Pokémon Go Tapu Lele counters, weakness and moveset explained
How to catch the guardian deity of Akala Island.
Tapu Lele, one of the Gen 7 legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go, debuted as part of the Season of Alola.
Tapu Lele first appeared in five-star raids during the Lush Jungle event, but it returned for the Valentine’s Day 2023 event, and your ability to defeat it depends on your experience with Pokémon Go.
Even experienced trainers, however, should know the Tapu Lele counters and weaknesses before battling it. Hopefully you’ll be able to catch this guardian deity and others – Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu and Tapu Fini!
On this page:
Tapu Lele counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go
Below you can find the counters and weaknesses for Tapu Lele in Pokémon Go:
- Tapu Lele type – Psychic and Fairy-type
- Tapu Lele is weak against – Ghost, Poison and Steel-type attacks
- Tapu Lele is resistant to against – Psychic-type attacks
- Tapu Lele is super resistant to against – Dragon and Fighting-type attacks
- Best Tapu Lele Mega counters – Mega Gengar, Mega Banette and Mega Rayquaza are the way to go. Given the super-resistance to Dragon-type attacks though, use a Mega Rayquaza with Flying-type attacks if you need to use one.
- Best Tapu Lele counters – Shadow Metagross is so impressive, you may want to consider a team of six; it outclasses even the best Mega in this battle. Assuming you don't have one, you're looking at Shadow Chandelure, Metagross, Shadow Gengar and Shadow Mewtwo (with Shadow Ball). Beyond that, the regular versions of the above Pokémon are recommended, followed by Giratina, Nihilego and Hoopa (Confined ideally, but Unbound works too).
- Tactics – Tapu Lele’s resistance to Dragon means you shouldn’t opt for Mega Rayquaza if you can avoid it. Beyond that, bring all your Shadow Metagross and go to town. Despite the awkward list of counters, you should only need a team of 3–7 high-level Trainers to take down and catch yourself a Tapu Lele.
Tapu Lele CP in Pokémon Go
Here you can find the CP Levels for battling and attempting to catch Tapu Lele in Pokémon Go:
- Tapu Lele Raid CP – 50,112 CP
- CP range for catching Tapu Lele – 1912 to 1996 CP
- Weather (Windy or Cloudy) boosted CP range – 2390 to 2496 CP
- Max Tapu Lele CP – 3950 CP
The Dual Destiny Season is here! It brings the Holiday Part 2 event with it. 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.
Tapu Lele best moveset in Pokémon Go
Our Tapu Lele best moveset recommendation is Confusion (Psychic, Fast) and Future Sight (Psychic, Charged) and Moonblast (Fairy, Charged) if you can afford a second Charged move.
Here is the complete set of Tapu Lele Fast and Charged moves in Pokémon Go:
Fast Moves:
- Astonish (Ghost)
- Confusion (Psychic)
Charged Moves:
- Focus Blast (Fighting)
- Future Sight (Psychic)
- Moonblast (Fairy)
- Psyshock (Psychic)
Everything else we know about Tapu Lele
Tapu Lele debuted in Pokémon Sun and Moon and acts as the guardian deity for Akala Island. If you want to catch it, however, you must first defeat the Elite Four.
There are three other guardian deities for you to track down in the Alola region – Tapu Koko for Melemele Island, Tapu Bulu for Ula’Ula Island and Tapu Fini for Poni Island. All of these guardian deities, including Tapu Lele, share the Land Spirit Pokémon category.
Tapu Lele appears to have been partly inspired by butterflies, which is why it appears to be hatching from a cocoon. Its name also appears to be a combination of the Hawaiian words for sacred or holy – tapu – and butterfly – pulelehua.
Lastly, a shiny form of Tapu Lele is now available in Pokémon Go! It made its debut during the Valentine’s Day 2023 event.
Good luck catching Tapu Lele!