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Virizion is rare in Pokemon GO, but it is by no means a pushover, being one of Unova's fabled Swords of Justice and a solid Grass/Fighting-type Pokemon.
As an infrequent Raid Boss, Virizion is in the higher tiers of raids and takes more than a few trainers' cooperation to take down, even with favorable type matchups from moves. That having been said, with the right weakness exploitation being used by the whole team of trainers, Pokemon GO's iteration of Virizion is still very beatable.
While Virizion has several weaknesses, there is one that stands out starkly from the rest.
Pokemon GO: Using Flying-type moves to beat Virizion
Due to its dual-type status, Virizion has six total type weaknesses that are super effective against it. Five of them deal 160% damage to it, but Flying-type attacks are even more super effective, dealing 256% damage.
This is due to Flying moves exploiting both of Virizion's type weaknesses as opposed to a singular one. However, if Pokemon GO players don't have Flying-type moves available, the types that can still deal super effective damage are:
- Fairy
- Fire
- Ice
- Poison
- Psychic
Fortunately, one of the top counters against Virizion isn't particularly difficult to obtain. Mega Pidgeot (ideally using the attacks Gust and Brave Bird) is one of the easiest Mega Evolved Pokemon to acquire in the game. Since Pidgeot itself is derived from evolving Pidgey, the evolution process is relatively simple. Pidgey can be found far and wide as a very common Pokemon to spawn during normal operation of the game.
The difficult part, however, will be accruing Mega Energy to evolve Pidgeot for the raid. This often requires beating a Mega Pidgeot in a raid of its own, or walking with Pidgeot as a buddy if the player has previously mega-evolved it.
Lastly, there are periodic Special Research Tasks during Pokemon GO's events that can reward Mega Energy. These are the parameters currently put in place by Niantic, but the devs are always implementing new changes.
For players not keen on using Mega Pidgeot in their raid team specifically, there are a large number of alternatives that can get the job done with Flying-type moves as well. Recommended Pokemon and movesets include:
- Moltres with Wing Attack and Sky Attack
- Charizard with Wing Attack and Blast Burn (extra effective if mega-evolved into Mega Charizard Y)
- Rayquaza with Air Slash and Hurricane
- Braviary with Air Slash and Brave Bird
- Tornadus with Air Slash and Hurricane
- Staraptor with Wing Attack and Brave Bird
- Unfezant with Air Slash and Sky Attack
With a coordinated team exploiting Virizion's most glaring weakness, defeating it should be a straightforward process. Then Pokemon GO's dedicated trainers can work on capturing the Legendary Pokemon itself.
Read More: Where to find Fairy-type Pokemon in Pokemon GO
