Raikou (Pokémon)

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000 #{{{prevnum}}}: Blissey
Pokémon
#{{{nextnum}}}: Entei 000
Raikou
ライコウ Raikou
#243
243Raikou.png
Artwork from GSC
Type
Electric '
Category
Thunder Pokémon
Ability
Pressure
Exp. at Lv. 100
1,250,000
Regional Pokédex numbers
Johto
#238
Hoenn
#378
Sinnoh
Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "?".
Regional Browser numbers
Height
6'3"
Imperial
1.9 m
Metric
Weight
392.4 lbs.
Imperial
178 kg
Metric
Dex color
Yellow
Catch rate
3 (0.4%)
Body style
BodyUnknown.png BodyUnknown.png
Blue-Striped
Footprint
 F243.png   F487O.png
Blue-Striped
Gender ratio
Gender unknown
Breeding
No eggs group 1 cycles
(255 minimum steps)
EV yield
HP
0
Atk
0
Def
0
Sp.Atk
0
Sp.Def
0
Speed
0
Base Exp.: 216 Battle Exp.: 2161*

Raikou (Japanese: ライコウ Raikou) is a Legendary Electric-type Pokémon. First appearing in the Generation II Games, it is--along with Entei and Suicune--one of the Legendary Beasts created by Ho-oh after the burning of Ecruteak Tower.

Raikou comes with the Ability Pressure, which causes the foe to use two PP instead of one each time it uses a move.

Raikou does not evolve, and no Pokémon evolves into it.

Biology

Physiology

Raikou is a yellow tiger-like creature with black stripes that resemble lightning bolts and a white under-side. Raikou has a skinny, light-blue tail with a star-shaped formation at the end. Raikou has appears to have a purple cape that is supposedly made of thunderclouds. Most of Raikou's face is white with a light-blue "X" on its face and a grey crest on its forehead. Raikou has red eyes and long fangs in its upper jaws.

Gender differences

Raikou is a genderless species.

Special abilities

Raikou has the ability to shoot bolts of lightning from the rain clouds on it's back. Raikou can also attack using its fangs and has partial mental powers.

Behavior

Raikou are normally distrustful of humans due to the fact that humans have tried to capture the Ledgendary Beast of Thunder for many centuries. Raikou tend to show up either when there is thunderstorm or when other Electric-type Pokémon are in danger.

Habitat

As a member of the Ledgendary Beast Trio, Raikou is constantly on the move and seems to lack any set place where they show up.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

In the anime

Raikou has two appearances in the anime. The first is in Houndoom's Special Delivery, where Togepi and a Houndoom spot him before he disappears into the skies. He also appears in the Pokémon Chronicles episode, The Legend of Thunder!

The Mauville City Gym Leader Wattson owns two Raikou robots.

In the manga

Pokémon Special

Raikou was awakened by Yellow along with its two counterparts, and the three raced around Kanto and Johto looking for trainers to help them defeat the Mask of Ice to free Ho-oh. Raikou eventually pairs up with Lt. Surge, and later Gold.

Anabel also owns a Raikou in the Battle Frontier saga. It is not certain if it is the same Raikou as the one that befriended Gold. Raikou is more powerful than other Electric-type Pokémon in the manga because billowing thunder clouds follow it everywhere, allowing it to perform powerful attacks more quickly than regular Electric Pokémon.

In the TCG

Other appearances

Super Smash Brothers Melee

When released from a Poké Ball, Raikou releases a powerful Spark attack that electrocutes any opponents that get caught in it.

Pokédex entries

Game Pokédex
Pokémon Gold The rain clouds it carries let it fire thunderbolts at will. They say that it desended with lightning.
Pokémon LeafGreen
Pokémon Silver A Pokémon that races across the land while barking a cry that sounds like crashing thunder.
Pokémon Crystal This rough Pokémon stores energy in its body, then sweeps across the land, shooting off electricity.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Raikou embodies the speed of lightning. The roars of this Pokémon send shock waves shuddering through the air and shake the ground as if lightning bolts had come crashing down.
Pokémon Emerald Raikou embodies the speed of lightning. Its roars send shock waves shuddering through the air and ground as if lightning bolts were crashing down.
Pokémon FireRed This Pokémon races across the land while barking a cry that sounds like crashing thunder.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl It is said to have landed together with a thunder. It is able to make thunder from the rain cloud on its back.

Game locations

This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
Generation I
Red Blue
None Trade
Blue (Japan)
None Trade
Yellow
None Trade
Generation II
Gold Silver
One Roaming Johto
Crystal
One Roaming Johto
Generation III
Ruby Sapphire
None Trade
Emerald
None Trade
FireRed LeafGreen
One Roaming Kanto
Colosseum
One Shadow Pokémon Laboratory (Shadow)
XD
None Trade
Generation IV
Diamond Pearl
None Pal Park
Platinum
None Trade
HeartGold SoulSilver
None Trade
Pal Park
None
Pokéwalker
None
Generation V
Black White
None Trade
Black 2 White 2
None Trade
Dream World
None
Generation VI
X Y
None Trade



In side games

Game Location
Pokémon Trozei! Random Agent Cards
Mr. Who's Den
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Lightning Field (30F)
Pokémon Ranger Fiore Temple

Base stats

Stat Range
At Lv. 50 At Lv. 100
90
150 - 197 290 - 384
85
81 - 150 157 - 295
75
72 - 139 139 - 273
115
108 - 183 211 - 361
100
94 - 167 184 - 328
115
108 - 183 211 - 361
Total:
580
Other Pokémon with this total
  • Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and (if applicable) a hindering nature.
  • Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and (if applicable) a helpful nature.

Type effectiveness

Under normal battle conditions in Generation V, this Pokémon is:
Damaged
normally by:
Normal
Fighting
Flying ½×
Poison
Ground
Rock
Bug
Ghost
Steel ½×
Fire
Water
Grass
Electric ½×
Psychic
Ice
Dragon
Dark
None
Weak to:
Normal
Fighting
Flying ½×
Poison
Ground
Rock
Bug
Ghost
Steel ½×
Fire
Water
Grass
Electric ½×
Psychic
Ice
Dragon
Dark
None
Immune to:
Normal
Fighting
Flying ½×
Poison
Ground
Rock
Bug
Ghost
Steel ½×
Fire
Water
Grass
Electric ½×
Psychic
Ice
Dragon
Dark
None
Resistant to:
Normal
Fighting
Flying ½×
Poison
Ground
Rock
Bug
Ghost
Steel ½×
Fire
Water
Grass
Electric ½×
Psychic
Ice
Dragon
Dark
None

Learnset

Template:Learnset intro

By leveling up

Game Generation II Generation III Generation IV
Start Bite
Leer
Bite
Leer
Bite
Leer
8     Thundershock
11 Thundershock Thundershock  
15     Roar
21 Roar Roar  
22     Quick Attack
29     Spark
31 Quick Attack Quick Attack  
36     Reflect
41 Spark Spark  
43     Crunch
50     Thunder Fang
51 Reflect Reflect  
57     Discharge
61 Crunch Crunch  
64     Extrasensory
71 Thunder Thunder Thunder
78     Calm Mind
81   Calm Mind  


By TM/HM

Game Generation II Generation III Generation IV
TM02 Headbutt    
TM03 Curse    
TM04   Calm Mind Calm Mind
HM05 Roar Roar Roar
TM06 Toxic Toxic Toxic
TM07 Zap Cannon    
TM08 Rock Smash    
TM09 Psych Up    
TM10 Hidden Power Hidden Power Hidden Power
TM11 Sunny Day Sunny Day Sunny Day
TM13 Snore    
TM15 Hyper Beam Hyper Beam Hyper Beam
TM16     Light Screen
TM17 Protect Protect Protect
TM18 Rain Dance Rain Dance Rain Dance
TM20 Endure    
TM21 Frustration Frustration Frustration
TM23 Iron Tail Iron Tail Iron Tail
TM24   Thunderbolt Thunderbolt
TM25 Thunder Thunder Thunder
TM27 Return Return Return
TM28 Dig Dig Dig
TM30     Shadow Ball
TM31 Mud Slap    
TM32 Double Team Double Team Double Team
TM33   Reflect Reflect
TM34 Swagger Shock Wave Shock Wave
TM35 Sleep Talk    
TM37 Sandstorm Sandstorm Sandstorm
TM39 Swift    
TM42   Facade Facade
TM43 Detect Secret Power Secret Power
TM44 Rest Rest Rest
TM57     Charge Beam
TM58     Endure
TM68     Giga Impact
TM70     Flash
TM73     Thunder Wave
TM82     Sleep Talk
TM83     Natural Gift
TM87     Swagger
TM90     Substitute
HM01 Cut Cut Cut
HM04 Strength Strength Strength
HM05 Flash Flash  
HM06   Rock Smash Rock Smash
HM08     Rock Climb

By breeding

By tutoring

Special moves

Evolution

Template:EvoChart Box

Trivia

  • Raikou is the only Pokémon in the anime whose image on the Pokédex was of stylized art rather than Ken Sugimori's official artwork for it.
  • In the 4kids dub of the anime, Raikou's name is frequently mispronounced as rai-kuu rather than rai-ko.
  • Raikou's sprites in Pokémon Gold and Silver, portrayed it as having an orange cape and lacked the four-point star on its face. This was corrected in Pokémon Crystal.

Origin

Name origin

Raikou's appearance resembles the ancient creature known as the sabretooth tiger. The name in Japanese could be taken to mean 雷光, raikou, lightning. This Pokémon is also based on a demon of Japanese lore, the 雷獣 raijū. It may also be a combination of the Japanese word for thunder and the Japanese word for lightning.

In other languages

External links

000 #{{{prevnum}}}: Blissey
Pokémon
#{{{nextnum}}}: Entei 000
Project Pokédex logo.png This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.