Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera types and Terastalizing are explained

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera types and Terastallizing are a new power where your Pokemon can change types and strengthen certain moves during battles. Terratalization triggered by the Tera Orb you got from Nemona at Naranja Academy is a good way to instantly change your weaknesses and make yourself stronger. Below we’ll explain all the effects of Terastallizing, how to use and unlock them, where to get Pokemon with unique Tera types in the wild and Tera Raids, and even how to change your Pokemon’s Tera types into Scarlet and Violet.

In Scarlet and Violet, players need a Tera Orb to unlock Terastalization for your Pokemon. You can get one of these early in the game – head to the Naranja Academy as part of the game’s tutorial and Nemona will provide you with one when you first encounter Team Star.

From this point on, assuming it’s charged, while in Combat, open the Move menu and press R to activate the Pokemon’s Tera type – then select the move you want to use. Your Pokemon will transform as part of the attack and will not use your turn to do so.

Oh, and remember that shortly after that you’ll have to make a choice about where to go first in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet – and this page may help you decide.

Most Pokemon’s Tera types match their regular types, or at least the primary one. For example, a Grass/Flying dual type Tropius will usually only have one Grass Tera type (there is no such thing as a dual Tera type).

However, there is a chance to catch Pokemon with unique or strange Tera types that don’t match normal ones. Here are the main two options.

• Wild Terastalized Pokemon. Wild Pokemon aren’t usually able to Terastalize themselves without a trainer, but you’ll occasionally see glowing golden Pokemon in the wild. These Pokemon are automatically Terasalized when the battle begins, often with a random, non-traditional Tera type (eg Poison Psyduck or Fire Diglett). You’ll need to reduce their health to red (be careful not to destroy them completely!) to break terrastalization and catch them, but you can try to catch them normally when they’re out of shape.
• Tera Raid Wars. As you explore, you will see columns of light and symbols on your map that represent certain types of Pokemon (Fire, Water, Grass, etc.). Go to one of these to find a large crystal, a chance to Raid Battle with a Pokemon of that Tera Type (actual Pokemon are random). You can play them online with three other trainers or alone with three NPCs. Either way, if you can beat the Terastallized Pokemon, you’ll have a chance to catch it and get some Tera Shards of the Tera type (more on that in a moment). They are also a big part of the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet online co-op, as up to four players can Raid together!

To change the Tera type of your Pokemon in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, players must do the following:

1. Defeat Normal-type Gym Leader Larry in Madali (more about him on our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet gym order page).
2. Get 50 Tera Pieces of the type you want to exchange.
3. Approach the chef behind the counter at Medali Gym.
4. It will ask which Pokemon’s Tera type you want to change and consume 50 Tera Pieces of that type to do so.
5. This will permanently change the Tera type of the Pokemon.

The hard part of this is getting all those Tera Pieces and be warned – it’s a grind To get Tera Shards, players need to defeat Tera Raid battles like the ones mentioned above, and specifically the type of Tera Raid you want. To get Grass Tera Shards you need to win against Grass Pokemon in Tera Raids – and each will drop a maximum of 5 Tera Shards, usually less. Rarely Tera Fragments can also be found in the world as random items, but there is no easy way to collect them.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Terastallizing is a power that replaces the normal spelling of the Tera type of your Pokemon and amplifies its attacks of this type. Here is an example to explain this.

1. Trainer Herb sends a Fuecoco (a Fire type and probably one of the best starters of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet) while fighting another Trainer’s Mankey with the special Ghost Tera type.
2. Herb triggers Terastalization from the attack menu. After the transformation, Fuecoco is no longer a Fire-type – now a Ghost-type, with the Tera-type replacing the standard spelling! (at least during this war)
3. Mankey uses Scratch with no effect. It would usually deal regular damage against a Fire Pokemon, but Fuecoco now does nothing as it’s a Ghost Pokemon!
4. Fuecoco uses Shadow Claw, learned this from a TM before. This attack is Ghost type – and since Fuecoco is currently Terratalized to a Ghost Pokemon, it deals much more damage, roughly twice the normal amount.
5. Mankey then uses Payback Dealing massive damage to Fuecoco as it is a dark type move. Against a Fire Pokemon, this usually deals normal damage, but since Fuecoco is now a Ghost Pokemon, it also has all of one’s weaknesses.
6. The terrastalizing transformation lasts until the battle is over or Fuecoco passes out.. Even if resurrected in the same battle, Fuecoco will come back in its normal state – and since you can only use Tera Orb once before it needs to be recharged, there’s no way to Terratalize it again for now.
7. After the battle is over, Herb recharges the Tera Orb at a nearby Pokemon Center.. It can also be done by visiting the glowing crystals that mark Tera Raid battles in Paldea.

Clearly there are advantages and disadvantages to terracing. The fact that it can only be used once between visits to the Pokemon Center or Raid Battles means you have to be careful when you trigger it and on which Pokemon you use it. However, knowing how to tweak your weaknesses during combat means you can potentially get your Pokemon off some sort of disadvantage, and powering up certain moves is a great thing too.

To check your Pokemon’s Tera type, simply go to the Summary section where regular types will be listed below. Obviously none of this will work if you don’t have a good Pokemon Scarlet and Violet type weakness chart – but the link provided has a great one!

When a Pokemon is Terastalized, its new type is revealed with a crystal on its head – specifically its shape – but the game doesn’t provide information beyond that and actually explains what the shape means. If you need help identifying all Tera-type forms, here’s a quick cheat sheet.

• Big white diamond between two small diamonds: Normal
• Burning Candles: Fire
• water fountain: this
• Flowers: Grass
• Bulb: Electric
• Snowflake: ice
• Huge red fist coming out of the blue whirlpool: War
• Purple skull and crossbones: Poison
• Upper half of a planet: Ground
• Balloons: Flying
• purple eye: Psychic
• butterfly antenna: Bug
• Temple surrounded by rocks: Source
• sad soul: Ghost
• Blue dragon head with red wings: Dragon
• Rough shape with a scary face: Dark
• Metal ax: Steel
• Winged heart: Fairy