Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's story may be completed, but the extra raids don’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. For Early February, we have a seven-star Tera Empoleon with the Ice-type. This Sinnoh starter is a little late to the winter festivities, but it’s still a real threat for players.

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Empoleon’s been revamped with a new hidden ability to better suit its moveset, and between its bulk and its ability to hit hard, Empoleon’s rather tough. It has the honor of being one of the raids where it’s better to play online than try it solo. But, a determined trainer can still make this raid Empoleon’s Waterloo with a good strategy.

Empoleon Raid Event Information

Empoleon is available until Sunday, February 4, 2024, at 11:59 PM UTC and will return from 12:00 AM UTC on Friday, February 9, 2024, to Sunday, February 11, 2024 11:59 UTC.

When beating Empoleon the first time, you'll receive the TM for Ice Beam and an Ability Patch. Empoleon will have the Mightiest Mark; youcan only catch it once per save file.

Empoleon’s Kit

Empoleon’s biggest threat is its new hidden ability, Competitive, which boosts its Sp. Atk by two stages every time any stat is lowered.

Move

Type

Category

Power

Effects

Snowscape

Ice

Status

-

Creates snow that raises the Defense of Ice-types.

Blizzard

Ice

Special

110

Has a chance to freeze your Pokemon, and never misses in snow.

Ice Beam

Ice

Special

90

Has a chance to freeze your Pokemon.

Flash Cannon

Steel

Special

80

Has a chance to lower your Pokemon's Special Defense.

Surf

Water

Special

90

No secondary effects.

Grass Knot

Grass

Special

-

Damage is determined by how heavy the opposing Pokemon is.

Iron Defense

Steel

Status

-

Raises Defense by two stages.

Competitive makes this very hard to solo, as most NPC teams will have at least one move that will drop Empoleon’s stats and make the fight very quickly unmanageable.

Empoleon is also very physically bulky. Snowscape will give it a Defense boost during the first five turns, and it uses Iron Defense just before it hits half health, so it’s best to bring a Special Attacker with good Special Defense.

Best Pokemon To Solo Empoleon

Tinkaton's Steel-type, bulk, and access to the move Skill Swap makes it the best choice for soloing Empoleon. Make sure your Tinkaton is IV trained and use the following build:

Close

Level

Tera

Held Item

Ability

Nature

Moves

EVs

100

Steel

Shell Bell

Any

Modest

Flash Cannon, Fake Tears, Skill Swap

252 Sp. Atk, 252 Sp. Def, 6 HP

If you want to solo Empoleon, the first thing you have to do is reset the NPC trainers until you get a team that doesn’t include Tauros, Staraptor, or Arcanine.

To reset for NPCs, you have to select "Challenge as a group" and then start the raid without anyone joining. This will allow you to get new NPC trainers. Once you have a team you like, use "Challenge alone" to keep them.

Once you’ve got a team that won’t hold you back, use Skill Swap on your first turn. Empoleon cannot reset this, so you won’t have to worry about Competitive for the rest of the fight.

At this point, you will probably faint, but once you come back, start using Flash Cannon and Terastalize as soon as you can.

Use a PP Up or a PP Max on Flash Cannon to ensure you have enough uses.

With the Shell Bell keeping you healed and Flash Cannon, you should get through the shield before Empoleon resets its own stats.

Once you're down to about a quarter of the timer bar, Empoleon will start using moves back to back.

Once Empoleon removes negative effects from itself, use Fake Tears twice, then continue spamming Flash Cannon until Empoleon is defeated.

Other Pokemon That Are Good Against Empoleon

These Pokemon aren’t capable of beating Empoleon solo, but if you’re in online raids or with friends, they fare very well.

Pokemon

Learnset

Usage

Tips

Mew

Skill Swap, Acid Spray, Light Screen, Bug Buzz/Snarl

Use Life Dew to keep your party healed, and use the rest of your moves to drop Empoleon’s stats. Run Steel Tera for the defensive boost.

Be careful as Mew is not very bulky, and will go down quickly if you're not focused on buffs.

Gallade

Skill Swap, Aura Sphere, Calm Mind, Life Dew

Gallade can hit hard with Aura Sphere, but doesn't have ways to quickly raise its stats.

Calm Mind has the benefit of raising both Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, however, and Life Dew for healing will allow for better longevity.

Gallade’s strong, but frail, and doesn't do well when splitting focus, so if you have a partner who can handle buffs and healing, Gallade is great.

Toxicroak

Swords Dance, Drain Punch

Toxicroak can’t learn Skill Swap, but it can boost its Attack with Swords Dance and keep itself healed with Drain Punch. If you have the Dry Skin ability, Empoleon can’t use Surf.

Paired with a support Pokemon to increase Special Defense or use Skill Swap, Toxicroak is a very effective attacker with Fighting Tera.

Gholdengo

Nasty Plot, Flash Cannon

Gholdengo is the Special version of Toxicroak. It’s a good attacker that can boost its Sp. Atk with Nasty Plot and hit Empoleon with a Steel Tera-boosted Flash Cannon.

Unfortunately Flash Cannon has a slight chance to drop Empoleon’s Special Defense, which will boost its Special Attack, making it risky.

If you can nullify Competitive, then Gholdengo can also use Metal Sound for more damage.

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