Pokémon Go Gigantamax Pikachu counters, weaknesses and tactics

Gigantamax Pikachu counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

In order to battle a Gigantamax Pikachu, you first need to do three things:

• Have 800 Max Particles.
• Have IRL friends who play the game or use a Remote Raid Pass.
• Find a Power Spot with a Gigantamax Pikachu.

The upside to doing Max Battles IRL is that this is obviously a money-saver for the player (travel notwithstanding). As with previous Gigantamax battles, we strongly recommend travelling to an urban centre for a pre-arranged meet-up. You have little chance of doing this solo or with a small group in a rural area.

If you’d rather remote in, you should be aware of the following:

• You need to use both a Remote Raid Pass and spend your 800 Max Particles, rather than just using a pass.
• You use the pass as soon as you start a Max Battle, regardless of the outcome.
• If you lose the battle and leave the lobby or the Raid rotates, you will effectively lose your pass.

That said, don’t worry if you fail the first time, you can simply re-enter the same lobby and try again. As long as you have enough Revives and Potions, you can keep trying until you run out of battery!

Below you’ll find the counters and weaknesses for Gigantamax Pikachu to help you win the Max Battle:

• Gigantamax Pikachu types – Electric-type.
• Gigantamax Pikachu is weak against – Ground-type attacks.
• Gigantamax Pikachu is resistant to – Electric, Flying and Steel-type attacks.
• Gigantamax Pikachu top offensive counters – Dynamax Excadrill is your best option, running Mud-Slap or Mud Shot and Max Quake. Failing that, you’re looking at Gigantamax Inteleon (GMax Hydrosnipe) or Gigantamax Gengar (GMax Terror).

• Number of players to beat Gigantamax Pikachu – As always, the more the merrier, up to a maximum of 40. Remember, you will be split into teams of four, so don’t worry if you don’t see everyone in your lobby! In your group of four, you should aim for two attackers, one healer and one defender.
• Tactics – Dynamax and Gigantamax raids are a little more complicated than traditional raids in Pokémon Go.
  
  First, be aware that your Fast move governs your Max move, so make sure to bring a Fast move that Gigantamax Pikachu is weak against, if you can. If we suggested one above, use that – otherwise anything works.
  If you’re one of the attackers, you need to focus on using your Fast Move as much possible, to unleash your Max Attack as quickly and often as possible.
  If you’re out of fighters, and can leave attacking to someone who isn’t, you should focus on either defending or healing your team. Your top defenders who can put up a strong Max Guard are Dynamax Latias/Latios, and Dynamax Venusaur. Dynamax Blissey is your best healer with Max Spirit, followed by Dynamax Wailord and Gigantamax Snorlax. A little teamwork here goes a long way!

This means that your best team of four to defeat Gigantamax Pikachu is: two Dynamax Excadrill on attack, one Dynamax Latias on defence and a Dynamax Blissey on support.

Don’t forget about the Pressure Rising Special Research quest.

There’s a lot to do in Pokémon Go outside of the current event! From the Go Battle League, Remote Trading, PokéStop Showcase, Routes and Max Battles. Don’t forget to catch rare Pokémon while you’re at it.

Is Pikachu shiny in Pokémon Go?

Yes, Pikachu can be shiny in Pokémon Go. The shiny form of Pikachu was released in August 2017, alongside shiny Pichu and shiny Raichu, as part of the Team Go Park event in Yokohama, Japan.

As you can see below – or possibly not, which is the problem – shiny Pikachu looks awful. Maybe they were just trying to keep this iconic Pokémon as close to the original as possible, but it smacks of missed opportunity.

Looking exclusively at the Kanto line, since that’s the one with Pikachonk in it, everything just looks like it has been out at the beach for too long. Sure, this makes sense for Mr Windychu and Ms Wavychu (which already look like the shiny versions, we hasten to add), but it looks right naff everywhere else.

Shiny Pikachu swaps its iconic yellow fur and red cheeks for a darker yellow with pink cheeks, making it the Pikachu-coloured Pichu. Shiny Raichu opts for a burnt orange and brown, while shiny Pichu is closer to that of shiny Pikachu, but with slightly darker cheeks. In all, shiny Pikachu looks both sun-bleached and sun-burnt at the same time.

So, what does shiny Pikachonk look like? Given how dark Gigantamax Pokémon generally are, you would be forgiven for not noticing it’s a shiny, to be honest. The one giveaway is the colour of its cheeks.

Gigantamax Pikachu CP in Pokémon Go

Unlike with Raids, there is no visible CP on a Max Battle boss. Instead, it just has a giant health bar that gets slightly smaller with each hit. It’s also worth noting that because these battles take place in their own special arena, there is no weather boost available.

Below you’ll find the CP levels for Gigantamax Pikachu in Pokémon Go:

• CP range for catching Gigantamax Pikachu – 493 CP to 536 CP
• CP for perfect Gigantamax Pikachu – 536 CP

Best Pikachu moveset in Pokémon Go

Let’s be honest here: Pikachonk exists for one reason alone, and that was so that Ash’s Pikachu could get swole in the anime. You are not Ash and your Pikachu isn’t a god-tier demon that will somehow become the most powerful Pokémon in all of creation. Your Gigantamax Pikachu is a Pokédex entry, and this entire section is academic.

While you can use your fancy new Pikachu in Go Battle League – and there’s no reason not to if it’s a limited cup where Electric-types have an advantage – it won’t be in its Gigantamax form! It’s hardly fair for you to show up with an almost 69′ (21m) monster to take down the opponent’s Rattata, is it?

Gigantamax Pikachu’s ideal moveset is irrelevant Thunder Shock (Fast) and Thunder (Charged). Gigantamax Pikachu’s exclusive G-Max move is G-Max Volt Crash. Unlike the main-series games where this guarantees paralysis against all opponents, this status effect doesn’t exist in Pokémon Go (just like a good Gigantamax Pikachu).

Here are all the Fast and Charged moves Gigantamax Pikachu can use in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves:

• Present (Legacy, Normal)
• Thunder Shock (Electric)
• Quick Attack (Normal)

Charged Moves:

• Discharge (Electric)
• Surf (Legacy, Water)
• Thunder (Legacy, Electric)
• Thunderbolt (Electric)
• Wild Charge (Electric)
• G-Max Volt Crash (Electric)

Everything we know about Pikachu

Pikachu is the one Pokémon everyone in the world knows. They might not know the word Pokémon, but they will damn well recognise Pikachu. Like real life mice, this little guy can be found absolutely everywhere.

Normally, we’d cover everything we know about a given Pokémon here, but let’s be real. There’s too much to write and nobody wants to know in which game Pikachu’s cry changed slightly (Arceus, if you’re curious). Instead, we’ll cover some of the cooler facts about this cute little Pokémon that you probably don’t know.

Its name comes from the onomatopoeia for an electric crackling (Pika-pika) and a mouse squeaking (chuu-chuu). The ‘Rai’ in Raichu is simply the character for thunder.

Niue, a small island in the South Pacific, released a one-dollar coin with its coat of arms on one side and Pikachu on the other to promote the Pokémon franchise. It’s worth, as they say, a pretty penny to collectors.

Multiple scientific discoveries have been named after this Pokémon because, let’s face it, scientists are geeks and they tend to love stuff like Pokémon (written completely unironically by someone with a genetics degree). These discoveries include:

• A protein that helps carry electrical impulses from the eyes to the brain and named it pikachurin because of its “lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects”
• The springtail species Dicranocentrus pikachu
• The spider species Epicratinus pikachu was named after Pikachu due to the female spider’s epigynum resembling its face (spoiler warning, we don’t see it)
• The spider species Alistra pikachu was named for its yellow colour (nope, just looks like a spider…)
• The beetle species Hiperantha pikachu was named for its yellow and black colouring that looks like Pikachu’s ears (yeah, kinda).

We’ve checked whether any of these animals resemble Pikachu in any way (and because we’re pretty sure our editor hates spiders, we haven’t left the factchecking to her), and the only one that comes close is the beetle. If you want to see for yourself, here’s a couple of pictures in a research article.

In terms of design, Pikachu wasn’t originally going to be a mouse, it was going to be a daifuku (sweet)-like creature with black ear tips. After making it a mouse, they went for a cute design with red patches on its cheeks for storing electricity. The idea for this seemingly came from squirrels.

Gigantamax Pikachu, or Pikachonk as we insist on calling it, is a throwback to Pikachu’s early days as a much more rotund rodent. There is a noticeable design shift over the decades, with Pikachu toning up and losing weight…

The most interesting thing about Raichu has to be its X and Y Mega evolutions – one is much closer to Pikachu in its colour and design, while the other is closer to regular Raichu.

It’s also worth noting that Raichu has an Alolan variant, which emphasises how cute this Pokémon can be. It’s also a Psychic type that flies on its surfboard tail, which is something.

If you want to learn more about Pikachu and its various evolution states, you can read the official Pokédex entries of its evolution line below:

• Pichu: ‘It is unskilled at storing electric power. Any kind of shock causes it to discharge energy spontaneously. Despite this Pokémon’s cute appearance, those who want to live with one should prepare to be on the receiving end of its electric jolts.’
• Pikachu: ‘When it is angered, it immediately discharges the energy stored in the pouches in its cheeks. When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity can build and cause lightning storms.’
• Gigantamax Pikachu: ‘Its Gigantamax power expanded, forming its supersized body and towering tail. When it smashes its opponents with its bolt-shaped tail, it delivers a surge of electricity equivalent to a lightning strike.’
• Raichu: ‘When its electricity builds, its muscles are stimulated, and it becomes more aggressive than usual. If the electric pouches in its cheeks become fully charged, both ears will stand straight up.’
• Alolan Raichu: ‘It uses psychokinesis to control electricity. It hops aboard its own tail, using psychic power to lift the tail and move about while riding it. This Pokémon rides on its tail while it uses its psychic powers to levitate. It attacks with star-shaped thunderbolts.’
• Mega Raichu X: ‘It resembles an X as it flies through the air with 50 million volts of electricity sparking from its ears and forked tail.’
• Mega Raichu Y: ‘It fires bolts of electricity from the tip of its tail and from the spiky tufts of fur growing out of its temples. This electricity forms the letter Y.’

Good luck defeating Gigantamax Pikachu in Pokémon Go!