As part of their January events and their Season of Heritage, Pokemon Go will bring in Mega Aerodactyl to the Mega Raids for a limited time only.
Mega Aerodactyl, which is a Mega Evolved form of the Flying/Rock-type Fossil Pokemon, will be in the said Raids from January 7th at 10:00 AM, local time, until February 1st at 10:00 AM, local time.
If they are lucky enough during the said schedule, players might encounter, and catch, its Shiny Version.
Weakness, Counters
In order to catch Mega Aerodactyl in Pokemon Go's Mega Raids, they must need to know its weakness first. As mentioned earlier, the said Pokemon is a Rock/Flying dual type.
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According to Eurogamer, Rock-type Pokemon are vulnerable against Fighting, Ground, Steel, Water, and Grass-type Pokemon, as well as moves based on said types. Flying-type Pokemon, on the other hand, are weak against Rock, Electric, and Ice-type Pokemon, as well as moves based on them.
Because of these facts, they can generate a team with Pokemon that are based from these aforementioned types in order to defeat Mega Aerodactyl, and catch it to make it their own.
According to Dual Shockers, the best counter for Mega Aerodactyl is Aerodactyl itself, as it can attack its Mega Evolution version with Rock Throw and Rock Slide, both of which are Rock-type moves.
Rhyperior (Smack Down, Rock Wrecker) and Tyranitar (Smack Down, Stone Edge) are also good choices to counter Mega Aerodactyl, along with Terrakion (Smack Down, Rock Slide), Rampardos (Smack Down, Rock Slide), and Therian Landorus (Rock Throw, Rock Slide).
For Water-types, according to Bleeding Cool, Kyogre (Waterfall, Surf/Hydro Pump) and Empoleon (Metal Claw, Hydro Cannon) can be good options for them to add in their team, along with Swampert (Water Gun, Hydro Cannon), Kingler (Bubble, Crabhammer), Inteleon (Water Gun, Surf), Crawdaunt (Waterfall, Crabhammer), and Blastoise (Water Gun, Hydro Cannon).
Zekrom, according to Pokemon Go Hub, can be a good choice if they want to add in an Electric-type Pokemon in their team thanks to its Charge Beam and Wild Charge, as well as Ampharos (Volt Switch, Zap Cannon), Electivire (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge), Raikou (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge), Zapdos (Thunder Shock, Thunderbolt), Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge), and Magnezone (Spark, Wild Charge).
They can also throw in Ice-type Pokemon in their team against Mega Aerodactyl such as Abomasnow (Powder Snow, Weather Ball - Ice) and Mamoswine (Powder Snow, Avalanche), as well as Galarian Zen and Galarian Standard Darmanitan (Ice Fang, Avalanche/Ice Punch), Weavile (Ice Shard, Avalanche), and Glaceon (Frost Breath/Ice Shard, Avalanche).
For Steel-type Pokemon, they can consider either Crowned Sword Zacian (Metal Claw, Iron Head/Wild Charge/Play Rough), Metagross (Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash), Dialgia (Metal Claw, Iron Head), Genesect (Metal Claw, Magnet Bomb), Archeops (Steel Wing, Ancient Power), and Excadrill (Metal Claw, Iron Head).
Once they have prepared their team, they will just need to call in up to four more Trainers to help them defeat Mega Aerodactyl in the Mega Raids, or if they are able to, they can face it alone.
Once it gets weak after a series of attacks, they can use the Circle Lock Technique to guarantee a Great or Excellent throw, with the help of Golden Razz Berries, in order to catch their very own Mega Aerodactyl.
Best Movesets
Once they have caught it from the Mega Raids, they will now need to learn what moves they can give to Mega Aerodactyl that can be suitable in situations such as Player-versus-Player (PvP) battles in Pokemon Go, as well as attacking Pokemon in Gyms.
According to gameinfo.io, if they want to focus more on dealing damage per second (DPS), they can consider the combination of Rock Throw and Rock Slide, as this moveset has a highest total DPS.
They can also choose between Bite and Steel Wing for its Quick Move, while they can consider either Hyper Beam, Ancient Power, Iron Head, Earth Power, Frustration, or Return for its Charged Move.
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