Pokemon Go Genesect Raid Guide: Best Counters, Weaknesses, Raid Hours, And More Tips

Genesect is coming back to a Pokemon Go Gym near you for a limited-time appearance in five-star raid battles. This Mythical Pokemon returns with a new version of its signature move, Techno Blast, along with Pokemon Go’s Bug Out event. We haven’t seen Genesect in raids in Pokemon Go in close to a year, so new players and those who might be coming back from a break are surely itching to add this powerful Bug and Steel-type Pokemon to their collections, and veterans can benefit from its newest Drive. Here's everything you need to know about the Genesect Raids in Pokemon Go.

Genesect Raid Schedule

Genesect has already begun appearing as the sole five-star raid boss as of 10 AM local time on August 10 and will remain in five-star raids until the same time on August 18. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Genesect raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby. Genesect caught during this time will have the Chill Drive, allowing it to know the Ice-type version of its exclusive move, Techno Blast. Techno Blast is notable among exclusive moves because the Drive a Genesect has currently cannot be switched, so even with an Elite Charged TM the type of Techno Blast cannot be changed (and Genesect with no Drive still cannot learn Techno Blast at all).

Your best chance to find a Genesect raid (or a lot of them) is during the two Raid Hours in which the Paleozoic Pokemon will be featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. The two Raid Hours that will occur during Genesect’s tenancy in five-star raids will be August 10 and 17. As always, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely.

Can I Catch a Shiny Genesect?

Although Genesect’s shiny form was released in 2020, only the version without a Drive can currently be encountered as shiny. That means the current Chill Drive Genesect cannot be shiny, but you can still challenge it in Raid battles to get access to the new version of its Techno Blast attack and to earn Candy and Candy XL to be able to power up any of the Genesect you may have caught.

Genesect Weaknesses and Counters

Genesect is a Steel and Bug-type Pokemon. This means it only has one weakness, but it’s a double weakness to Fire-type attacks. Some recommended Fire-type Pokemon include:

• Megas: Mega Charizard Y, Mega Houndoom, Mega Charizard X
• Top Counters: Apex Shadow Ho-Oh, Shadow Moltres, Shadow Entei, Reshiram
• Solid Budget Counters: Chandelure, Darmanitan, Blaziken, Flareon

A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage.

Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.

Types to Avoid

Genesect’s Steel and Bug-type attacks like Metal Claw, Fury Cutter, Magnet Bomb, and X-Scissor will deal super-effective damage to Rock, Fairy, Ice, Psychic, Dark, and Grass-type Pokemon. Also keep in mind that Genesect’s typing provides it many resistances, including to Normal, Poison, Bug, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type attacks. Stay away from these types of Pokemon.

Usefulness

Should you raid Genesect beyond entering its new form in your Pokédex? Genesect is the third-strongest non-shadow, non-Mega Bug type attacker for raids. That being said, Bug isn’t the most useful type for raids, with types like Dark and Ghost generally being superior against Psychic types, Fighting and Fairy surpassing it against Dark types, and Fire and Flying being the best choices against Grass-type raid bosses.

Genesect also doesn’t typically see much play in the Go Battle League at any level. Raid level Genesect cannot be encountered under 1500 CP to be eligible in Great League, and in Ultra and Master Leagues, many other Pokemon perform at a higher level than Genesect. That being said, of all the forms of Genesect, Chill Drive seems to have the most use in Master League, being able to beat things like Dragonite, Yveltal, and Zekrom that other Drives tend to struggle against.