Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: How to Beat the Charizard Tera Raid

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet‘s Unrivaled Charizard Tera Raid Battle Event has finally arrived. While this raid allows you to finally catch a Charizard (and secure a few other rewards, you’ll have to beat that Charizard before you can add them to your roster. It turns out that’s easier said than done.

While this special raid version of Charizard isn’t the most difficult boss in Pokémon history, it can easily catch unprepared players by surprise and end the fight before it starts. That being the case, here’s a look at what Charizard brings to the fight and how to beat him.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Tera Charizard’s Type and Abilities

The Tera Charizard you’ll fight in this raid is a Dragon-type Pokémon that utilizes a variety of Dragon, Flying, and Fire-type moves. Specifically, here are the moves Charizard will use during the raid:

Overheat – Fire (Charizard opens every battle with this move)
Fire Blast – Fire
Hurricane – Flying
Tera Blast – Dargon
Dragon Pulse – Dragon
Sunny Day (Triggers Harsh Sunlight)
Inferno – Fire (Charizard automatically does this move whenever its shield is broken)

As a level 100 Pokémon (!), Charizard’s abilities really hurt. That’s especially true of his Fire-type attacks, which deal a massive amount of damage and are hard to counter. To make matters worse, Overheat and Inferno are pretty much impossible to avoid.

However, Charizard’s most powerful ability is actually Hurricane. There’s a pretty good chance that ability will confuse your Pokémon, which is bad news given that you’ll occasionally need to be able to react quickly to survive this fight.

Specifically, you’ll want to recover from Overheat as quickly as possible. That will allow you to keep pumping damage while looking out for Hurricane. Beyond that, you’ll want to watch out for Charizard’s shield (which goes up when he drops to 25% health) and be ready to recover from Inferno (which will trigger once the shield goes down). Again, much of this fight consists of you recovering from those unavoidable attacks and getting your damage in when you can.

The only other wrinkle to think about is the Sunny Day/Harsh Sunlight interaction. Those moves will increase the power of Charizard’s already powerful Fire abilities. While you can counter that move by using Rain Dance, that will make Charizard’s Hurricane ability even more accurate. If you’re confident in your overall health/healing abilities, you should be able to withstand the Sunny Day storm without trying the counter.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Best Pokémon Teams For the Tera Charizard Raid

This version of Charizard is technically a Dragon-type, which means you’ll want to bring strong Fairy Pokémon as a counter. Specifically, you’ll want either Azumarill or Sylveon.

As a Water/Fairy type, Azumarill is your best overall option. It’s practically built to counter Charizard, and its Play Rough and Belly Dance abilities are both especially useful in this battle. It can also learn Light Screen, which is an especially useful ability in the early moments of the fights. Otherwise, you’re just looking to make the most out of its natural strengths and lack of weaknesses.

Sylveon is a fascinating alternative. Their Fairy-type moves are among the strongest in the game, which is obviously a significant advantage against Dragon-type enemies. If you Tera this Pokémon at the right time and use a buffed version of its Hyper Beam ability, you can effectively one-shot Charizard. They also bring some powerful buffs/defensive abilities to the party, so it’s a good idea to bring one along if you’re playing with friends.

Speaking of parties, it is obviously much easier to beat Charizard if you fight him alongside some coordinated, real-life players. Generally speaking, a party of Azumarills and Sylveons will get the job done quickly. This site offers an interesting lineup of Pokémon that can help Sylveon one-shot Charizard with the right set-up, though you honestly shouldn’t struggle with this fight one way or another.