All Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn Raid Bosses & how to beat them

Ezequiel Leis
Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon in a Pokemon Go background

Pokemon Go Raids will get some very interesting Bosses during the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn event so here’s how to beat them, including the new Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon.

Pokemon Go Raids will celebrate Hoenn’s toughest creatures when the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn event begins. For two days, trainers will get the chance to face very powerful Pokemon in event-related Raids and the new Primal Raids.

We’ll cover the full list of 1-Star, 5-Star, and Primal Raids available during the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn Global event so you’re ready to defeat and catch as many Raid Bosses as you possibly can.

The Hoenn starter trio is back in 1-Star Raids.

Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn 1-Star Raids

Pokemon Go will feature the Hoenn starter trio in 1-Star Raids during the Go Tour: Hoenn Global event:

Treecko

The Grass-type Hoenn starter is weak against Bug, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison-type attacks. Since it’s only a 1-Star Raid, powerful enough trainers could clear Treecko’s Raid easily with one good counter.

Charizard, Pidgeot, Abomasnow, Houndoom, Arcanine, and Gengar are the best choices here for a quick and very effective Raid.

Treecko can evolve into Sceptile, which is a very powerful and fast Grass-type Pokemon for PvE battles. Keep that in mind if you don’t have one in your Pokedex yet.

Torchic

As a pure Fire-type Pokemon, Torchic is weak against Water, Rock, and Ground-type moves. As we mentioned with Treecko, this 1-Star Raid offer much of a challenge to expert trainers.

Blastoise, Swampert, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Rhyperior, and Excadrill are some of the best counters to face Torchic in Raids.

Mudkip

The third Hoenn starter is a pure Water-type, which means it’s weak against Electric and Grass-type attacks. Exploiting its weaknesses is key to having a quick victory.

Venusaur, Magnezone, Zarude, Electivire, Zapdos, Roserade, or any other Grass-type starters will help you take down Mudkip with ease.

Evolving Mudkip into Swampert will add a very versatile Ground and Water-Type Pokemon to your PvP or PvE team so don’t miss out on that opportunity.

Players can tackle 5-Star Raids for a chance at catching all of Deoxys’ Formes.

Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn 5-Star Raids

Pokemon Go will feature all four different Formes of alien-like Pokemon Deoxys in 5-Star Raids during the Go Tour: Hoenn Global event. Each Forme focuses on a different Stat and can have different movesets, so here’s how to beat them:

Normal Forme Deoxys

Deoxys is a pure Psychic-type Pokemon so it’s weak against Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type attacks. Even though it’s a 5-Star Raid, players can tackle this challenge without much hassle in small teams and with super effective movesets.

We recommend using strong Dark and Ghost-types to counter this Forme of Deoxys. Gengar, Houndoom, Absol, Tyranitar, Giratina, Darkrai, or even a Dark-focused Gyarados should do the trick.

Attack Forme Deoxys

Things can get a little more interesting when facing Attack Forme Deoxys since it can use the Dark-type move Dark Pulse. This attack is super-effective against Ghost-type Pokemon so you should try to avoid having them on your team this time around.

Hydreigon, Houndoom, Absol, Darkrai, Scizor, Tyranitar, Krookodile, Weavile, and Honchkrow are all excellent options to tackle this 5-Star Raid without risking too much.

Defense Forme Deoxys

Many Pokemon Go players agree that Defense Forme Deoxys is one of the toughest Raids they had to face. Its impressive bulk makes it a worthy opponent and it’s recommended to tackle the challenge with a team of at least six trainers.

With a boosted Defense Stat, the battle against Defense Forme Deoxys can turn into a battle against the timer. Relying on Dark-type Pokemon is dangerous since this Forme can use the Fighting-type move Counter, which is super-effective against Dark-types.

With that said, we could add Mega Beedrill to the list of counters. Basing your whole strategy around Bug-type Pokemon wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

If you manage to defeat and catch Defense Forme Deoxys you will add an extremely powerful ally to your PvP team.

Speed Forme Deoxys

This is the most balanced of Deoxys’ Formes, but its moveset is nothing you should worry about. As we mentioned with Defense Forme Deoxys, this 5-Star Raid is more a battle against time than against the Pokemon itself.

Be mindful of its Psychic-type attacks if you have any Ghost-types on your team, you should be fine.

Kyogre and Groudon with the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn logoPrimal Kyogre and Primal Groudon will debut globally in the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn event.

Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn Primal Raids

Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn will introduce players to Primal Raids for a chance to defeat and catch the debuting Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. Like Mega Raids, these Primal Raids will have a distinct look on the overworld map and will give players the chance to get Primal Energy, the resource to transform Groudon and Kyogre into their Primal versions.

Primal Kyogre

Primal Kyogre is a pure Water-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Grass and Electric-type attacks. Since Primal Kyogre will be headlining very tough Raids, you should rely solely on those two types to guarantee a chance at defeating and catching the Legendary Pokemon.

Kartana (Razor Leaf, Leaf Blade), Xurkitree (Spark, Discharge), Zarude (Vine Whip, Power Whip), Raikou (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge), and Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge) are some of the best counters. However, if you don’t have any of these Pokemon you can always rely on your strongest Grass and Electric-types.

Completing this Primal Raid is the only way to get a Primal Kyogre that knows the Charged Attack Origin Pulse.

Primal Groudon

Primal Groudon is a Ground and Fire-type, so it’s weak against Ground and Water-type moves. It’s important to note that Water-type attacks are four times super-effective as opposed to the standard two times. Building a team around Water-type movesets is your best bet.

Naturally, Gyarados (Waterfall, Hydro Pump), Swampert (Water Gun, Hydro Cannon), Kingler (Bubble, Crabhammer), Feraligatr (Waterfall, Hydro Cannon), Empoleon (Waterfall, Hydro Cannon), Blastoise (Water Gun, Hydro Cannon), and Greninja (Bubble, Surf) are some of the best counters for this Primal Raid. Of course, if you already have a Kyogre you can use it to take down Groudon, and vice versa.

Completing this Primal Raid is the only way to get a Primal Groudon that knows the Charged Attack Precipice Blade.


Now you’re more than ready to tackle the Pokemon Go Tour: Hoenn Global event featured Raids on February 25 and February 26.

For more Pokemon content, you can visit our other useful guides:

Pokemon Go free rewards for 2023 | Pokemon Go Spotlight Hour schedule | Is the Master Ball coming to Pokemon Go? | How to get Mega Gardevoir in Pokemon Go | How to heal Pokemon in Pokemon Go | How many Pokemon are there? | Best Pokemon for PvP battles in Pokemon Go | How to get revives in Pokemon Go | Pokemon Go best attackers ranked | Are Pokemon Scarlet & Violet getting DLC? | How many Pokemon types are in Scarlet & Violet?

Image Credits: Niantic / The Pokemon Company

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