Alolan Sandshrew will soon reappear in Raid Battles in Pokémon GO for the holiday event. Raid Battles offer players the perfect opportunity to hunt for a Shiny Pokémon. Players can participate in raids with others and, if Pokémon's shiny form is available in Pokémon GO, it has the chance to appear during the capturing phase. The Pokémon GO holiday event will focus on Ice-type Pokémon, which will grant trainers the chance to get an Alolan Sandshrew. However, Alolan Sandshrew will only be available for half of the event.
The 2021 Pokémon GO holiday event is being broken up into two parts. The first half will take place from December 16 to December 23, and the second will begin right after from December 23 to December 31. There are only a handful of changes between both sections, including content not yet revealed by Niantic. The Raid Battles will cycle between these two halves. Alolan Sandshrew will appear in 1-star Raid Battles for only the first half of the event.
In order to get Alolan Sandshrew, trainers will need to bring along a team that can counter it. Considering this is only a 1-star raid battle, it shouldn't be too difficult to defeat Alolan Sandshrew, even when playing alone. Regardless, Alolan Sandshrew is an Ice- and Steel-type Pokémon, meaning it has weaknesses to Fighting-, Ground-, and Fire-type moves. While trainers should bring along any Pokémon with these types of moves, there are six that can do the most damage. Beyond helping players capture Alolan Sandshrew, these six Pokémon can also work well in the 5-Star Raid Battles happening in December.
Best Alolan Sandshrew Raid Counters in Pokémon Go
When taking on Alolan Sandshrew in a Pokémon GO Raid during the first half of the holiday event, players should plan to bring some of the following Pokémon and moves:
- Lucario: Counter and Aura Sphere.
- Reshiram: Fire Fang and Overheat.
- Darmanitan: Fire Fang and Overheat.
- Chandelure: Incinerate and Overheat.
- Blaziken: Fire Spin and Blast Burn.
- Conkeldurr: Counter and Dynamic Punch.
As alternative options, trainers can also bring along Mega Evolutions of Pokémon. Mega Charizard Y and Mega Houndoom can also do tons of damage to Alolan Sandshrew. However, it's understandable why players may want to save their Mega Energy for future, more difficult battles.
Alolan Sandshrew will be removed from the Raid Battle rotation once the second half of the event begins on December 23. This event is also currently a trainer's best chance at adding a Shiny Alolan Sandshrew to their collection. Finding Shiny Pokémon is incredibly rare in both Pokémon GO and all the other mainline titles. While each game has its own Shiny Hunting method, Pokémon GO gives players the chance to get these colorful variations by completing Raid Battles.
Pokémon Go is available now on iOS and Android.
