There are four main kinds of weather in Pokémon battles: rain, harsh sunlight, sandstorm and snow. Rain powers up Water moves and weakens Fire moves, sun does the opposite, sandstorm hurts every Pokémon that isn't Rock, Ground or Steel, and snow raises the Defense of Ice types. Weather lasts five turns, or eight if the Pokémon that started it holds the matching rock.
Weather has been in every main game since Generation 2 (Gold and Silver). Only one kind can be active at a time, so setting your own weather also wipes out your opponent's.
What each weather does
| Weather | Helps | Hurts | Other effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harsh sunlight | Fire moves +50% | Water moves −50% | Solar Beam and Solar Blade fire at once; nobody can be frozen; Thunder and Hurricane drop to 50% accuracy |
| Rain | Water moves +50% | Fire moves −50% | Thunder and Hurricane can't miss; Solar Beam's power is halved |
| Sandstorm | Rock types get +50% Sp. Def (from Gen 4) | Non-Rock, non-Ground, non-Steel Pokémon lose 1/16 HP a turn | Solar Beam's power is halved |
| Snow (Gen 9) | Ice types get +50% Defense | Nothing takes damage | Blizzard is more accurate; Aurora Veil can be used |
Hail was the fourth weather before Scarlet and Violet. It hurt every non-Ice Pokémon by 1/16 of its HP each turn. Snow arrived in Legends: Arceus and replaced hail in Generation 9. It does no damage at all.
Weather Ball is the move that cares most. It is a 50-power Normal move in clear skies, but in any weather it doubles to 100 and takes the weather's type: Fire in sun, Water in rain, Rock in sand and Ice in snow.
How weather starts
Each weather has a move, an Ability and a rock that makes it last longer. These are the Pokémon in our data with each Ability. Some have it as a Hidden Ability, and some forms only appear in certain games.
| Weather | Move | Ability | Pokémon with the Ability | Rock that makes it last 8 turns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harsh sunlight | Sunny Day | Drought | Vulpix, Ninetales, Torkoal, Groudon, Mega Charizard Y | Heat Rock |
| Rain | Rain Dance | Drizzle | Politoed, Pelipper, Kyogre | Damp Rock |
| Sandstorm | Sandstorm | Sand Stream | Tyranitar, Hippopotas, Hippowdon, Gigalith | Smooth Rock |
| Snow | Snowscape | Snow Warning | Snover, Abomasnow, Vanilluxe, Amaura, Aurorus, Alolan Vulpix and others | Icy Rock |
Sunny Day and Rain Dance are very widely spread: 676 and 689 species can learn them in our Scarlet and Violet data. In older games the move to start hail was Hail.
Before Generation 6, weather from an Ability lasted until the battle ended or another weather replaced it. That made Ability setters like Politoed and Tyranitar much more valuable before the change. Since Generation 6, Ability weather lasts five turns like everything else.
Koraidon sets weather with an Ability of its own, Orichalcum Pulse, which turns the sunlight harsh and raises its Attack while the sun lasts. Weather can also simply happen in the overworld. Start a battle in a place where it is raining and the battle has rain too.
Abilities that use weather
A weather team is a setter plus Pokémon that gain from that weather. These are the main Abilities, with the number of species or forms in our data that can have each one.
| Weather | Ability | What it does | Species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | Chlorophyll | Doubles Speed | 37: Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Oddish and 33 more |
| Sun | Solar Power | Sp. Atk ×1.5, but loses 1/8 HP a turn | 8: Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Sunkern and 4 more |
| Sun | Protosynthesis | Raises its highest stat | 10: Great Tusk, Scream Tail, Brute Bonnet, Flutter Mane and 6 more |
| Rain | Swift Swim | Doubles Speed | 44: Psyduck, Golduck, Poliwag, Poliwhirl and 40 more |
| Rain | Rain Dish | Heals 1/16 HP a turn | 13: Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise, Tentacool and 9 more |
| Rain | Hydration | Cures status at the end of each turn | 22: Seel, Dewgong, Lapras, Vaporeon and 18 more |
| Sandstorm | Sand Rush | Doubles Speed | 10: Sandshrew, Sandslash, Herdier, Stoutland and 6 more |
| Sandstorm | Sand Force | Rock, Ground and Steel moves ×1.3 | 14: Diglett, Dugtrio, Nosepass, Shellos and 10 more |
| Snow | Slush Rush | Doubles Speed | 5: Cubchoo, Beartic, Arctozolt, Arctovish and 1 more |
| Snow | Ice Body | Heals 1/16 HP a turn | 19: Seel, Dewgong, Snorunt, Glalie and 15 more |
Dry Skin cuts both ways: the Pokémon heals in rain but loses HP in harsh sunlight.
Doubling Speed lets a slow Pokémon move first, so Swift Swim and Chlorophyll are the usual reason to build a rain or sun team. One common pairing is Pelipper setting rain for a Swift Swim Pokémon.
Sandstorm works differently. It makes Rock types tougher on the special side and chips everyone else. In our data, 195 species are Rock, Ground or Steel and so take no sandstorm damage.
Extreme weather from Primal and Mega forms
Three forms create a stronger weather that ordinary moves can't replace. It lasts as long as the Pokémon stays in battle.
- Desolate Land, from Primal Groudon: extremely harsh sunlight, where damaging Water moves fail.
- Primordial Sea, from Primal Kyogre: heavy rain, where damaging Fire moves fail.
- Delta Stream, from Mega Rayquaza: strong winds, where no move is super effective against Flying types.
Stopping weather
You don't always want the weather. Cloud Nine (on Psyduck, Altaria and a few others) and Air Lock (on Rayquaza) cancel weather's effects while the Pokémon is in battle. The Utility Umbrella item makes its holder ignore rain and sun. Overcoat and Safety Goggles stop sandstorm damage.
Setting your own weather is the simplest answer. A Sunny Day will replace your opponent's rain.
Quick tips
- Match the weather to your Pokémon's best moves. A Fire attacker loves sun and a Water attacker loves rain.
- Watch out for Solar Beam in other weather. It still charges for a turn, and its power is halved in rain and sandstorm.
- Ice types did well out of the switch to snow. They get a Defense boost, and their non-Ice teammates no longer take hail damage.
Weather works alongside terrain, which boosts moves and blocks some status for Pokémon on the ground. Read terrain moves explained for the four terrains, or the weather and terrain guide for the short version.