groudon with numbers. Five experienced trainers can bring down Groudon on their own, but you’ll probably want to bring at least nine players if you’re not playing with a group of elite Pokemon Go players. Keep scrolling down if you’re looking for a few more tips on how to conquer Groudon once and for all!

Gyarados: The Groudon Counter

As a Ground-Type Pokemon, Groudon is only weak to a handful of attacks. Water-Type, Grass-Type, and Ice-Type attacks will all do Super-Effective damage against Groudon…but Groudon actually has a built in counter attack against two of those Pokemon.

You may be tempted to load up your team with Exeggutor, Sceptile, and Articuno, but Groudon has a 33% chance of knowing Fire Blast. A Fire Blast attack would wipe out any of those Pokemon in one hit, which means it’s a bit risky to load up your team with just Grass or Ice-Type Pokemon.

Most Water-Type Pokemon are also vulnerable to Groudon, since Groudon also has a 33% chance of knowing Solar Beam. A supercharged solar beam will wipe out most Vaporeon in one hit…but there is one Water-Type Pokemon that can shrug off Solar Beams: Gyarados.

With the changes made to Pokemon Go last week, Gyarados is now the most powerful Water-Type attacker in the game. A Gyarados with Waterfall and Hydro Pump can not only dish out a ton of damage to Groudon. Plus, Gyarados is a Water/Flying dual-type Pokemon, which means that it doesn’t have a natural weakness to Grass-Type attacks like Solar Beam. 

If Groudon doesn’t know Solar Beam, your best bet is to load up your team with Water-Type Pokemon. If it doesn’t know Fire Blast, than supplement your team with Grass and Ice-Type Pokemon.

Keep the Weather in Mind

Weather now plays a factor in Pokemon Go, so you might want to consider whether its sunny or rainy before you battle Groudon. 

Groudon is at its most dangerous in sunny/clear weather, as its Grass, Ground and Fire-Type attacks get a big boost due to the weather. That means Groudon’s best attack will be boosted no matter what charge move it has during the raid.

Of course, clear weather can also boost your Grass-Type Pokemon if you bring those into battle. So if you’re battling Groudon during Sunny weather, you mind as well bring in a few Grass-Type Pokemon to benefit from the weather boost. 

If you’re aiming to take down Groudon with Gyarados or any Water-Type, your best bet is to wait until its raining. Rainy Weather boosts Gyarados’s Water-Type attacks and Groudon doesn’t get any benefit from it. Ice-Type Pokemon also get a boost in snowy weather, which might be helpful for those players battling Groudon in the middle of a cold winter. 

Catching Groudon

Once you beat Groudon, you may discover that actually catching it is trickier than usual. Due to its immense size, Groudon stands pretty far away in the catch screen. This means that you’ll have to throw your Poke Balls with a little more power than usual just to hit it.

Groudon also has a deceptive attack animation that has tricked many players up. Groudon takes a quick swipe at the player, but its attack animation actually takes a moment to upset. If you throw your Poke Ball right as Groudon attacks, your Poke Ball will bounce away uselessly. Your best bet is to wait until Groudon has already swiped and is returning to its standing position before attacking.

Luckily, Groudon doesn’t move from side to side or up and down, so at least you won’t have to deal with any headaches like you did when trying to catch a Legendary Bird.