Slaking Raid Counters Guide Pokemon GO

A Very Slow Discovery, the first big Pokemon GO June 2021 event, brings a bunch of new raid Pokemon into the mix. One of those is the sought-after Slaking. Here are the best Slacking counters to help you catch this relatively elusive beast and add it to your collection.

Slaking Raid Dates

As Slaking is here as part of the A Very Slow Discovery event, we can assume it'll leave the Pokemon GO raid roster at the same time. As such, Slaking will be available in three-star raids between June 8-13.

The timing of this means Slaking will feature during the June 2021 special raid weekend. That means more chances to see Slaking, and more chances to defeat and catch it.

Is Slaking Good?

With the focus of the event being Slowpoke and its evolutions, you may be wondering why you'd ever want to use expensive raid passes on Slaking. Well, it's because Slaking is a god. Slaking is an incredibly bulky defender.

It won't deal much damage, but its CP is sky-high thanks to its solid HP and defense stats. Stick one of these in a gym and most people will probably leave you alone.

It's a decent PvP Pokemon, too, but you're better off using the candy from the raid to power up its pre-evolution Vigoroth instead. It's a brawler.

Slaking Group Size - Can Slaking be Soloed?

So long as you have some of the best Slaking counters in your collection, soloing the big sloth shouldn't be too difficult.

For low-level players, however, expect to need more than a few friends. A group of 3-5 players should be able to beat it down with a less-than-favorable team.

Slaking Raid Moveset

Slaking is a pure Normal-type Pokemon. With only one Fast Move to its name, it's a semi-predictable fight that shouldn't threaten your counters.

Here are its potential moves:

• Fast Moves
  • Yawn
• Charged Moves
  • Body Slam
  • Hyper Beam
  • Earthquake
  • Play Rough

Best Slaking Counters

Being a Normal-type Pokemon, Slaking is only weak to Fighting-type moves, making the best Slaking counters list a little rudimentary. Here are the Pokemon you'll want to take:

Rare: Lucario

• Best: Counter, Aura Sphere

Lucario will absolutely hammer Slaking with its Fighting-type moves while ignoring Play Rough, a move it would otherwise be weak to, thanks to it being a Steel-type Pokemon. It's rare, but if you have it, bring it.

Uncommon: Conkeldurr

• Best: Counter, Dynamic Punch

Conkeldurr's high defense will help it put up with Play Rough and more easily shrug off the powerful Hyper Beam. The Counter and Dynamic Punch combo will allow it to attack fast and dodge just as quickly.

Common: Machamp

• Best: Counter, Dynamic Punch

A common sight in three-star raids and easily soloed by most players, a team of Machamp can punch Slaking into submission. Just watch out for Play Rough. It will hurt.

Alternative Slaking Counters

If you feel like blowing Mege Energy on a Slaking raid, Mega Gengar can use Focus Blast to destroy Slaking while resisting Yawn and Hyper Beam. Mega Lopunny will deal more damage, but take more as well.

In place of Machamp, the usual mix of Hariyama and Breloom can work with the same moveset. They're not quite as strong, but they'll fill in just fine.

Lastly, starter Pokemon with a Fighting-type flair like Emboar and Blaziken can do respectable damage. As they're often Fire-types, though, you'll want to watch out for an Earthquake moveset.