The final gym in Pokémon Sword & Shield involves a set of battles unlike any other. Not only does Gym Leader Raihan not stick to a single Pokémon type, but he also makes your fight Double Battles in the name of showing off your Pokémon’s power.
This is an incredibly unique fight that you might not be prepared for, no matter how strong your team is through the rest of the game. Here are five Pokémon throughout the Galar region that you should seek out before entering this challenge, and five that you might want to keep on the bench.
10 Avoid: Boltund
Raihan not both an affection for Dragon-types, and for the Sandstorm weather condition. This causes damage to all Pokémon that aren’t Rock, Ground, or Steel-type, so in addition to powerful Dragons you must also be prepared for a variety of other opponents.
This makes the normally competitive Boltund an extremely poor choice for your team. Even with its high speed, it doesn’t have anywhere near enough power to take down the highly defensive Dragons and its weakness to Ground-type moves worsens its chance at being a strong competitor. If you haven’t retired your Boltund yet, this battle is probably the best time to do so.
9 Bring: Abomasnow
Getting rid of Raihan’s Sandstorms is a wonderful way to counteract his unique strategy. There are many Pokémon who have abilities that bring in weather conditions on entry like Pelipper and Ninetales, but if you want one that’ll take down all of Raihan’s Pokémon easily, it’s Abomasnow.
With this Ice and Grass-type tank, you can have a teammate who’s resistant to Ground and Dragon moves, all while creating a Hailstorm immediately thanks to an ability called Snow Warning. Not only will this damage all Pokémon each turn, but it’ll make the dual-hitting Blizzard hit with perfect accuracy, making for one of the strongest Super Effective attacks you can get.
8 Avoid: Weavile
Ice-type moves might be powerful against Raihan’s Ground-types, such as Flygon and Sandaconda, but Ice-Type Pokémon can often be quite weak. Like real ice, it can be easy to crack most of these Pokémon, and Weavile is undoubtedly one of the most fragile of its peers.
Not only does its Dark-typing not help the battle whatsoever, but Weavile’s physical attacks are all monumentally weak. Some moves like Sucker Punch and Fling can be fun tools in single-battles, but in a Double Battle you need something with more raw power.
7 Bring: Grimmsnarl
Grimmsnarl is a great inclusion if you want something more than damage. While it can be quite powerful against some foes thanks to its Fairy-type body, its ability Prankster can push it over the edge by being a great support Pokémon.
This ability will let you use Status Moves instantly before your opponents can do any damage. Putting up defensive walls like Reflect or Light Screen can make this battle unfairly easy, and throwing a Thunder Wave onto Raihan’s Duraludon and Gigalith can also make things entirely one-sided.
6 Avoid: Alcremie
With Raihan’s team being loosely themed around Dragon-types, you’d think a Fairy-type Pokémon like Alcremie would be a good counter. Alcremie certainly normally be a strong boon to your team, but with the Steel-type Duraludon at the end of his team, you’re likely going to be at more of a disadvantage with this choice.
The biggest weakness Alcremie brings is its low defensive stat, which makes it vulnerable to all of Raihan’s team. You might have some highly effective moves like Giga Drain and Dazzling Gleam, but when you can’t survive moves like Iron Head Alcremie’s strengths become relatively meaningless.
5 Bring: Flygon
One of the best ways to beat Raihan is to imitate him, and your own Flygon is the perfect way to do it. This Ground-type from Hoenn avoids the damage from Sandstorm and Ground-type moves thanks to its ability Levitate, while also being a surprisingly fast and powerful Dragon-type to hit with at the same time.
This Pokémon was a monster in Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, and it’s just as powerful now. It might take some time to find its earlier form Trapinch in Route 6 and the Wild Area, but it’s just as powerful as it looks and worth taking some time to hunt down.
4 Avoid: Flapple
The rare Flapple might seem like a great ally for this fight, since Grass-type Pokémon should be good at taking down Rock and Ground-types while its Dragon-typing can help take down opposing Dragon-types. Unfortunately, its poor stats make it more of a liability than a sweeper.
Flapple has an extremely awkward base speed stat of 70, which is certainly faster than most sluggish tanks but still slow enough that it won’t be the first attacker most turns. Its defensive stats can’t make up for it either, so anything slower and more powerful is going to take it out in an instant. If you’re lucky enough to have one in your playthrough, feel free to leave it behind.
3 Bring: Rillaboom
Rillaboom has a lot of unfortunate matchups in Galar’s eight gyms, but Dragon and Ground-type aren’t one of them. It might be vulnerable to Sandstorm’s damage, but Rillaboom’s high defense and health make it able to survive in a double battle better than any of the other starters.
This Pokémon also benefits from a diverse range of attacks besides its Grass-type moves, with Fighting-type moves being especially powerful against most of your opponents. If you use your Dynamax power on Rillaboom early and use Max Knuckle, you can also start raising your already great Attack stat to massive heights, and by the time it runs out, even Raihan’s Gigantamax Duraludon won’t give you any trouble.
2 Avoid: Cinderace
If you happened to pick Scorbunny as your starter, you’ve likely been able to take down a huge number of gyms on your first Pokémon’s back. While its mix of Fire and Fighting-type moves have helped a lot so far, though, they aren’t going to help nearly as much in this instance.
Cinderace doesn’t have the worst type disadvantage, but what makes it struggle is its thin and fragile body. Each opponent has at least one move that it’ll be weak to and many are resistant to physical damage, meaning most of your powerful attacks are not going to be anywhere near as effective as they’ve been elsewhere. This gym is a time for your other partners to finally shine instead.
1 Bring: Excadrill
While Flygon might be a great Pokémon to evade Raihan’s strengths, Excadrill can make Sandstorms his weakness. This Pokémon has two possible abilities called Sand Rush and Sand Force, which can respectively increase its speed stat or certain damaging moves when there’s a Sandstorm in play.
When combined with Excadrill’s already-massive Attack and Speed, this can help Excadrill take down each of Raihan’s Pokémon single-handedly. While normally you would need to risk a turn or slot in your team to set that Sandstorm up, your opponent in this gym battle does it for you and can make this battle exceptionally short.
NEXT: Which Pokémon Gym Leader Are You Based On Your Zodiac Type?
