Best moveset for Raichu in Pokémon Go

While everyone loves Pikachu, not too many appreciate its evolved form, Raichu. In Pokémon Go, players probably use this Pokémon far more than anyone else did. It’s a solid Pokémon if you need an Electric-type when battling in any of the unique competitions as the Kanto Cup. While it might not be a top tier Pokémon, it can superb if you teach it the best moveset.

Raichu is an Electric-type Pokémon. It’s only weak to Ground-type moves, and it’s resistant against Electric, Flying, and Steel-type attacks. For PvP, Raichu has a maximum CP of 2,182, an attack of 164, a defense of 131, and a stamina of 134. For PvE and Pokémon raids, it has an attack of 193, a defense of 151, and a stamina of 155. Because of it’s lower CP range, you primarily want to use it in the Great League, or the more niche Battle League Cup competitions.

These are all of the moves Raichu can learn.

Fast moves

• Charm (Fairy-type) – 16 damage and 2 energy (5.3 damage per turn)
• Spark (Electric-type) – 4 damage and 4 energy (2 damage per turn)
• Thunder Shock (Electric-type) – 3 damage and 4.5 energy (1.5 damage per turn)
• Volt Switch (Electric-type) – 12 damage and 4 energy (3 damage per turn)

Charged moves

• Brick Break (Fighting-type) – 40 damage and 35 energy
• Skull Bash (Normal-type) – 130 damage and 75 energy (100% chance to increase user’s defense by one rank)
• Thunder (Electric-type) – 100 damage and 60 energy
• Thunder Punch (Electric-type) – 55 damage and 40 energy
• Wild Charge (Electric-type) – 100 damage and 45 energy (100% chance to lower user’s defense by two ranks)

For most Pokémon, the real decision of the best move boils down to picking out the charged moves. While those are important for Raichu, its fast move choice is equally important. You don’t have to think about using charm. It does quite a bit of damage, but its low energy generation holds it back. Spark and thunder shock are also good choices, and of all the fast moves available to Raichu, thunder shock generates the most energy, but volt switch does great damage and provides a lot of energy. If you want Raichu to use its charged moves primarily, we recommend thunder shock. But if you want to soften your opponent up with a powerful fast move, you want to go with volt switch. Of the two, we recommend thunder shock over volt switch.

For Raichu’s charged move, the decision is much easier. You want to go with the high damage, low energy cost choices. You can toss out skull bash and thunder. Those are all above 50 energy, despite doing decent damage. Wild charge is the best move for Raichu, despite it lowering its defenses every time you use it. But it’s worth it. For the second choice, we recommend going with thunder punch.

The best moveset to take on as many Pokémon as Raichu can in the Great League is to use all Electric-type moves. The best moveset consists of thunder shock for its fast move and thunder punch and wild charge for its charged moves. That means Raichu is best used against Flying and Water-types, but it’s extremely effective at battling those Pokémon. Just make sure it doesn’t have to battle against Dragon, Electric, Grass, or Ground-type Pokémon, and you can effectively use Raichu in your Pokémon Go team.