Nihilego is one of the many Ultra Beasts that you can find in Pokemon Go. You’ll have a brief time to fight against this Pokemon and add it to your collection. You’ll want to prepare to battle it as if you were about to fight against a legendary Pokemon, despite being an Ultra Beast.
The way you go about finding Nihilego is to seek it out in five-star raids. I recommend working with a handful of other players to try to take it down and utilizing teamwork to defeat it. Here’s what you need to know about all of Nihilego’s weaknesses and how to beat it in Pokemon Go.
Related: All legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go
How to Beat Nihilego in Pokemon Go
Nihilego is a Rock and Poison-type Pokemon. It will be weak against Ground, Psychic, Steel, and Water-type moves but resistant against Bug, Fairy, Fire, Flying, Normal, and Poison-type moves. You primarily want to use Ground, Steel, or Water-type Pokemon against it, especially if you have a Steel-type Pokemon with high defense, capable of withstanding Nihilego’s powerful attacks.
I found that having a strong, defensible Pokemon as the first option to use against Nihilego has been the best option when fighting it in Pokemon Go. It’s a good idea to make sure every Pokemon on your team can use a Ground, Psychic, Steel, or Water-type moves to do the most damage against it, with Ground, Water, and Steel being some of the better attack options.
Best Pokemon counters to Nihilego in Pokemon Go
In our experience, the best Pokemon to counter Nihilego in Pokemon Go will be Garchomp, Metagross, and Swampert.
Garchomp is a Ground and Dragon-type Pokemon you can use in Pokemon Go. It’s one of the more powerful Ground types you can use, with an optimal attack and defense, ideal as a Pokemon to use against Nihilego in a raid. The best moveset for Garchomp to use for this raid includes the fast move Mud Shot and the charged moves Earth Power and Earthquake.
Next, we have Metagross, a Steel and Psychic-type Pokemon in Pokemon Go. Like Garchomp, Metagross has a heavy defense but an even stronger attack stat, making it a practical choice. Because it’s a Steel-type, Metagross can endure several types of attacks that Nihilego might throw at it. The best moveset for Metagross to use is the fast move Bullet Punch, and the charged moves Meteor Mash and Earthquake.
The final Pokemon we want to recommend is Swampert, a Ground and Water-type Pokemon. Swampert is weak against Grass-type moves, which Nihilego cannot use in Pokemon Go. You’ll want to use the strongest Swampert you have at your disposal, and while it might not be as powerful as Garchomp or Metagross, it has plenty of supereffective attacks to use in this raid. The best moveset to teach Swampert is the fast move Mud Shot and the charged moves Hydro Cannon and Earthquake.
You will need to use a full team of six Pokemon when battling against Nihilego. These are the other choices you’ll want to use when battling against Nihilego.
- Excadrill
- Flygon
- Golurk
- Groudon
- Landorus
- Mamoswine
- Mega Blastoise
- Mega Steelix
- Mewtwo
- Rhyperior
- Seismitoad
- Terrakion
After defeating Nihilego, you will have the chance to catch it and add it to your collection. We can confirm there is a chance for you to catch a shiny version of Nihilego after beating it in a battle. The chances of catching one is relatively low, so the more five-star encounters you go through, the better chances you have to find one while playing Pokemon Go.
