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How to get Greavard and Houndstone in Pokémon Go

How to add the Ghost Dog Pokémon to your Paldea Pokédex.

Image credit: Eurogamer/The Pokémon Company

Greavard and Houndstone, its evolution, are two of the Gen 9 Pokémon who made their first appearance in Pokémon Go during the Season of Adventures Abound.

Released during the Halloween 2023 event in October 2023, these skeleton hounds are, unsurprisingly, categorised as the Ghost Dog Pokémon. Sadly, you can't play fetch with them in Pokémon Go.

Below you'll learn how to get Greavard in Pokémon Go and, once you've caught it, how to evolve Greavard into Houndstone.

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How to get Greavard in Pokémon Go

Greavard made its first appearance in Pokémon Go on Thursday 19th October 2023 as part of the Halloween 2023 event.

Here's how you can catch Greavard during the Halloween 2023 event:

  • Halloween Timed Research quest - Greavard encounter rewarded for completing quest step 1, 2 and 3
  • In three-star raids - Until Thursday 26th October at 10am (local time)
  • Event-exclusive field research task - From Thursday 26th October at 10am (local time) to Tuesday 31st October at 8pm (local time)

The easiest way to catch a Greavard during the Halloween 2023 event is, in our opinion, via Halloween Timed Research as this quest is available throughout the event.

If you'd prefer to catch Greavard in raids or via field research tasks keep in mind that Greavard raids are only running during Halloween Part 1 (until Thursday 26th October at 10am local time), while the field research task will be released during Part 2, which automatically begins when Part 1 ends.

If you'd prefer to catch Greavard through a raid, then it's important to consider whether you'd be able to defeat it in a three-star raid alone. While players who've taken the time to power up Pokémon who can counter Greavard to level 35 should be able to achieve this easily, if you're a newcomer or haven’t been maxing out your Pokémon then you'll be the one tasting defeat.

If you fall into this latter category but still wish to battle Greavard in a raid, we recommend teaming up with other players. This can be through a local Pokémon Go group, your friends or by using a Remote Raid Pass in combination with an app like Poke Genie.

Image credit: Niantic

Keep in mind that, even if you defeat Greavard, it will flee if you run out Premier Balls and, if this does happen, you'll have to successfully defeat the ghost dog in another raid. We’ve included some Greavard counter recommendations further along in this guide to help you out though.

When it comes to catching Greavard via the event-exclusive field research tasks during Halloween Part 2, always remember that you have to find these tasks first. This can be quite the challenge as the tasks given by PokéStops change on a daily basis and you can still receive the seasonal field research tasks during the Halloween 2023 event. If this is your preferred method, then we recommend joining a local Pokémon Go group as someone might have already found the PokéStop you're looking for.

We highly recommend taking the time to catch at least one Greavard during the Halloween 2023 event, because, at the time of writing, we don't know what Greavard's spawn rate will be after the event ends, especially since it's primarily available through raids. There's a chance that, like other recently released Pokémon, Greavard will be hard to find once the event ends, so it's worth adding to your Pokédex when you have the chance.

How to evolve Greavard into Houndstone in Pokémon Go

You need 50 Greavard Candy to evolve Grevard into Houndstone in Pokémon Go.

Image credit: The Pokémon Company

When catching Greavard during the Halloween 2023 event, always make sure to get either a Nice, Great or Excellent Throw as it will reward you with extra candy. Add a regular or Silver Pinap Berry into the mix and you'll earn a good amount of candy for every Greavard you catch.

You can earn additional Greavard candy by using Rare Candy (though you may want to save it for a rarer Pokémon) and having one as your buddy, so you can passively gather candy simply by playing Pokémon Go.

Greavard counters in Pokémon Go

Below you'll find the Greavard counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go:

  • Greavard type - Ghost
  • Greavard is weak against - Dark and Ghost-types
  • Greavard counters - For Dark-type Pokémon, Tyranitar, Weavile, Darkrai, Hydreigon, Yveltal and Guzzlord. For Ghost-type Pokémon, Gengar, Banette, Candelure, Origin Giratina, Trevenant and Confined Hoopa.
  • Other Greavard notes - We highly recommend using Dark-type Pokémon when fighting Greavard, because it will have an advantage over any Ghost-types you use due to it being a Ghost-type itself. While Pokémon like Origin Giratina can still deal some excellent damage, keep in mind that it might not survive very long against Greavard due to this.
Image credit: Niantic

Greavard CP in Pokémon Go

Grevard has the following CP ranges in Pokémon Go:

  • Raid Boss CP for Greavard - 7920 CP
  • Max normal CP for catching Greavard - 525 to 580 CP
  • Max weather boost CP (Fog) for catching Greavard - 669 to 726 CP

The World of Wonders season has come to Pokémon Go. You can now catch Wiglett and, if you don't have one already, Diancie through the Glitz and Glam quest. There's also the Rediscover Kanto and World of Wonders quests to complete! Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


Greavard moveset in Pokémon Go

For Greavard's moveset in Pokémon Go, we recommend Lick as a Fast Move and Shadow Ball as a Charged Move. If you decide to unlock Greavard's second Charged Move, then Psychic Fangs is the ideal choice as this will give it a solid Psychic-type attack.

Here you'll find Greavard's full moveset in Pokémon Go:

Possible Fast Moves

  • Bite (Dark)
  • Lick (Ghost)

Possible Charged Moves

  • Dig (Ground)
  • Psychic Fangs (Psychic)
  • Shadow Ball (Ghost)

Good luck catching Greavard in Pokémon Go!

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