Is Xerneas with Fast Attack Geomancy good in Pokemon GO PvP?

Pokemon GO Fest 2023 brought back the Fairy-type Box Legendary, Xerneas, to the game in August. The critter was exclusively available in five-star raids in Osaka and London from August 4-6, 2023, during the City Experience part of the event. After that, the Legendary Pokemon has been made globally available to the player base from 10 AM local time on August 16 to 10 AM local time on August 23. After that, Xerneas will again be available from August 27 to September 1.

As per the official announcement by Niantic, Xerneas caught during this time period will know the Fast Attack Geomancy. This is the signature move of Xerneas in the main series games.

Most signature moves perform well in the PvP scene of the game, so many players wonder if Xerneas with Geomancy will be good in the Pokemon GO Battle League. The straight answer to that is yes. This article will give you an in-depth analysis of why it is good and how you can get it.

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Is Geomancy Xerneas worth it in Pokemon GO Battle League?

Xerneas in Pokemon anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Xerneas' Fast Attack options in Pokemon GO before August 2023 included Tackle and Zen Headbutt. Tackle does 3 damage per turn (DPT) and generates 3 energy per turn (EPT), while Zen Headbutt does 2.66 DPT and generates 2 EPT.

Therefore, the only viable option for the critter was Tackle, which could do decent damage while generating energy at a moderate rate. Unfortunately, the only Fairy-type Charged Attack that Xerneas learns is Moonblast, which takes a lot of energy to charge.

Xerneas also doesn't learn other spammable Charged Attacks to bait out shields. This makes the critter dependent on doing heavy damage with fewer Charged Attacks.

The arrival of Geomancy changes things to a great extent. When boosted by STAB, this Fast Attack does 1.596 DPT and generates energy at an insanely fast rate of 4.33 EPT. This helps the critter reach its preferred Charged Attacks, Moonblast, Close Combat, or Thunder incredibly fast.

For comparison, Zacian with Snarl does 0.064 additional damage per turn while generating the same amount of energy. While Zacian outclassed Xerneas by a large margin before the Life Pokemon got Geomancy, both are extremely closely matched right now.

Even in a head-to-head between the two, Xerneas comes out on top when both have an even number of shields or Xerneas has a shield advantage.

Overall, Xerneas getting Geomancy will boost its position in Pokemon GO Battle League's Master League battles following August 2023. One of the deadliest combinations would be a double Fairy team with Xerneas and Zacian. This could wreak havoc on opposing Dragon-type Pokemon, which are usually everywhere in this format.

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How to get Xerneas with Geomancy in Pokemon GO?

To get a Xerneas that knows Geomancy, you must defeat the creature in a five-star raid during August. Once you successfully catch it as a raid reward, you will see that the Xerneas in your collection knows Geomancy as the Fast Attack.

If you miss the raids in August, you can still teach a Xerneas caught before August Geomancy. For that, you need an Elite Fast TM, which lets you select the attack and access event-exclusive attacks like Geomancy.