How to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO 5-star raids

Players wishing to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO 5-star raids would be happy to know that the feat is possible. The creature returns to Gyms around you starting 10 am local time on February 17, 2025. It will stick around until 10 am local time on February 24. It will also appear in the Raid Hour on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, from 6 - 7 pm local time. During this time you can take it down on your own as long as you have the appropriate counter and follow the correct strategy.

This article covers everything you need to know to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO 5-star raids.

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Best team and strategy to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO 5-star raids

Xerneas Solo (Tackle/Giga Impact), Snow Weather byu/xRage7243 inTheSilphRoad

As displayed by u/xRage7243 on The Silph Road subreddit, you need a team of six Dusk Mane Necrozma to achieve the feat. Their team consisted of variants of this creature with the following level and IV specifications:

• 4,634 CP at Level 50 and 15/15/15 IVs
• 4,614 CP at Level 50 and 15/13/15 IVs
• 4,624 CP at Level 50 and 15/14/15 IVs
• 4,614 CP at Level 50 and 15/13/15 IVs
• 4,324 CP at Level 45 and 15/12/15 IVs
• 4,036 CP at Level 40 and 15/12/15 IVs

All of them had Metal Claw and Sunsteel Strike as their primary movesets. The trainer used a strategy where they let all their attackers reach low health but switched out into the next Dusk Mane before the previous one fainted. This way they saved on Revives. Once the sixth attacker was about to faint, the trainer paused the battle to heal up the team.

Notably, Xerneas had Tackle and Giga Impact as its moveset. However, this strategy can be applied to movesets with Zen Headbutt as well. Moonblast and Giga Impact are the only ones out of raid boss' Charged Moves that Dusk Mane Necrozma resists. Therefore, attempting to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO will work best when the boss knows some combination of these four moves.

This trainer had six high-leveled Dusk Mane Necrozma with Sunsteel Strike — which might not be the case for most casual players. However, if you wish to solo defeat Xerneas in Pokemon GO raids, you can do so with just one or two level 50 Dusk Manes.

In all cases, the fight will be extremely close, with only a second or two to spare at most. Therefore, playing in an area with stable internet and on a phone that has minimum to no lag is highly recommended.

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Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters
• Team GO Rocket Grunts
• Pokemon GO Evolution Calculator