Xerneas, the life Pokémon, is the first Gen 6 legendary Pokémon to arrive in Pokémon Go.

If you want to add this magical stag to your collection, you'll need to have a good understanding of Xerneas' counters and weaknesses before you meet it in battle.

Like all legendary Pokémon, Xerneas appears in five-star raids and, to ensure its defeat, you'll want to battle it alongside a group of trainers, which, thanks to the Remote Raid passes, you can now do at home.

On this page:

Battling and catching Xerneas in Pokémon Go.

Xerneas counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

Below you can find Xerneas' weaknesses and some counter ideas which will help you defeat it in Pokémon Go:

  • Xerneas type - Fairy-type
  • Xerneas is weak against - Poison and steel-types
  • Xerneas counters - Gengar, Scizor, Metagross, Jirachi, Roserade, Toxicroak, Dialga, Excadrill and Genesect
  • Other Xerneas counters - Thanks to being a pure fairy-type Pokémon, planning your counters for Xerneas can be quite easy if you've already built up a varied team of Pokémon; simply focus on both poison and steel-type Pokémon, ensuring they have a strong moveset focused on hitting Xerneas' weaknesses, and you'll be able to defeat the stag.

Xerneas CP in Pokémon Go

Here are the CP ranges you can expect to see when battling or attempting to catch Xerneas in Pokémon Go:

  • Raid Boss CP - 45,899 CP
  • CP when being caught - 2073 to 2160 CP
  • Weather boosted CP (Cloudy) when being caught - 2591 to 2701 CP

Thank you to Bryanrobledo6 from reddit for the help with this information.

Xerneas Moveset in Pokémon Go

Xerneas can use a variety of Fast and Charged moves in Pokémon Go, including:

Possible Fast Moves:

  • Tackle (Normal)
  • Zen Headbutt (Psychic)

Possible Charged Moves:

  • Close Combat (Fighting)
  • Giga Impact (Normal)
  • Megahorn (Grass)
  • Moonblast (Fairy)
  • Thunder (Electric)

The Season of Go has arrived! The Pokémon TCG Crossover event is here, which includes the release of Wimpod and Golisopod. While Go Fest 2022 may be behind us, there are still three special research quests you might be working on - Pokémon Go Fest 2022, Rhi's Arrival and A Radiant World. Meanwhile, the Great League and Great League and Great League Remix are currently running in the Go Battle League Season 11. This season has also seen the lowering of the level requirement for Candy XL and introduced the first Ultra Beast, Nihilego.

Everything we know about Xerneas

Xerneas was the mascot for Pokémon X and, alongside Yveltal and Zygarde, is part of the Aura Trio of the Kalos region.

Xerneas and Yveltal are counterparts to each other - Xerneas embodies life, while Yveltal is a force of death.

Using its horns, Xerneas is able to grant life to the world and, at the end of it's lifespan, Xerneas is able to release this energy into the world surrounding it, before transforming into a giant tree where it will sleep for 1000 years.

The inspiration for Xerneas very clearly comes from a stag, with the design for its antlers possibly being drawn from the Eucaldoceros. This is an extinct breed of deer whose fossils have been found throughout Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. These fossils suggest that the Eucaldoceros had impressive branching antlers, which split in multiple places.