95% HP Shield, Rough Skin, and Ground Tera Type: How to Beat the 7-Star Mighty Garchomp Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Before October 29
Black Tera Raid crystals are lighting up the Paldea region once again. Running from Friday, October 23, 2026, at 00:00 UTC through Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 23:59 UTC, The Pokémon Company and Game Freak are bringing back one of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's toughest endgame challenges: the 7-star Mighty Garchomp Tera Raid event, featuring a Ground Tera Type and the coveted Mightiest Mark. Whether you missed its original May 2025 debut or want to restock your Ground Tera Shards and Herba Mystica right after the Pokémon HOME and Pokémon Champions servers came back online following emergency security maintenance, taking down Sinnoh's iconic pseudo-legendary requires a strict battle plan.
A Level 100 Boss Built to Punish Unprepared Attackers
Unlike standard 7-star raids that give you three or four comfortable turns to set up buffs before the barrier goes up, Mighty Garchomp locks down the tempo from the opening second. Boasting a 25× HP multiplier, a Jolly nature (+Speed, -Sp. Atk), and its Hidden Ability Rough Skin, this raid boss automatically chips away one-eighth of an attacker's maximum HP every single time it gets hit by a physical contact move.
The biggest trap, however, lies in its Tera Shield trigger threshold. According to combat data compiled by Serebii, Mighty Garchomp activates its Tera Shield as soon as it drops to 95% HP remaining (or when 90% of the raid timer remains). In practice, the very first damaging attack landed on Turn 1 immediately triggers its barrier, slashing standard non-Tera damage to 20% (30% when Terastallized into a non-matching type, and 70% with a matching Tera Type) before your Tera Orb is even charged.
Full Moveset and Scripted Action Timeline
Under its Ground Tera crown, Mighty Garchomp packs four base physical attacks tailored to snipe almost every traditional counter: Earthquake (Ground, boosted by both original STAB and Ground Terastallization), Poison Jab (Poison, punishing Grass and Fairy types), Liquidation (Water, carrying a 20% chance to drop your Defense), and Fire Fang (Fire, specifically included to catch Ice, Grass, Bug, and Steel counters off guard).
On top of its four regular moves, Garchomp executes a relentless sequence of scripted actions as the clock ticks down:
- 99% Time Remaining (Turn 0 Opener): Garchomp immediately opens with Breaking Swipe across the entire party, lowering every player's Attack stat by one stage right out of the gate.
- 95% HP Remaining (or 90% Time): Instant Tera Shield activation.
- 76% then 75% Time Remaining: Garchomp clears all debuffs from itself, then immediately fires off its first Swords Dance (+2 Attack).
- 60% HP Remaining: Garchomp wipes all player stat boosts and nullifies player Abilities for one turn.
- 55% Time Remaining: Garchomp uses a second Swords Dance (pushing its Attack to +4 if left unchecked).
- 40% HP Remaining: Garchomp performs a second cleanse of its own stat drops and status conditions.
Best Counters for Solo and Co-Op Raids
Against a physical powerhouse that punishes contact moves via Rough Skin and stacks two separate Swords Dance boosts, two distinct strategies stand out: Iron Defense physical walls holding a Shell Bell to out-heal Rough Skin recoil while slamming back with Body Press, and special attackers that bypass both Rough Skin and the opening Breaking Swipe Attack drop. Here is the complete breakdown of the five most reliable counters to farm Garchomp while players also wait for classic entries like Pokémon Colosseum on Nintendo Switch 2.
| Counter Pokémon | Ability & Tera Type | Held Item | Recommended Moveset | Key Tactical Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthworm | Earth Eater / Fighting Tera | Shell Bell | Iron Defense, Body Press, Mud-Slap, Protect | Top solo pick: turns Earthquake into 25% HP healing and is immune to Poison Jab. |
| Dondozo | Unaware / Water or Fighting Tera | Shell Bell | Curse, Liquidation, Body Press, Chilling Water | Unaware completely ignores both of Garchomp's scripted Swords Dance boosts. |
| Slowbro | Oblivious / Water or Psychic Tera | Shell Bell | Iron Defense, Nasty Plot, Stored Power, Slack Off | Special attacker: never triggers Rough Skin chip damage and resists Fire Fang. |
| Corviknight | Mirror Armor / Fighting Tera | Shell Bell | Iron Defense, Body Press, Roost, Reflect | Bounces back Liquidation Defense drops and shrugs off Ground and Poison moves. |
| Serperior | Contrary / Grass Tera | Shell Bell / Covert Cloak | Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Breaking Swipe, Gastro Acid | Turns Leaf Storm into +2 Sp. Atk boosts while resisting Earthquake and Liquidation. |
If you are running Orthworm solo (Impish nature, 252 HP / 252 Defense EVs), keep one critical timing in mind when Garchomp wipes your buffs at 60% HP: always click Protect on the turn your Ability is nullified so you do not eat a boosted Earthquake while Earth Eater is offline, then immediately re-establish Iron Defense. Meanwhile, players tempted to bring physical Grass-types like Hisuian Decidueye or Hisuian Lilligant should tread carefully: because Garchomp carries both Poison Jab and Fire Fang alongside Rough Skin, they require dedicated co-op support running Reflect and Chilling Water, making Contrary Serperior, Orthworm, or Unaware Dondozo far safer solo choices.
Rewards and Catch Restrictions
As with every 7-star Unrivaled event, Mighty Garchomp can only be caught once per save data. If you already captured it during its May 2025 run, you cannot throw a Poké Ball a second time, but farming the raid remains well worth your time. Your first clear guarantees an Ability Patch and TM149 Earthquake, while every clear drops 40 Ground Tera Shards (plus 20 bonus shards for the raid host), Exp. Candy L and XL, Carbos vitamins, and a 3% roll on each of the five Herba Mystica varieties alongside Bottle Caps and Jolly Mints.
My Take
Mighty Garchomp remains one of Game Freak's best-tuned 7-star Tera Raids in the entire Paldea cycle. Whereas plenty of Unrivaled bosses fold to a standard three-turn buff routine, the 95% HP shield trigger paired with Rough Skin immediately punishes impatient online lobbies that spam physical contact attacks without watching their health bars. Taking it down solo with an Earth Eater Orthworm or an Unaware Dondozo feels genuinely rewarding because you turn Garchomp's own raw aggression into your defensive win condition. If your living Pokédex is still missing this Mightiest Mark Garchomp, do not sleep on this October window before the crystals vanish on Thursday night.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
