You’d be hard pressed to find a pair of Pokémon that impact a battlefield quite like Kyogre and Groudon. These powerful Legendary Pokémon from the Hoenn region are known for their immense power and for changing the weather as they enter the battlefield. They’re also the only two known Pokémon capable of undergoing Primal Reversion, an incredible transformation that reveals their true power. Details about how to add these titans to your team are available at Pokemon.co.uk/Legendary.

Either incredible Pokémon is sure to be the star of any battle team you compose. Both are effective in battle right from the word “Go,” but they can become even more powerful if you train them to reach their full potential. Read on for some tips about how to take your Kyogre and Groudon to another level.

Training Tips

The Pokémon you receive will be different depending on which game you’re playing. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Sun players will receive Kyogre, while Pokémon Ultra Moon and Pokémon Moon players will receive Groudon instead. You’ll get only one of these Pokémon via distribution, but you can catch the other in the Ultra Wormhole when playing Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon.

The Pokémon you receive will be higher level and know stronger moves with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, and they'll be holding a super-rare Gold Bottle Cap. They’ll also be Lv. 100—perfect for Hyper Training. If you visit Mr. Hyper at the Hau’oli City Shopping Mall and present him with a Gold Bottle Cap, you can instantly max out your Legendary Pokémon’s individual strengths. That quickly gets one big element of preparing for battle out of the way.

Even though your Pokémon won’t need any more Exp. Points, you should still take it into battle to train its base stats. You should also pay attention to its Nature, which has a big impact on how it performs in combat. Some 2016 Pokémon World Championships competitors trained Groudon to be extremely quick—others, as slow as possible. Some trained their Groudon to use physical attacks, an equal number went for special attacks instead, and some even opted for a mix of both. Almost any Nature can be optimal for a matching strategy—one Trainer even made it to the final stage of the tournament with a Groudon whose Serious Nature didn’t change its stats at all. The approach to Kyogre is much simpler—most Trainers seek out Kyogre with Modest Natures to enhance their incredible Special Attack, but other Natures, such as Bold and especially Adamant, are popular for alternate Single Battle strategies.

Don't forget you can help these high-level Pokémon relearn moves—moves they'd normally learn by leveling up—if you bring a Heart Scale to Madam Memorial in the Pokémon Center on Mount Lanakila. You can collect Heart Scales easily by visiting the restaurants across Alola.

Weather Wars and Primal Power

Battles involving Kyogre and Groudon often become battles between warring weathers as much as about knocking out Pokémon. Kyogre’s Drizzle Ability causes it to rain on the field for five turns, increasing the power of Water-type moves and decreasing the power of Fire-type moves, while the sunlight from Groudon’s Drought causes the opposite effect. When a new weather condition is introduced by a move like Rain Dance or an Ability like Drizzle, it immediately supersedes the existing weather condition.

Many Trainers pair Kyogre and Groudon with other Pokémon that can benefit from their Abilities—for instance, players often match Kyogre with Pokémon that have the Swift Swim Ability (doubles Speed in Rain) or that know Thunder (perfectly accurate during Rain). Trainer battles involving the two Pokémon are challenging and fun but are also among the more technical matches. If your team relies on a weather condition, it’s crucial to keep it active by switching your Legendary Pokémon in and out of battle wisely.

The power of the two Pokémon can be further increased through Primal Reversion, a form change that enhances their stats and Abilities. Primal Kyogre’s Primordial Sea Ability grants the benefits of Drizzle on top of causing Fire-type attacks to fail completely, while Primal Groudon’s Desolate Land does the same to Water-type attacks. The weather effects created by these Abilities are so powerful, they overwhelm the other means of changing weather completely. The only way to replace the effect of one of these Abilities is to activate the other—or to trigger Mega Rayquaza’s Delta Stream Ability. But watch out—Pokémon with the Air Lock or Cloud Nine Abilities can still temporarily negate these effects.

Kyogre needs to hold the Blue Orb to undergo Primal Reversion, while Groudon must hold the Red Orb instead. You can purchase both items from Antiquities of the Ages in the Hau’oli City mall in Pokémon Ultra Sun, Pokémon Ultra Moon, Pokémon Sun, and Pokémon Moon.

Ride the Waves with Kyogre

Kyogre’s key strength is the raw power of its Water-type attacks. It has a fantastic Special Attack stat, gets a bonus to Water-type attacks for being a Water-type Pokémon, and then often gets another bonus from rainy weather. Most Trainers opt to use a Kyogre with a Modest Nature to maximize damage, but a Liquidation attack from a Primal Kyogre with an Adamant Nature is something to be feared.

The Sea Basin Pokémon can learn the strongest Water-type attacks capable of damaging both foes in a Double Battle. Trainers often have another Pokémon use Trick Room or Tailwind to allow Kyogre to move first in battle, enabling it to blast away with Water Spout at full power (Water Spout’s damage is based on how much of the user’s HP is remaining). Kyogre is also the only Pokémon that can learn the incredible Origin Pulse attack by leveling up. While its 85% accuracy is unreliable, hitting both foes from an unwavering 110 power makes it one of the best attacks in the world of Pokémon. Trainers typically finish up their Double Battle move sets with Protect and Ice Beam to cover foes such as Rayquaza, sometimes opting for Thunder instead of one of the Water-type attacks to cover other Kyogre.

Kyogre’s Attack improves more than any other stat when it becomes Primal Kyogre. Building a Single Battle strategy around physical attacks is more effective than ever now that it can learn Liquidation with the help of a Move Tutor in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. Teaching Kyogre Earthquake allows it to dispatch most Electric types with relative ease, and its Special Attack is so high—even with an Adamant Nature—to bring the hurt with a supereffective Ice Beam or Thunder.

The resourceful Legendary Pokémon can learn a few tricks if you’re looking for something a little different. Kyogre can make itself even tougher to stop by using Calm Mind to increase its own hefty Special Attack and Special Defense. And a Kyogre that knows both Rest and Sleep Talk can win most battles of attrition in Single Battles.

Crush Your Foes with Groudon

Groudon may well be the most versatile Legendary Pokémon around. We’ve seen Trainers use it in almost innumerable ways—fast, slow, physical attacks, special attacks, mixed attacks—and each strategy has been effective. Many powerful supportive moves further expand Groudon’s arsenal, making it an unpredictable opponent in battle.

Selecting which attacks to teach Groudon is tricky. It’s best to play off its Nature—a Timid, Modest, or Quiet Groudon should primarily learn special attacks, while a Jolly, Adamant, or Brave Groudon should stick mostly to physical attacks. It’s also key to teach Groudon some spread attacks if you plan to engage in Double Battles, while supportive moves such as Stealth Rock and Rock Polish are much more effective in Single Battles.

The traditional way to train Groudon is to focus on physical attacks. Groudon’s equivalent to Origin Pulse is Precipice Blades, a physical Ground-type attack with a mighty 120 base power and 85% accuracy. Trainers consider it an upgrade on Earthquake in all formats because it has higher base power in Single Battles and it doesn’t damage Groudon’s partner in Double Battles. Precipice Blades is often paired with a Rock-type attack such as Stone Edge, Rock Slide, or Rock Tomb to cover the Flying-type Pokémon who are immune to Ground-type attacks. Overheat and Protect are common final choices in Double Battles, while Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Toxic, and Rock Polish all earn additional consideration in Singles.

A special attack set is a little underwhelming in Groudon’s base form, but the Fire- and Ground-type Primal Groudon is much more capable. Eruption functions similarly for Primal Groudon as Water Spout does for Kyogre, but Groudon has much stronger single-target Fire-type options in Overheat and Fire Blast, in exchange for weak alternative spread moves. You’ll normally want to teach it the special Ground-type attack Earth Power with this approach. Groudon’s special attacks cover fewer types than Kyogre’s do, so many Trainers opt for a Groudon with an Ice-type Hidden Power. Groudon can also take advantage of the harsh sunlight with Solar Beam, but it’s tough to catch opposing Kyogre with it because it requires control of the weather.

We hope these powerful Pokémon help you blow out your foes in battle. You can find more information about upcoming distributions at Pokemon.co.uk/Legendary. Don’t forget to check out more Pokémon TCG and video game articles, strategy, and tournament analysis at Pokemon.co.uk/Strategy.