Hisuian Lilligant Raids: Counters & Shiny Guide

The ancient, regional form of the beloved Flowering Pokémon, Hisuian Lilligant, has officially made its grand debut within the vibrant world of Pokémon Go.

 

This unique variant, known as the Spinning Pokémon, brings a fresh challenge to trainers with its relatively rare dual typing. Unlike its familiar, mono-Grass Unovan descendant, Hisuian Lilligant sports a formidable Grass and Fighting-type combination. This distinct typing immediately raises questions for seasoned trainers: will it perform more like the agile Virizion or the powerful Breloom in the competitive landscape? Understanding its strengths and, more importantly, its vulnerabilities is key to conquering this new raid boss.

 

This comprehensive guide will equip you with the essential knowledge to effectively counter Hisuian Lilligant, exploiting its weaknesses to secure victory in raids. We will delve into its specific typings, identify its most effective counters, and provide tactical advice to ensure your success in Pokémon Go. Additionally, we’ll offer a detailed look at the highly anticipated shiny Hisuian Lilligant, revealing its visual characteristics and availability. Preparing your team with the right Pokémon and strategies will maximize your chances of adding this ancient beauty, and potentially its coveted shiny form, to your collection.

 

Hisuian Lilligant: Counters and Weaknesses Detailed

Hisuian Lilligant is making its highly anticipated Pokémon Go debut in three-star raids on Saturday, July 12, 2025, from 2 PM to 5 PM local time. This limited-time raid window marks a significant event for trainers. Excitingly, this debut also signifies the simultaneous release of its shiny form, which comes with increased shiny odds during this specific raid period. For dedicated fans and shiny hunters, knowing how to efficiently take down this raid boss is paramount to capitalizing on this unique opportunity.

 

While Hisuian Lilligant is a three-star raid boss, meaning it’s generally more manageable than five-star legendary raids, it is technically possible for highly prepared trainers to solo this raid boss. However, this feat typically requires a team of perfectly maxed-out Pokémon with optimal movesets. To significantly increase your odds of success, particularly if you are raiding with a light party (e.g., two or three trainers), here’s a detailed breakdown of Hisuian Lilligant’s typing, weaknesses, resistances, and the best Pokémon to bring into battle:

• Hisuian Lilligant’s Types: This Pokémon is a unique Grass and Fighting-type. This combination grants it both offensive and defensive characteristics derived from both types.
• Hisuian Lilligant’s Double Weakness: The most crucial piece of information for any raid is identifying a double weakness, and Hisuian Lilligant has one! It is double weak against Flying-type attacks. This means Flying-type moves will deal significantly amplified damage (2.56x multiplier) compared to standard super-effective moves (1.6x multiplier). This double weakness is your primary path to victory.
• Hisuian Lilligant’s Single Weaknesses: Beyond its double weakness, Hisuian Lilligant is also vulnerable to a range of other types. It is specifically weak against Fairy, Fire, Ice, Poison, and Psychic-type attacks. While these will deal super-effective damage, they will not be as potent as Flying-type attacks due to the double weakness.
• Hisuian Lilligant’s Resistances: Understanding what Hisuian Lilligant resists is equally important, as these types will deal reduced damage. It is resistant to Dark, Electric, Grass, Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks. Avoid using Pokémon or moves of these types, as they will be much less effective in battle.

 

Top Counters for Hisuian Lilligant Raids

Selecting the right Pokémon for your raid team is critical for maximizing damage and ensuring a swift victory. Given Hisuian Lilligant’s double weakness to Flying-type attacks, your strategy should heavily prioritize your strongest Flying-type attackers.

 

Mega Counter Recommendations:

• Mega Rayquaza: This is the undisputed king for this raid, and it’s not even a close competition. If you have a Mega Rayquaza (affectionately dubbed the “Mega Sky Noodle”), it should be the absolute top choice. Its sheer power combined with the double weakness to Flying-type attacks will make quick work of Hisuian Lilligant. Its performance is so dominant that even one Mega Rayquaza often outperforms multiple other Mega options.
• Next Best Mega Options (If No Mega Rayquaza): If you are unfortunate enough not to have a Mega Rayquaza ready, your next best Mega Pokémon for this raid would be Mega Pidgeot and then Mega Salamence. While these are decent alternatives, it’s worth noting that even a team of six regular (non-Mega) Rayquaza would likely outperform running either of these two Mega options due to Rayquaza’s superior stats and the double weakness synergy.

 

Non-Mega Counter Recommendations:

• Rayquaza (Non-Mega): Just like its Mega counterpart, regular Rayquaza (the “Noodle party” star) is by far the best non-Mega option. If you have a team of six powered-up Rayquaza with Flying-type fast and charged moves, you’re in an excellent position to solo or quickly clear this raid.
• Top Shadow and Legendary Flying Types: If a full team of Rayquaza isn’t available, focus on powerful Shadow Pokémon and top-tier legendary Flying types. Shadow Staraptor, Shadow Moltres, and Shadow Salamence are all excellent choices that can even outperform some of the weaker Mega options. Their boosted attack stats make them formidable against the double weakness.
• Other Strong Flying-type Attackers: After the absolute top-tier options, consider these strong Flying-type attackers: Incarnate Enamorus, Yveltal, Shadow Honchkrow, Staraptor, Shadow Unfezant, Galarian Articuno, or Therian Tornadus (the “birb form”). These Pokémon all bring strong Flying-type damage to the table.
• General Flying-type Reinforcements: Beyond these specific recommendations, simply bringing your strongest available Flying-type attackers with appropriate movesets will contribute significantly to the raid. Prioritize Pokémon with high attack stats and super-effective Flying-type moves.

 

Raid Tactics and Team Size

• Number of Players to Beat Hisuian Lilligant: As mentioned, it is technically possible to solo this Pokémon, especially if you employ the “ramen bowl tactic” of utilizing six powerful Rayquaza. This strategy, leveraging the double weakness, makes soloing a realistic goal for dedicated trainers. However, if your counter lineup is not fully optimized or maxed out, you should generally be comfortable taking down Hisuian Lilligant with a minimum of three Trainers total. A group of four or more Trainers with even decent counters should make for a relatively easy and swift raid experience.
• General Tactics: The core tactic for this raid is straightforward: whenever you identify a double-weakness, you know what to do! In Hisuian Lilligant’s case, this means assembling your strongest Flying-type attackers and relentlessly using their Flying-type moves. The immense super-effective damage will quickly deplete Hisuian Lilligant’s health bar. Think of it as “beating it over the head with your birbs until you win!” This single-minded focus on Flying-type damage is the most efficient way to conquer this raid boss.

 

The Elusive Shiny Hisuian Lilligant: Is It Available?

The exciting news for collectors and shiny hunters is a resounding YES, Hisuian Lilligant is indeed available in its shiny form in Pokémon Go! Its shiny variant was officially released as part of its original debut during the July 2025 Hisuian Lilligant raid day. This means that from the moment Hisuian Lilligant appears in three-star raids on July 12, trainers will have a chance to encounter its rare, recolored version. Furthermore, it’s pleasing to know that with this release, the entire shiny Petilil family is now fully available in the game, allowing trainers to complete their shiny collections for this evolutionary line.

 

Shiny Appearance Breakdown:

• Shiny Petilil: Unfortunately, the shiny form of Petilil, Hisuian Lilligant’s pre-evolution, is often considered “naff” or underwhelming by many shiny collectors. The visual difference between its regular and shiny forms is often barely discernible, making it a less exciting shiny to hunt.
• Shiny Lilligant (Unovan): The original Unovan Lilligant’s shiny form offers a slightly more noticeable change, typically featuring a paler green body and different colored accents on its flower and arms.
• Shiny Hisuian Lilligant: The shiny form of Hisuian Lilligant takes a more distinct approach. While the body maintains a similar pale green shade to its Unovan shiny counterpart, its arms and cape shift to pleasing blues. The most prominent change comes in its flower headpiece and eyes, which transform into a vibrant pink. This is a noticeable improvement over Petilil’s shiny, making it a more desirable catch for collectors. It is not considered a revolutionary or “awful” shiny, but it is certainly more aesthetically pleasing than its pre-evolution.

 

Interestingly, the design of regular Hisuian Lilligant appears to draw inspiration from balletic themes. Its characteristic pink flower and leggings under its boots evoke images from classical dance. The pink elements subtly nod to the pink hues found on certain Allium plants (a genus that includes onions and garlic, and also ornamental flowers like ornamental onions), while its boots are reminiscent of those worn by the Prince in The Nutcracker ballet.

 

One could even argue that the entire design was influenced by the graceful Dryads in Don Quixote, further solidifying its balletic aesthetic. The shiny Hisuian Lilligant cleverly opts for an orange color for these typically pink elements, providing a nice callback to the regular Unovan Lilligant’s original color scheme. Furthermore, the fact that shiny Hisuian Lilligant maintains its blues (on its arms and cape) the same as the Unovan shiny Lilligant’s original blue parts creates a pleasant piece of consistency within the evolutionary line, linking the two forms visually despite their regional differences.

 

Hisuian Lilligant CP and Moveset Analysis

Understanding Hisuian Lilligant’s Combat Power (CP) ranges and optimal movesets is important for both catching it after raids and potentially utilizing it in player-versus-player (PvP) battles.

 

Hisuian Lilligant CP Ranges:

When successfully catching Hisuian Lilligant after a raid in Pokémon Go, you can expect to encounter it within these CP ranges:

• Normal CP range for catching Hisuian Lilligant: 1364 to 1435 CP
• Weather-boosted (Sunny / Cloudy) when being caught: If the weather in your local area is “Sunny” (boosting Grass types) or “Cloudy” (boosting Fighting types), Hisuian Lilligant will be weather-boosted, resulting in a higher CP range upon capture: 1705 to 1794 CP. Weather-boosted Pokémon are typically more desirable as they require less Stardust and Candy to power up for competitive use.

 

Best Hisuian Lilligant Moveset in Pokémon Go:

Based on current analyses, our recommendation for the best Hisuian Lilligant moveset for general utility in Pokémon Go is:

• Fast Move: Magical Leaf (Grass-type)
• Charged Moves: Solar Beam (Grass-type) and Upper Hand (Fighting-type)

 

This combination provides strong Grass-type damage with Solar Beam and Fighting-type coverage with Upper Hand.

 

Hisuian Lilligant’s PvP and Raid Attacker Viability:

It’s important to set realistic expectations for Hisuian Lilligant’s performance in competitive scenarios. Notably, Hisuian Lilligant lacks any real bulk. This low defensive stat naturally has significant implications for its viability in PvP (player-versus-player) battles, where Pokémon need to withstand incoming damage. Its current moveset and stat distribution make it feel a “bit too slow and clunky for its stats.” While its unique typing is interesting, its overall performance currently prevents it from being a top-tier contender in PvP leagues like Great League or Ultra League.

 

Furthermore, Hisuian Lilligant is not recommended as a raid attacker. Despite its Grass/Fighting typing, its lack of bulk and often slow energy generation for powerful charged moves means it won’t be a go-to choice for contributing significant damage in high-level raids.

 

Strategic Advice: Given these limitations, trainers are advised to “feel free to save anything you think looks good for PVP and hope for a better move down the vine line.” This witty remark suggests that with future move updates from Niantic, Hisuian Lilligant’s viability could potentially change. New fast or charged moves that offer better energy generation, damage output, or defensive utility could significantly improve its standing. Until then, collecting a good PvP IV spread Hisuian Lilligant and waiting for potential future buffs is a reasonable strategy.

 

All Fast and Charged Moves for Hisuian Lilligant:

Here is a complete list of all the moves Hisuian Lilligant can learn in Pokémon Go:

 

Fast Moves:

• Bullet Seed (Grass-type): A fast-charging Grass-type move.
• Magical Leaf (Grass-type): A strong Grass-type fast move, often preferred for its balance of damage and energy generation.

 

Charged Moves:

• Close Combat (Fighting-type): A powerful Fighting-type charged move that lowers the user’s defense after use, requiring strategic timing.
• Petal Blizzard (Grass-type): A multi-bar Grass-type charged move.
• Solar Beam (Grass-type): A very powerful, but slow-charging, single-bar Grass-type charged move.
• Upper Hand (Fighting-type): A Fighting-type charged move.

 

Understanding this full moveset allows trainers to experiment with different combinations, though the recommended moveset aims to maximize its current potential in battle.