Greninja is coming to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet via Tera Raid Battles

The Pokémon Company has announced that Greninja will be coming to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet via 7-star Tera Raid Battles. These Tera Raid Battles will be available between January 27 through January 29 and February 10 through February 12. Greninja’s Tera Type will be Poison, and like Charizard and Cinderace before it, will have the Mightiest Mark.

Greninja first appeared in Pokémon X and Y and is the final evolution of the Froakie and Frogadier line. It’s a dual Water/Dark-type with an especially high speed stat that’s good for getting the jump on opponents. In past titles, Greninja had the hidden ability Protean.

Protean changes a Pokémon’s type to the type of the move it’s about to use. This means a Pokémon can attack while changing its type to better defend against an oncoming attack and is considered a strong ability in battles.

In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, this has been changed to only work once each time the Pokémon comes into a battle. You can switch out the Pokémon and use the ability again the next time it comes in, but it’s clear that the ability has been nerfed. Sprigatito and its evolutions are new Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that also have the Protean hidden ability.

As mentioned above, Greninja is a Water/Dark-type and its Tera Type in the upcoming Tera Raid Battles will be Poison. Dark is good against Psychic and Poison is good against Fairy, so players may need a different strategy besides using Azumarill, Sylveon, or Slowbro which were effective against Charizard and Cinderace in the previous Tera Raids.

Furthermore, Greninja isn’t listed as one of the usable Pokémon in Ranked Battle Season 1 or 2, so players won’t be able to jump right into Ranked Battles with their freshly caught Greninja.

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-01-16 11:53 JST)