How to Beat and Catch Virizion in Pokemon GO

The dainty Sword of Justice, Virizion, is appearing in five star raids now.

Pokémon Go’s December events kicked into full swing this week. The legendary Swords of Justice already made some appearances this year. This month, it’s Virizion’s time to shine in five star raid battles.

If you’re not a seasoned Pokémon veteran, Virizion is one of the four Swords of Justice legendaries that first appeared in Pokémon Black and White in 2012. The Swords of Justice legendaries are a nod to The Three Musketeers novel, and subsequently are designed around a sword and fighting them. All four have a Fighting type as their secondary.

How to beat Virizion

Virizion will begin appearing in five star level raids on Dec. 17 at 1pm PST. In order to defeat and catch it, trainers will need to develop a strategy catered to its typing and stats. Virizion is a Grass and Fighting type. This gives it a massive weakness to Flying type attacks. Use this to your advantage and get your most powerful Flying type Pokémon ready.

If you’re struggling to find a Flying type on your team, anything that Grass type or Fighting type Pokémon are weak to will still take a good chunk out of Virizion’s health bar. Be mindful of both types. For instance, Ice may be an effective type against Grass, but will shatter to Fighting type moves so it’s best not to use an Ice type Pokémon against Virizion.

Good type advantages against Virizion include:

• Flying

• Fire

• Psychic

• Fairy

According to Bulbapedia, Ice type does double damage to Virizion. If you wish to include some Ice types in your line up, be wary of any fighting moves Virizion may have.

Avoid bringing Pokémon weak to Grass or Fighting moves. Such as Dark, Ground, or Water types, to name a few.

Now that you have your team ready, you’ll need friends. Virizion will only appear in five-star raids. You cannot fight this thing alone. If you’re surrounded by only small, local Poké Stops, it’s time to head into town or get some friends together. If you opt for your friends, you will need a lot of them. One or two will not work. Five star raids demand the biggest group you can muster.

If you have a small group, you will struggle to defeat Virizion, even with the best type advantages and high CP Pokémon. If you find yourself in a large group, Virizion will fall quickly. For extra Poké Balls, consider trying to get into a group made up of mostly your team (Valor, Instinct, or Mystic).

How to catch Virizion

Virizion can only be caught once it’s defeated. The battle will end and it will progress to the catching stage. Based on how well your team performed in the battle, you will be given Poké Balls. The better your team performed, the more Poké Balls you will get, and the more chances to catch Virizion.

The catching process is the same as catching any Pokémon in Pokémon Go. Add a berry, aim, throw the ball, and hope that luck is on your side. Even with all excellent throws and berries, it is still possible for Virizion to get away. In the event it escapes, you will need to find another raid and battle for it.

Virizion is appearing in five-star raids now.