Rayquaza, The Sky High Pokémon. It flies in the ozone layer, way up high in the sky. Until recently, no one had ever seen it. It lived for hundreds of millions of years in the earth's ozone layer, never descending to the ground. It appears to feed on water and particles in the atmosphere. It is said it would descend to the ground if Kyogre and Groudon were to fight.

Overview

Rayquaza is a powerhouse. No other way to describe it, really. It looks cool, and it hits hard. It isn't defensive; it is there for offense only. It hits hard. It has a huge movepool and amazing stats. It hits hard.

Ability

Air Lock: useful in ubers, due to the popularity of Kyogre and Groudon. Makes their abilities useless, basically.

Move Sets

Swords Dance

- Swords Dance
- Outrage / Dragon Claw
- Overheat / Earthquake
- Extremespeed
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Swords Dance boosts Rayquaza's already ridiculous Attack to obscene levels. Outrage is a murderous attack that hits most of the uber tier for neutral damage. It has amazing power, with the downside of confusion and being locked into the attack. That is why Dragon Claw is an option. Overheat is for Forretress and other Steels trying to absorb the Outrage, but Earthquake is an option as well. Extremespeed bypasses Rayquaza's average Speed and hits pretty hard with Swords Dance.

Dragon Dance

- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Overheat
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Dragon Dance boosts Rayquaza's amazing Attack and average Speed to awesome amounts. Outrage is Rayquaza's most powerful physical attack, but don't abuse it. Earthquake murders Dialga and other Steels, whereas Overheat is there to take out Forretress and Scizor.

Choice Band

- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Overheat
- Extremespeed
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) / Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Outrage is your standard powerhouse attack. Earthquake murders any Steels, with Overheat picking any of the other Steels up. Extremespeed works great with Choice Band as it requires no set up time and bypasses Rayquaza's Speed. Choice Band is only really worth it if you want immediate power rather than a turn set up time.

Choice Specs

- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse
- Earth Power
Item Attached: Choice Specs / Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Draco Meteor is a powerhouse of an attack, with a massive 140 base power. Fire Blast is there to murder any Steel types, and Dragon Pulse cleans up with a reliable Attack and high accuracy. Earth Power hits Heatran and Dialga for high damage, which is the main reason for it being on the set.

Choice Specs gives massive power with the only side effect being unable to change move. Life Orb lets you mix up the attacks at the cost of 10% health recoil, so pick your poison.

Mixed

- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Air Lock
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)

Mixed Rayquaza has the advantage of… being mixed. It means it can handle a lot more of the uber tier without risky prediction. Draco Meteor is your standard powerhouse attack. Fire Blast murders most Steel types. Outrage destroys any special walls that think you are pure special, and Extremespeed is a great priority move.

EVs and Nature:

Dragon Dance
Max Speed and max Attack for… maximum Speed and maximum Attack. There isn't a reason to be bulky, really, as all you want to do is hit hard. Jolly is an option.

Swords Dance
Again, max Attack and Speed, for the same reason. Jolly is an option.

Choice Band
Max Attack, max Speed. Not many reasons to run anything different. Jolly is an option.

Choice Specs
Same as the physical sets, just with Special Attack instead of Attack.

Mixed
Outspeeds neutral base, with max Special Attack to make sure Draco Meteor hits as hard as possible. Rest in Attack.

Other Options

Bulk Up, Thunder, Air Slash, Choice Scarf

Bulk Up is another option of raising Rayquaza's Attack, but making it bulky at the same time.

Thunder is an option to take down Kyogre.

Air Slash is an option on the Choice Specs set for STAB and neutrality.

Choice Scarf can be used to make Rayquaza into a revenge killer, but Extremespeed has that covered anyway.

Countering Rayquaza

Rayquaza hits obscenely hard, so countering it is tough. However, depending on the set, it can be handled. Any Special set is handled by Blissey, who is the boss of taking special hits. Physical sets hate Steel types like Dialga, Scizor, and Forretress. They just have to avoid Earthquake and Overheat. Rayquaza's Speed isn't ideal, so outspeeding it is easy, and then finishing it off with an Ice Beam or Dragon attack. Latios, Latias, Mewtwo and Darkrai can all revenge kill it well. Heatran can switch into most of Rayquaza's attacks, and hurt it with Dragon Pulse.

Locations in Games

Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Sky Pillar Colosseum/XD Trade from RSE Fire Red/Leaf Green Trade from RSE Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Trade from RSEHGSS HeartGold/SoulSilver Embedded Pillar

Animé Appearences

Rayquaza has had a few Animé Appearences. First, it appeared after being awoken by Deoxys. After that, one attacked a rocket that Ash & Co. were in after being trapped by a mean-spirited Togepi. The rest are cameos. Destiny Deoxys The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon Pokémon Ranger & The Temple of the Sea The Rise of Darkrai Episode 511: Malice in Wonderland! Episode 610: Where No Togepi Has Gone Before!