The best counters to use against Darkrai in Pokemon GO

Darkrai, known in the Pokedex as the Pitch-Black Pokemon, is a Dark-type Mythic Pokemon and is one of the most powerful of its type in Pokemon GO.

Darkrai has been confirmed by Niantic to appear as a five-star raid boss from October 22 to October 31 as part of Pokemon GO's Halloween event. Specifically, Darkrai will be appearing during the second leg of this event labeled "Ghoulish Pals," which means trainers may want to take some time to formulate a gameplan for taking on Darkrai in raids. Fortunately, as a mono Dark-type Pokemon, Darkrai has more than a few weaknesses.

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Pokemon GO: Top counter picks for taking on raid boss Darkrai

Darkrai possesses a total of three elemental weaknesses (Image via Niantic)

Pokemon GO trainers hoping to take on Darkrai in a raid will need to deal super effective damage, and plenty of it. Fortunately, Darkrai is weak to Fairy, Bug, and Fighting-type moves. If players use Pokemon utilizing these move types, they can hammer away at Darkrai's boosted HP. If trainers also match their Pokemon's type to the move type, they'll get a Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) to deal even more damage. Bring a few more trainers into the raid using the same strategy, and Darkrai becomes much more manageable in a fight.

Trainers looking for some great counter picks in Pokemon GO to defeat Darkrai swiftly can find a list of some of the top move and Pokemon options below:

Fast Moves

• Bug Bite (Bug-type)
• Low Kick (Fighting-type)
• Counter (Fighting-type)
• Charm (Fairy-type)
• Fury Cutter (Bug-type)

Charge Moves

• X-Scissor (Bug-type)
• Focus Blast (Fighting-type)
• Aura Sphere (Lucario only) (Fighting-type)
• Dynamic Punch (Fighting-type)
• Dazzling Gleam (Fairy-type)
• Play Rough (Fairy-type)
• Megahorn (Bug-type)
• Close Combat (Fighting-type)
• Bug Buzz (Bug-type)

Pokemon

• Mega Beedrill
• Mega Lopunny
• Mega Altaria
• Lucario
• Conkledurr
• Machamp
• Mega Gengar (using Focus Blast)
• Hariyama
• Zacian (Hero of Many Battles form)
• Togekiss
• Breloom
• Heracross
• Toxicroak
• Sirfetch'd
• Gardevoir
• Blaziken
• Emboar
• Ursaring (using Counter/Play Rough)
• Genesect
• Yanmega
• Granbull
• Pinsir
• Sylveon
• Pangoro
• Escavalier

Other options are certainly viable as well to counter Darkrai, and trainers are encouraged to find their top battle teams when taking the boss on. As long as they're keying in on its weaknesses against Fairy, Fighting, and Bug-type moves, the Pitch-Black Pokemon can be defeated with plenty of time to spare in the raid.