How to get Alolan Raichu In Pokemon GO

Prior to Generation VII, Raichu was often considered the black sheep of the Pikachu evolutionary line. It wasn’t nearly as cute and marketable as Pikachu or Pichu, and thanks to Lt. Surge’s mean-spirited Raichu in the anime, a lot of kids simply weren’t a fan of it. With the release of the Alola Dex, though, we got the Alolan Raichu, which was a big improvement. It had a much cuter, softer face, and its surfing, floating tail was a much more memorable gimmick. I bet you’d love to have one for yourself, yeah? Well, here’s how to get Alolan Raichu in Pokémon GO.

The tricky thing about Alolan Raichu is that unlike vanilla Raichu, you can’t obtain one by evolving a Pikachu. Alolan Raichu is, for all intents and purposes, a completely standalone Pokémon. The obvious solution, then, would be to go looking for it in the wild, right? Well, unfortunately, that ain’t gonna fly either. For whatever reason, Alolan Raichus simply don’t spawn in the wild.

How to get Alolan Raichu In Pokemon GO

When Niantic first implemented Alolan Raichu into Pokémon GO, it was classified as a strictly Raid-only Pokémon, and sadly, this has not changed, at least at time of writing. The only way to catch an Alolan Raichu is to defeat one in a raid, then catch it afterwards. The good news is that as part of the Season of Legends’ Charge Up event, Alolan Raichu raids are up and running right now. Obviously, there’s no hard and fast way to make a specific Pokémon raid show up right next to you, but if you scope out the local raid spots for a while, one is bound to show up sooner or later.

As an Electric/Psychic type, Alolan Raichu has the following resistances: 

• Resistant to: Fighting, Steel, Electric, Psychic, Flying
• Weak to: Dark, Ground, Bug, Ghost

Weighing the balance between typing and potential DPS, your best choices for defeating an Alolan Raichu would be powerful Ghost types like Gengar or Chandelure. Both of these Pokémon can double up on Ghost moves, and neither are weak against anything in Alolan Raichu’s kit. If you’re lucky enough to have it, Darkrai is also an excellent choice, as its pure Dark typing will keep it safe while it utilizes Dark and Ghost moves.

The Charge Up event lasts until the end of March, so you’ve still got time to hunt down an Alolan Raichu if you haven’t yet. If you miss your opportunity, don’t worry; there’s a good chance we’ll see some Alolan-themed events once the Summer months roll around.