Every Scarlet and Violet Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raid Detail You Need

It hasn’t even been two days since the end of the Tandemaus Valentine’s Day event and the Pokémon Company has already announced a new Tera Raid. Scarlet and Violet continues its trend of regular Tera Raids with two more Pokémon: Sylveon and Garchomp.

While these two aren’t necessarily rare Pokémon, they are fan favorites for how strong and cute they are. So why not offer a special version of them for the most avid Pokémon collectors? Here’s what we know about the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raids.

Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raid Dates and Times

The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raids started on February 16, 2023 and will end on February 19, 2023. The start and end dates listed on the official blog match past raids.

• Start: February 16, 2023 at 7 p.m. Eastern
• End: February 19, 2023 at 6:59 p.m. Eastern

So the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raids are already ongoing, but you have until the end of Sunday to capture both of these Pokémon.

Tera Raid Sylveon and Garchomp Special Abilities

Sylveon and Garchomp are fairly common in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. What sets the Tera Raid versions apart are hidden abilities. According to Siliconera (via Dengeki Online), the Tera Raid Sylveon will have Pixilate and Garchomp will have Rough Skin. Here’s what each of those abilities mean:

• Pixilate - Normal-type moves become Fairy-type moves. The power of those moves is boosted a little.
• Rough Skin - The Pokémon's rough skin damages attackers that make direct contact with it.

Some players who have caught these Pokémon already have confirmed that they may or may not have the abilities. It might be based on chance, since one person got a Pixilate Sylveon but not Rough Skin Garchomp.

Sylveon’s Pixilate transforms Normal-type moves into Fairy ones, which can turn attacks like Swift into powerful STAB moves for Sylveon. The exact percentage it boosts the attack power is unclear, but Siliconera lists it as 20 percent (like it is in some past games). Meanwhile, Garchomp’s Rough Skin damages Pokémon that attack it with a physical move.

Thankfully, the Sylveon and Garchomp Tera Raids will come in 4 and 5-star batches, so they won’t be as brutal as the 7-star Cinderaid Tera Raid earlier this year. Sylveon and Garchomp can come in various Tera Types, even though they appear as Fairy and Ground-type Tera Types in the preview images. Those are just examples of what to expect rather than what you will get.

Suggested Team Comps

Bring various Pokémon types in addition to ones strong against Fairy and Dragon/Ground. That way, you can hit as many bases as possible in case the Tera Type is unexpected.

Sylveon is a pure Fairy-type like Tandemaus, so a Poison or Steel type Pokémon should be a go-to. Garchomp’s Dragon/Ground dual-type opens more options about who take into battle, including Fairy, Water, Grass, or any other types of Pokémon strong against either Dragon or Ground types. You’d better hope that the Tera Type matches the focus on your team, though.