Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: What Are Tera Types? Terastallizing Explained

All your Tera-questions, Tera-answered

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, like most other games in the Pokémon series, has a new gimmick that changes up how Pokémon work. We've been through Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, Dynamax Pokémon, and now we have Terastallization — a crystal-like addition to a Pokémon's appearance that has the power to change their type.

But how does the Pokémon's Tera Type change their moves? Does it change their STAB stats? Does it protect those Pokémon from their weaknesses?

Read on for all the answers!

To put it simply: A Tera Type will replace that Pokémon's offensive typing, but add to its types defensively. Basically, Terastallization makes most sense as a defensive strategy in most cases.

Let's use an example. The Flying Tera Type Pikachu that you'll be able to get as an early purchase bonus is a great start.

Pikachu's normal typing is Electric.

Electric types moves are:

However, once you Terastallize into Flying type, that changes Pikachu to Flying type.

Flying types are:

This Pikachu still cannot use Electric moves against a ground Pokémon, but it is now no longer weak to Grass and Dragon types.

Flying Pikachu will also now have a Same-Type Attack Bonus for Flying moves, but will not lose its Same-Type Attack Bonus for Electric moves.

Although it won't change that Pokémon's weaknesses and strengths, a Pokémon with the same Tera Type as its base type will just get twice the Same-Type Attack Bonus for moves of that type.

You can effectively cover a Pokémon's weaknesses by changing its Tera Type to something else. For example, you can change a Fire type Pokémon to a Grass type Pokémon, making it strong against Water type Pokémon instead of weak to them.

First, you'll need to make sure your Tera Orb is charged. To do this, you'll need to heal your Pokémon at a Pokémon Center. You get one Tera Orb charge to use, and once that's gone, you'll need to recharge it again.

When you've got a charged Tera Orb, start a battle with a trainer or a wild Pokémon, and select the "Battle" option in the menu, and you'll see the option to Terastallize — you can't miss it, it takes up a large part of the screen!

Press R (the right shoulder button) to Terastallize, and then choose your move. Your Pokémon will transform before making the move.

You can find Tera Pokémon in a few ways.

If you spot a big column of yellow light, that's a wild Tera Pokémon. These Pokémon will have specific Tera Types that don't match their basic typing. However, these Pokémon are also much higher level than the other wild Pokémon in the same area, so be careful!

Tera Raid Battles can be found by finding columns of light in the overworld, or star-shaped icons on the map. These are dens belonging to a Tera Type Pokémon, similar to the Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon in Sword and Shield. You can take them on as a group with friends or strangers, or you can take them on yourself.

The icons on the map and the colour of the den itself will also tell you what Tera Type you can expect in each den.

There are also limited-time Event Battles, which are put on by Game Freak and The Pokémon Company. Here's our list of upcoming Event Battles:

Every Pokémon you catch will have a Tera Type, but it will be the same as one of its basic types.

All 18 types can be found as Tera Types:

Changing a Tera Type is simple, but it's not easy. Here are the steps:

There are a few ways to get Tera Shards.

Tera Blast is a special move that changes to the Tera Type of the user. Here are the stats:

When you beat your fifth gym — it doesn't matter which one — the Gym Leader will give you Tera Blast, TM171, as a reward. You can also craft the TM with 8,000 LP and 8x Glimmet Crystal s.

Do you have any more questions about Tera Types, Tera Raids, or anything else Tera-related? Let us know in the comments!

Check out our Pokémon Scarlet & Violet walkthrough guides for all the information you'll need on your Paldean adventure!