Best Pokemon for Hisuian Decidueye Tera Raid: how to beat the 7-Star Hisuian Decidueye event

Use these monsters in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Hisuian Decidueye raids

The Pokémon Company has now commenced the latest 7-star raid event for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, with a fun new twist on a previous raid event. This time, you’ll be tasked with taking down and catching Hisuian Decidueye, the Grass/Fighting-type variant of the classic Alolan starter Pokémon, as featured in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

This guide will give you everything you need to know about Hisuian Decidueye’s move set and the best counters in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

When does the Decidueye raid start?

It’s been a little while since we last had a 7-star raid event, but like past event raids, the Hisuian Decidueye raid will be taking place over two subsequent weekends. You can only catch Hisuian Decidueye once during this event, so if you miss out on the first weekend you’ll have to make sure you get it on the second.

Here are the dates for the 7-star Hisuian Decidueye raid:

• October 6 to October 8
• October 13 to October 15

7-Star Tera Raid Decidueye stats, moves - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

We don’t have the full details yet for Hisuian Decidueye’s raid event, but we’ve put our heads together and researched the Hisuian starter Pokémon to come up with our best bet for the moves and stats of Hisuian Decidueye 7-Star Tera Raid boss in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet:

The Mightiest Decidueye - Level 100

• Nature: Adamant
• Ability: Scrappy
• Tera-type: Grass
• Potential move set: Leaf Blade, Triple Arrows, Brave Bird, Bulk Up, Shadow Claw, Grassy Terrain, Leaf Storm, Swords Dance

Hisuian Decidueye is a little bit more dangerous than its Alolan counterpart, with more physical attack under its belt and a fairly wide move pool. Because of this, we have to be a little bit careful with our counters, since it’s got something that’s a little bit dangerous for most potential picks. Scrappy is a slightly frustrating ability, as it means we can’t rely on Ghost-type Pokemon to negate damage, but it’s nothing we can’t work around.

A Grass Tera typing means that H-Decidueye’s signature Triple Arrows will hit especially hard, getting a 2x boosted same-type tera boost. Triple Arrows is already a devastating move, with 90 base power, a boost to critical hit ratio, a chance to drop the defense of the defending Pokémon, and even a chance to flinch. It’s by far the scariest move in H-Decidueye’s arsenal, and one we have to be very careful of when planning counters.

It’s also running both Bulk Up and Swords Dance, and Grassy Terrain to boost its Grass-type moves. All of these can be worked around, as can the rest of its move set, which has the surprising combo of Brave Bird and Leaf Storm — the former of which can be a bit scary, but the latter of which is not really worth worrying about at all.

Because of its physical prowess, we need something with physical bulk, and given its use of Bulk Up, going with a special attacker is our best bet.

Best counters for Hisuian Decidueye - Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

With all we know about Hisuian Decidueye, we need something that can hit hard against Grass-type Pokemon, take a few physical hits, and dish out special attacks. We have a few tricks up our sleeve, though, which should make this raid a piece of cake.

Here are our suggestions:

Skeledirge

The Pokémon Company

Skeledirge is not only the best starter in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, it’s also easily one of the best options in this raid. Its signature move, Torch Song, boosts special attack each time it’s used, so you can spend less time setting up and more time dishing out damage. Skeledirge’s secret weapon is its hidden ability, Unaware, which ignores stat boosts both for attacking and defending, so even after three Swords Dances, H-Decidueye won’t be knocking out Skeledirge in one hit.

The strategy here is pretty simple: fire off a Will-O-Wisp on turn 1 to burn H-Decidueye and cut its attack, set up a Mud Slap or Sunny Day to lower accuracy or boost Fire-type moves, respectively, and Torch Song til you win. Slack Off – an egg move for Skeledirge – restores HP when needed, and you have two items to choose from. Shell Bell will help keep Skeledirge healthier for longer, while Metronome will boost the power of Torch Song even further on consecutive attacks.

Here’s our suggested set for Skeledirge:

Skeledirge - Level 100

• Nature: Bold
• Ability: Unaware
• Item: Shell Bell/Metronome
• Tera-type: Fire
• Move set: Torch Song, Will-O-Wisp, Mud Slap/Sunny Day, Slack Off

Indeedee (F)

The Pokémon Company

Female Indeedee is an incredible support Pokémon, with a fantastic move pool entirely focused on helping out its buds. Indeedee won’t be attacking at all here — instead, its role is to support, set up, and keep its allies alive and healthy.

Psychic Terrain is a must when H-Decidueye sets up Grassy Terrain, while the rest of Indeedee’s move set is here to help. Helping Hand will boost an ally’s next attack, Heal Pulse restores a chunk of HP to an ally, and Charm will lower H-Decidueye’s attack by two stages before and after the shield is up.

Here’s our suggested Indeedee (F) set:

Indeedee (F) - Level 100

• Nature: Lax
• Ability: Own Tempo
• Item: Terrain Extender
• Tera-type: Fire
• Move set: Psychic Terrain, Helping Hand, Charm, Heal Pulse

Charjabug

The Pokémon Company

Charjabug might sound like a bit of a meme choice, but we promise it’s one of the best supportive Pokémon in this raid. That’s largely thanks to its unique ability, Battery, which boosts the special attack of its allies by 30%, making it a perfect partner for any special attacker. Charjabug already has a very high defense, but the Eviolite boosts that by a further 50%, making it one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game.

In terms of moves, Mud Slap will lower H-Decidueye’s accuracy, making it harder for the tera boss to land hits, while Pounce will lower its speed, and Lunge will lower its attack. Iron Defense is just there as a nice bonus, to help reduce any unnecessary damage.

Here’s our suggested set for Charjabug:

Charjabug - Level 100

• Nature: Relaxed
• Ability: Battery
• Item: Eviolite
• Tera-type: Bug
• Move set: Mud Slap, Iron Defense, Pounce, Lunge

Armarouge

The Pokémon Company

Our second and final attacker, Armarouge fills a fairly similar niche to Skeledirge, but trades an easy set up for the ability to drop H-Decidueye’s stats, even behind its shield. The key move here is Clear Smog, which deals a little bit of damage but more importantly negates any stat boosts H-Decidueye might have set up. Flamethrower is there to deal big damage, especially after Terastalization, but you’ll need to set up first.

A few Iron Defenses at the start of the battle should be enough to keep it alive until H-Decidueye pops its shield, and then it’s time for Calm Mind to boost special attack. Armarouge is surprisingly bulky, but there is still a risk of being knocked out with a hard-hitting move, so keeping up those Clear Smogs to prevent H-Decidueye from snowballing is a must.

Here’s our suggested set for Armarouge:

Armarouge - Level 100

• Nature: Modest
• Ability: Flash Fire
• Item: Shell Bell
• Tera-type: Fire
• Move set: Armor Cannon/Flamethrower, Clear Smog, Calm Mind, Iron Defense

We have a few general Tera Raid tips for you in store as well, if you want to make some additional preparations.