Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Shiny Rayquaza Raid Guide

Do you want a chance to catch a Shiny Rayquaza in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet? This guide will go over everything you need to know.

How to Get Shiny Rayquaza for Free in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Getting a shiny Rayquaza in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is free as long as you don’t count prep time as a cost. Shiny Rayquaza is available to battle and capture in 5-star Tera Raid battles from Thursday, December 19, 2024 until Sunday, January 5, 2025, and you do not need any DLC to access the event. You can get a Rayquaza in the Indigo Disk DLC expansion, but that Rayquaza can never be shiny. The Tera Raid event Rayquaza is the first time shiny Rayquaza can be obtained directly in Scarlet and Violet, without transferring one from a previous game using Pokemon HOME. It is highly recommended to battle in these Tera Raids and capture a shiny Rayquaza for yourself while you still have the chance.

How to Prepare for the Shiny Rayquaza Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

Before you start tackling the shiny Rayquaza Tera Raids in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, you’ll want to have the following things prepared:

• Make sure you’ve unlocked 5-star Tera Raids (you don’t need 6- or 7-star Tera Raids unlocked for this event). To unlock 5-Star Tera Raids, you must complete the main game of Scarlet and Violet—in other words, finishing the Victory Road (Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion), Starfall Street (Team Star bases), and Path of Legends (Titan Pokemon and Herba Mystica) storylines. Jacq will give you a phone call to confirm 5-star Tera Raids are available after you’ve finished the main story.
• Check that your Pokemon Scarlet or Violet game is up to date. On the Nintendo Switch home screen, hover over the game you’ll be using and press the – button. If the game is on version 3.0.1, you’re all set. If not, choose “Software Update” and “Via the Internet” to update it to the latest version.
• Get a Pokemon ready to battle against Rayquaza (more on that in the “Preparing a Pokemon for the Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid in Scarlet and Violet” section below).

Preparing a Pokemon for the Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid in Scarlet and Violet

The shiny Rayquaza is a Dragon Tera Type in the Scarlet and Violet raid battles, so you’ll want a Pokemon that can target that weakness, especially when Terastallized. You have plenty of options, including Fairy-type or Dragon-type legendary Pokemon you have transferred from previous games using Pokemon HOME (such as Zacian or another Rayquaza). For players who don’t have a powerful legendary Pokemon at the ready, the easiest Pokemon to build for this raid is an Azumarill. Azumarill is highly recommended for other raids, as well, so take this opportunity to build one for the future, too. If you already have a Pokemon ready for the event, skip down to the “Finding a Shiny Rayquaza Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet” section.

Preparing an Azumarill for Tera Raid Battles

The ideal Tera Raid battle-ready Azumarill has an Adamant Nature, the Huge Power Ability, Fairy Tera type, and knows the moves Play Rough, Belly Drum, and Waterfall, along with one extra move for support, such as Light Screen or Rain Dance.

Changing a Pokemon’s Tera type is more costly than changing its Nature or Ability, so you want to make sure your Azumarill has the Fairy Tera type first and foremost. To do this, fly to the large island in the middle of Casseroya Lake in the North Province (titled “Casseroya Lake (Islet)” on the map) then head to the smaller island north of it. You’ll see a sparkling, glowing Azumarill in the water. This Azumarill is guaranteed to have a Fairy Tera type. You also cannot knock this Pokemon out in one hit, so it’s easier to catch, too.

If you happen to have a Pokemon with the Synchronize Ability and an Adamant Nature, you can place it at the front of your party before battling the Azumarill to increase the chance that it will have an Adamant Nature. If not, you can change its Nature with an Adamant Mint. Besides finding them as random items across the overworld in the Coastal Biome in the Indigo Disk’s Blueberry Academy, you can buy Adamant Mints for 20,000 Poke Dollars each at Chansey Supply stores. Mints can be purchased after you have six badges, but you need all the badges to access 5-star Tera Raids, so you’ll definitely be able to buy them if you’re preparing for the shiny Rayquaza battle. Chansey Supply stores can be found in Cascarrafa, Levincia, Montenevera, and two in Mesagoza.

If your Azumarill has the Thick Fat Ability instead of Huge Power, you can also buy an Ability Capsule from the Chansey Supply stores for 100,000 Poke Dollars each. Before making the financial investment, check to see if you haven’t already gotten some from other raid battles you may have participated in beforehand.

At Level 55, the Azumarill will know the moves Superpower, Double-Edge, Hydro Pump, and Rain Dance. In the Pokemon summary “Moves and Stats” menu, press A to “Change Moves,” then “Remember moves.” Have Azumarill remember Play Rough in place of any of its moves. Then select “Change Moves” again, and choose “Forget a move.” Make Azumarill forget everything except Play Rough. If you don’t already have one, go to one of the Delibird Presents stores in Cascarrafa and purchase a Mirror Herb for 30,000 Poke Dollars. (You’ll also want to buy a Power Bracer and Power Weight for 10,000 Poke Dollars each, as well as five Bottle Caps for 20,000 Poke Dollars each, while you’re here.)

Next, you’ll want to catch a Hariyama if you don’t already have one. You can find Hariyama at any of the following locations in Paldea:

• Area Three, Six, and Alfornada Cavern in the South Province.
• Area Three in the East Province.
• Area Two and Three of the West Province.
• Area Three, Dalizapa Passage, and Glaseado Mountain of the North Province.
• Hariyama can also be battled and captured in 5-star Tera Raid battles.

Hariyama learns Belly Drum at Level 26, so you can easily have it remember the move if it’s at a higher level. Once your Hariyama knows Belly Drum, place Hariyama and Azumarill in your party and give your Azumarill the Mirror Herb to hold. Enter a picnic and hang out for a few minutes. Your Azumarill will learn the move Belly Drum automatically.

In Casseroya Lake, you can find TM 077 Waterfall, after which you can make them at TM Machines using 5 Magikarp Scales, 3 Basculin Fangs, 3 Arrokuda Scales, and 8,000 LP. Use a copy of TM 077 to teach Azumarill Waterfall. The final move for Azumarill can be anything you think is helpful. A safe choice is Light Screen, using TM 075.

EV Training and Leveling Up Your Azumarill

Before you start leveling up your Azumarill, you’ll want to EV train it. EVs are hidden values that increase a Pokemon’s stats. Your Azumarill will want 252 Attack EVs, and 252 HP EVs—in other words, max Attack and HP. Equip the Power Bracer you bought from the Delibird Presents earlier onto your Azumarill and head on over to Fury Falls. Luxray, Lokix, Passimian, Bisharp, Ursaring, Pawniard, Scyther, Shinx, and Teddiursa all give Attack EVs when they’re defeated. You want to defeat enough of these Pokemon with Azumarill until you have 252 Attack EVs. While Azumarill holds the Power Bracer, it will receive the following amounts of Attack EVs:

• 11 Attack EVs from Luxray.
• 10 Attack EVs from Lokix, Passimian, Bisharp, and Ursaring.
• 9 Attack EVs from Pawniard, Scyther, Shinx, and Teddiursa.

If you accidentally lose track of how many Attack EVs your Azumarill has, go to its Moves and Stats summary page and press the L button to “Switch Graph View.” The hex graph point for Attack should be filled all the way, with sparkles around the word “Attack” when it’s maxed out.

When you’re done EV training your Azumarill in Attack, equip the Power Weight you bought at Delibird Presents and follow the instructions in the “Finding a Shiny Rayquaza Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet” section below to update the game to include all the current special events. At the same time as the shiny Rayquaza event is a Chansey mass outbreak event. Throughout Paldea, special Chansey mass outbreaks will occur to help you level up your Pokemon. Chansey not only gives a lot of experience points, but it also gives HP EVs when defeated. While Azumarill is holding the Power Weight, Chansey gives 10 HP EVs. To find a Chansey mass outbreak, open the map and look for the Chansey icons with sparkles.

Once you find a Chansey outbreak, fast-travel as close to it as you can, and enter a picnic. Make a Great Peanut Butter Sandwich (sandwich number 17) using one Banana, one Peanut Butter, and one Butter to get Exp. Point Power: Normal. This will increase the amount of experience points your Pokemon will earn when they defeat a Normal-type Pokemon like Chansey. After you defeat 26 Chansey with your Azumarill holding a Power Weight, maxing out its HP EVs, you can swap the Power Weight for a Lucky Egg (you should already have one from Jacq during the main story). The Lucky Egg increases the amount of experience earned even further. Keep battling Chansey in outbreaks until your Azumarill reaches Level 100.

Finally, hop on over to Asado Desert and defeat two in any combination of Sandaconda, Hippowdon, or Orthworm (as well as Stonjourner if you’re playing Pokemon Scarlet) with your Azumarill. This will give Azumarill 4 Defense EVs, which is the most it can get after maxing out both Attack and HP. You’ll know you’ve fully EV trained your Azumarill when the hex graph after pressing the L button in its Moves and Stats summary screen is blue and both HP and Attack have sparkles around them. 

Using Bottle Caps on Your Azumarill

To finalize your Azumarill, fly to Montenevera and speak to the man behind the Pokemon Center, next to the Abomasnow. He will have a yellow dialogue box saying, “Hyper Training! Get it here!” You want to exchange your Bottle Caps to improve your Azumarill’s IVs. IVs are another hidden value that increases your Pokemon’s stats. The special Azumarill from Casseroya Lake will have three stats that are already “perfect” (31 IVs), but you want HP, Attack, Defense, Special Defense, and Speed to all be perfect. Use as many Bottle Caps as needed to patch up any of your Azumarill’s stats that aren’t at max yet (you won’t be able to choose a perfect stat since it will have a crown icon instead of a check box).

Building a Pokemon Besides Azumarill for the Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raids

If you’re bringing a Pokemon besides Azumarill into the shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid battles, keep the following questions in mind as you train it:

• What is your Pokemon’s best attacking stat? Are you giving it attacking moves that align with that stat? 
• Have you EV trained your Pokemon’s stats with emphasis on its best attacking stat and bulk? (Check out our guides to all the Pokemon that give a particular EV when defeated: HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.)
• Is your Pokemon’s Tera Type super effective against Rayquaza’s Dragon Tera Type? 
• Does your Pokemon’s typing resist any of Rayquaza’s attacks? (More information on Rayquaza’s attacks can be found in the “Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Guide” section below.)
• Does your Pokemon have a stat-boosting move to help it deal as much damage as possible to Rayquaza in one hit before it starts protecting itself?

Finding a Shiny Rayquaza Raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

First things first, you’ll want to find a shiny Rayquaza raid in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Open the game’s main menu by pressing the X button. Next, press the L button to connect to the internet. This will update your game and activate the event. From here, you can disconnect from the internet if you feel confident in your ability to solo the raid, but staying online gives you the opportunity to challenge the raid with other players, which will make the battle easier and give everyone involved a chance to capture Rayquaza at the end.

Press Y to bring up the map (you may need to press the L or R button to scroll to the map of Paldea). Crystals for event Tera Raid battles will sparkle, and the shiny Rayquaza raid will always be Dragon Tera Type, so check the Paldea map for any sparkling Dragon-type icons. Note that the Rayquaza will only appear in the Paldea region, not in the DLC areas of Kitakami or Blueberry Academy. Also, be aware that there is a concurrent Blissey Tera Raid battle event, so some of the Dragon-type raids may be for Blissey instead of Rayquaza. 

Once you’ve found 5-star Dragon-type Tera Raid, fly to the nearest fast travel point and make your way to the crystal. Interact with it to make sure it’s a Rayquaza battle and not Blissey. From here, all that’s left to do is challenge the Rayquaza in battle. You can challenge it by yourself, or “as a group.” If you select “Challenge as a Group,” you can choose “Let anyone join” to quickly get a group of online players together to battle the Rayquaza. If you have a group of friends to attempt the raid battle with, select “Invite friends with Link Code” and give the link code to everyone to input into their games. When everyone has their Pokemon locked in (including yourself—don’t forget to lock in your Pokemon, too) you can select “Start the battle” to begin.

Note that before the battle begins, you may want to eat a sandwich to improve the rewards you get for winning. Check out the “Sandwiches to Enhance the Shiny Rayquaza Raid Rewards” section below for more information.

Finding Someone Else’s Shiny Rayquaza Raid 

You can also battle in another player’s shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid instead of hosting your own. From the menu (press the X button), head to the Poke Portal and select Tera Raid Battle (while connected to the internet—press the L button if you’re not). Online players’ raids will appear, and you can choose to join them. Event raids will have a golden background, and you’ll see a silhouette of Rayquaza and the Dragon-type symbol along with five stars. After about a minute has passed, you can press X to refresh the listings. We only recommend trying to join shiny Rayquaza raids this way as a last resort because it can be difficult and time-consuming trying to join someone else’s raid—you may not even get to join the one you selected if other players also selected to join it.

How Often do Shiny Rayquaza Raids Respawn?

The first time you go online in your copy of Pokemon Scarlet or Violet, your Tera Raid crystals across all regions will refresh, placing some Rayquaza raids across Paldea. Afterward, the raids will refresh every night at midnight (local time). If you successfully complete every Rayquaza Tera Raid battle in Paldea, you can wait until the next day to battle more or find raids other players are hosting through Poke Portal as described in the “Finding Someone Else’s Shiny Rayquaza Raid” section above. However, if you lose a raid, the crystal will remain until midnight when the raids refresh, so you can try against the same Tera Raid as many times as you can fit into your schedule before the day is over. You’ll have until Sunday, January 5, 2025, to defeat (and subsequently capture) any shiny Rayquaza raid during this event.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Guide

Once you’re ready to challenge the shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid, use the following sections to anticipate its general battle strategy.

Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Special Moves and Actions

The following list includes all of the special moves and actions the shiny Rayquaza will take when the raid timer reaches certain points:

• The shiny Rayquaza will start each Tera Raid battle by using Dragon Ascent, a Flying-type physical attack that lowers its own Defense and Special Defense by one stage each. 
• When about a quarter of the timer has been depleted, the shiny Rayquaza will use Draco Meteor, a very powerful Dragon-type special attack that lowers its own Special Attack stat by two stages. However, it will immediately follow this up with resetting all of its stat changes.
• The shiny Rayquaza will reset all of its stat changes again when only half of the timer remains.

The following list includes all of the special moves and actions the shiny Rayquaza will take when its HP reaches certain thresholds:

• When it has 80% of its health remaining, the shiny Rayquaza will reset the players’ Pokemon’s stat changes and set up a barrier that absorbs most of the damage from non-Terastallized Pokemon. This is why it’s important to buff your Pokemon with stat increases before attacking, so Rayquaza takes as much damage as possible before putting up the shield.
• When the shiny Rayquaza has only half of its health left, it will use Dragon Dance, which increases its Attack and Speed by one stage each. This will give half of its regular moves a noticeable buff, namely the already powerful Earthquake, so make sure you’re piling on Tera-boosted super effective attacks by this time to end the fight as quickly as possible (see the “Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Regular Moves” section below).

Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Regular Moves

Besides the special time and HP-reliant moves mentioned above, the shiny Rayquaza will use the following moves at random:

It’s a good idea to use a Pokemon that is immune to at least one of the shiny Rayquaza’s attacks and resists at least another. Fairy-type Pokemon will be immune to Rayquaza’s Dragon Pulse and Draco Meteor, while Flying-types will be immune to its Earthquake. Ghost types will be immune to Extreme Speed.

Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid General Strategy

When you start the shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid battle, you want to buff your Pokemon’s main attacking stat by at least four stages, if not all six. If you are using Azumarill, a single Belly Drum will increase your Attack by six stages. If you’re using a different Pokemon, two Swords Dance (for physical attackers) or two Nasty Plot (for special attackers) will raise your offensive stat by four stages. You want to do this before attacking so Rayquaza has as little HP remaining as possible when it sets up its shield (see the “Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Special Moves and Actions” section above for more information). 

If you are not using Azumarill but see there is at least one Azumarill user in the party, after using one buff move, you should cheer on your team for health restoration. This will heal everyone in the party, which is especially helpful for Azumarill, which will lose half of its health to Belly Drum. 

Always attack Rayquaza with super-effective moves. As a Terastallized Dragon-type, Rayquaza is weak to the following types:

• Dragon.
• Fairy.
• Ice.

Do not bother attacking Rayquaza with moves that it resists, which are:

• Fire.
• Water.
• Grass.
• Electric.
• (An easy way to remember Dragon’s resistances are “the starter types plus Pikachu’s type.)

Rayquaza’s Ability is Air Lock. All weather effects will be negated during the Tera Raid battle, so don’t use Pokemon with Abilities that bring in weather (such as Drought or Drizzle), and don’t use attacks that influence the weather (such as Sunny Day or Rain Dance).

Pay attention to when Rayquaza sets up its shield. After your Pokemon has attacked Rayquaza three times, you’ll be able to Terastallize your Pokemon. Do this when Rayquaza’s shield is up and attack Rayquaza with an attack that matches your Tera Type. This Tera Type will ideally also be super effective against Dragon-type. For example, if your Azumarill is Tera Type Fairy, you should use Play Rough when you Terastallize to hit Rayquaza’s weakness and smash through its shield. 

Once Rayquaza’s shield is down, it will be stunned for a few moments. Continue to hit it with super effective moves (prioritizing your Tera Type if your Pokemon is still Terastallized) until it is defeated.

Catching the Tera Raid Shiny Rayquaza

After you defeat the shiny Rayquaza, you’re given the option to catch it or not. All Rayquaza from this event will have the same basic stats, so you might as well catch it the first time you defeat it. The caught Rayquaza will have the following build:

Shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid Battle Item Rewards

You will also receive some items for winning the raid battle. The items you can receive are as follows:

You’ll also receive the following items the first time you defeat the shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid battle:

• TM 115 Dragon Pulse x1
• Ability Patch x1
• Dragon Tera Shard x50

You can also increase the chance of obtaining these items by eating a sandwich before starting the Tera Raid battle. See the “Sandwiches to Enhance the Shiny Rayquaza Raid Rewards” section below for more information.

Should You Challenge the Shiny Rayquaza Raid More Than Once?

You can only capture one shiny Rayquaza from these Tera Raid battles, no matter how many you win. You will receive a notification informing you that you cannot capture another Rayquaza if you join a raid lobby after already capturing one. That being said, it may be worth your while to battle in additional Tera Raids after capturing your shiny Rayquaza. You can help other players catch their own shiny Rayquaza, and you will still obtain the item rewards for winning the raid battle at the end. You can also use sandwiches to increase the number of rewards you obtain (see the “Sandwiches to Enhance the Shiny Rayquaza Raid Rewards” section below). 

Sandwiches to Enhance the Shiny Rayquaza Raid Rewards

If you make a Refreshing Sandwich (sandwich number 68), you’ll receive an increased number of rewards for every Dragon Tera type raid you win thanks to its Raid Power: Dragon. It’s worth making one before attempting a shiny Rayquaza Tera Raid battle, turning the raid into a good source of rare items like Dragon Tera Shards, Exp. Candies, Herba Mystica, and even Ability Patches if you’re lucky. This also makes it worth attempting the raid multiple times, even after catching your own shiny Rayquaza. The ingredients for the Refreshing Sandwich are Cherry Tomato, Avocado, Marmalade, and Salt.

With this, you’ll catch one of the best shiny Dragon-type Pokemon for yourself. Thankfully, 5-star Tera Raid battles aren’t as intense as 6- or 7-star raids, so it’s definitely worth trying your hand at it even if the harder raids have given you a hard time in the past.