Solgaleo is one of the two incredibly unique Legendaries of the Alola region. This dual psychic/steel type Pokemon is technically the only Legendary that can evolve and is the spotlight of Sun and Moon’s climax.
About Solgaleo
| First appearance in anime | In the Pokemon Sun and Moon series episode ‘Revealing the Stuff of Legend!’ |
| First appearance in game | Sun and Moon |
| Region | Alola |
| Evolution | Cosmog-->Cosmoem--> Solgaleo |
| 1st Evo level | 43 |
| 2nd Evo level | 53 |
Solgaleo’s Base Stats
| HP | 137 |
| Attack | 137 |
| Defense | 107 |
| Sp. Attack | 113 |
| Sp. Defense | 89 |
| Speed | 97 |
Appearance
Solgaleo is a large, lion-like Pokemon, made of white, gold, and red metals. It has striking blue eyes and a sun shaped metal mane which extends as spikes outward into points. It has a lion-like tail which ends in a small black ball with a golden rim.
Behavior
Solgaleo is known as the emissary of the sun or as the ‘beast that devours the sun.’ It lives in another world, presumably Ultra Space, as it can use its psychic powers to open portals to the alien world. This Pokemon has such a link to the sun that it can affect Rockruff to evolve into its Midday form with its solar energy.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Solgaleo has an incredible psychic/steel dual typing, making its matchups complicated. It is completely immune to poison type moves and is strong against normal, flying, rock, steel, grass, ice, dragon, and fairy type moves and takes half damage from them. It is extra strong against psychic type moves and takes quarter damage from them. Its weaknesses are far less numerous, it takes double damage from ground, ghost, fire, and dark type moves.
Shiny Solgaleo
Shiny Solgaleo is the rare, recolored version of Solgaleo. Shiny Solgaleo is very different from its normal form, being almost entirely red. Shiny Solgaleo retains its golden accents and striking blue eyes but the rest of it has turned to the red metal which is only in its normal form in small pieces. Shiny Solgaleo also has those old red accents turn purple instead.
Best Moveset for Solgaleo
Offensive Speed Up: Solgaleo’s biggest weakness is its speed stat so running it with a Choice Scarf to boost its speed will make up for it. Otherwise, all it needs is strong attacking moves like Sunsteel Strike and Earthquake to be ready to take down whole enemy teams of Pokemon.
| Sunsteel Strike | Earthquake |
| Flare Blitz | Stone Edge/Wild Charge/Toxic |
Powerful Trick Room: This set is based around the move Trick Room, which reverses turn order in battles. This means Solgaleo’s low speed becomes a strength and lets it move first. Overall though, this set is less offensive and has some more utility with the addition of Protect.
| Sunsteel Strike | Trick Room |
| Superpower | Protect |
How to Catch Solgaleo in Pokemon Go
Solgaleo is not yet in Pokemon Go and due to its unique evolution mechanic, it's unclear how Pokemon Go will implement it. It may appear as a raid boss or it may be required to evolve Cosmog captured in the wild. It's impossible to know though due to how different it is to other legendaries.
Explainer Video
Trivia
- Solgaleo’s attack and special attack are inverted compared to Lunalia’s.
- Of all steel types, Solgaleo has the highest base HP stat.
- Solgaleo’s Japanese name was revealed when Nintendo obtained its trademark and a twitter bot posted the trademark claim.
FAQs
Who is stronger Solgaleo or Lunala?
Solgaleo and Lunalia have comparable stats and type matchups, meaning they are very close to being on even ground. They even have moves which are super effective against each other which makes direct matchups even more even.
Is Solgaleo an Ultra Beast?
Solgaleo is defined as a legendary Pokemon, which is distinctly different to Ultra Beasts but Solgaleo has such a strong connection to Ultra Space that it's theorized that it's actually an Ultra Beast.
Conclusion
Solgaleo is obviously strong due to being legendary but it's incredibly unique. Not only is its typing rare, but it's one of only two true legendary Pokemon which technically have an evolutionary line. And beyond that, it's just a good addition to a powerful team.
