Pokemon Go Guide: How to Beat and Catch Zapdos

After two weeks of battling Articuno and Moltres, Zapdos is finally here (or will be soon). The electric bird is gonna be a tough one to take down. While he might represent Pokemon Go’s smallest team, his electric type and attacks are going to make bringing him down a true challenge, and once you do you still need to catch him. Here’s a guide on how to beat and catch Zapdos in Pokemon Go.

Zapdos is electric type, which is vulnerable to a few things, but as he’s also a flying type you’ll really want to use a Rock type Pokemon with moves that match. Once again Golem is the best out there for dealing damage to a Legendary bird. You’ll want to have a powerful Golem or two (or three), and make sure that they have Rock Throw as their fast move, with either Rock Blast or Stone Edge as the charge move. If they don’t, then now’s the time to use all those TMs you’ve been getting from Raids.

As backup you’ll want to have any of the following: Tyranitar with Bite and Stone Edge, Piloswine with Ice Shard or Powder Snow and Avalanche, and a strong Dragonite with his powerful dragon attacks. For backup you can use any strong Ice or Rock type Pokemon with attacks to match.

Even with this, you will need a group. Calculations show that three strong Pokemon Go trainers will be able to take Zapdos on and win, but you’ll likely want 5-6 at minimum, and 10 to be safe. To find a group just search Facebook or Reddit for a local group. Almost any area has Pokemon Go players who communicate when and where to hit Legendary Raids.

Once you get the group, the right Pokemon team, and enough people just attack as quickly as possible. Do this all correctly and you’ll beat Zapdos and get a chance to catch him. Here’s how to do that.

The chance to catch Zapdos, and any Legendary bird in Pokemon Go, is very low. They attack and jump often, and even when you hit you will likely not get it. To increase your chances you will want to use Golden Razzberries and make sure you are using curve balls and try for Great throws. I usually use a Nanab on the first throw, as this has been theorized to extend the effect beyond just the first toss. This may be debunked now, but I still like to use it to at least get one throw without worrying about it getting knocked away.

Golden Razzberries after that will help. To avoid misses you will want to watch for an attack. Once Zapdos starts the animation you want to start prepping for the curve ball, then toss right when it’s coming to an end so that it hits just as the circle appears again. If you want to be really good then wait for an attack when the circle is small, then try to get the Great or Excellent throw. Do this enough and you will hopefully snag that Zapdos.