Pokémon Go Nihilego weakness, counters and moveset explained

Nihilego weaknesses and counters in Pokémon Go

Below you can find Nihilego’s weaknesses and counters, which will help you defeat it in Pokémon Go:

• Nihilego type – Rock / Poison
• Nihilego is double-weak against – Ground-type attacks
• Nihilego is weak against – Psychic, Steel and Water-type attacks
• Nihilego Mega counters – Primal Groudon and Mega Garchomp with Ground attacks are by far the best, followed by a distant Mega Swampert. If you don’t have them, Mega Alakazam or Mega Latios with Psychic attacks are ok as a last resort, but can't exploit that double weakness.
• Nihilego non-Mega counters – Groudon, Excadrill, Landrous (Therian/Lando Catrissian is best), Garchomp and Rhyperior are your best bets.
• Nihilego tactics – Nihilego is double weak to Ground-type attacks, so bring a Ground-type with double Ground so you can maximise STAB. Your best bet is Primal Groudon with Mud Shot and Precipice Blades, followed by five regular Groudon with the same attacks; if you can't manage that, you're looking for Pokémon with Earthquake, Earth Power or High Horsepower.

Nihilego CP levels in Pokémon Go

Here are the CP levels for battling and attempting to catch Nihilego in Pokémon Go:

• Nihilego Raid CP – 48,499 CP
• CP range for catching Nihilego – 2167 to 2256 CP
• Weather (Cloudy and Partly Cloudy) – 2709 to 2821 CP
• Max Nihilego CP – 4465 CP

Nihilego best moveset in Pokémon Go

Since it’s release, Nihilego has been making sludge waves in Pokémon Go. Sadly, at the time of writing, Nihilego can't use Sludge Wave yet. Instead, our recommendation for Nihilego’s moveset is Acid (Fast), Sludge Bomb (Charged) and Rock Slide (Charged).

Shameless puns aside, Nihilego is actually very good, and with its stats it’s the best non-Mega Poison-type attacker in the game, making it a great choice for raids against Fairy-type Pokémon. This moveset is also the optimum choice for Ultra League and Master League, where it can go toe-to-tenacle with some of the metas’ best.

Below you can find the complete Fast and Charged moveset for Nihilego in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves:

• Acid (Poison)
• Pound (Normal)
• Poison Jab (Poison)

Charged Moves:

• Gunk Shot (Poison)
• Power Gen (Rock)
• Rock Slide (Rock)
• Sludge Bomb (Poison)

The Max Out Season is here and includes a new global event, Wild Area, and the current 2024 Halloween event brings us Morpeko and the Halloween cup. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.

Everything else we know about Nihilego

Nihilego is an Ultra Beast – a group of extradimensional Pokémon who hail from Ultra Space. It said that the power of an Ultra Beast transcends the understanding of humans and, for that reason, it’s a good idea to not mess around with them.

The other Ultra Beasts are Pheromosa, Buzzwole, Xurikitree, Celesteela, Kartana, Guzzlord, Poipole, Naganadel, Stakataka and Blacephalon.

Nihilego first appeared in Pokémon Sun and Moon where it merged with Lusamine, the head of the Aether Foundation, in an act that probably almost killed her — there’s a reason this Ultra Beast is catgorised as the Parasite Pokémon. Maybe she should have spent more paying attention to her Pokédex and less time freezing her Pokémon...

Nihilego is notable for being the only Rock and Poison-type Pokémon. Its design was also inspired by jellyfish and possibly, due to the Alola region taking inspiration from the Hawaiian islands, an invasive species called Phyllorhiza punctata, which can be found in the waters surrounding Hawaii.

Good luck adding Nihilego to your Pokédex!