Pokemon GO: Best counters for Palkia

Palkia and its counterpart, Dialga, are some of the most oppressive forces in Pokemon GO's Battle League. With the recent conclusion of the promotional event to celebrate the release of Pokemon Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, the usage rate of these legendary Pokemon have spiked.

Debuting in Pokemon Pearl for the Nintendo DS, Palkia appeared front and center on the case for the game. On top of also appearing on the starting screen when the game is turned on, Palkia was a major plot point in Pokemon Pearl as the main antagonist, Cyrus, leader of Team Galactic, wanted to use Palkia's power to create his perfect world. Cyrus almost succeeds until his plans are foiled by Sinnoh's Lake Trio and Palkia is either defeated or captured by the player.

With Palkia's increase in usage, many players need to know how to effectively counter Palkia in Pokemon GO. To figure this out, players will need to know about Palkia's typing and stats in order to find a weakness that can be easily capitalized on.

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Taking on Palkia in Pokemon GO

Palkia as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The first thing to know when challenging Palkia is its unique typing. Palkia is a Water and Dragon-type Pokemon, a type combination it only shares with Kingdra in Pokemon GO. This typing is only weak to two types of attacks: Fairy and Dragon. Palkia only resists Steel, Fire, and other Water-type attacks.

Palkia's stats also reveal a possible strategy to be used against it. Palkia's weakest stat is its stamina sitting at 189, which is considered average among more common Pokemon. However, this is quite low for legendary Pokemon. This means that Palkia is weak to sets for Fairy type Pokemon that focus on charging energy as fast as possible so they can rapidly fire off charged attacks.

Gardevoir and Togekiss are the best Pokemon to use for taking on Palkia in Pokemon GO thanks to their great defensive utility as well as their access to great Fairy-type attacks like Dazzling Gleam and Charm. Fairy-type Pokemon are recommended over Dragon-type Pokemon as Palkia's optimal movesets are solely comprised of Dragon-type attacks, which do minimal damage to Fairy types but deal super-effective damage to other Dragon-type Pokemon.

When it comes to dealing with Palkia in Pokemon GO, out-defending it while charging energy is the best strategy to use, thanks to its relatively low bulk. Fairy-type Pokemon like Togekiss and Gardevoir have the capability to outlast and mow down Palkia thanks to their defenses and powerful Fairy-type attacks.