Darkrai will joins Pokémon UNITE on October 17th, 2024! Shadow Claw has Darkrai slash in a designated direction with sharp claws made from shadows. These claws deal damage, apply slowing effects, and marks the opponent. Deal damage twice to a marked opponent, and they'll fall asleep!

Dark Pulse lets Darkrai hide in a shadow, creating additional shadows around itself that it can freely move between. Use the move again to appear from a shadow and deal damage. Hold the button down to go back into the shadows and prepare an additional attack!

Worst Nightmare sends a designated opponent into a nightmare along with Darkrai. Your opponent will take damage over time, and any damage dealt to them in the nightmare is also dealt to them outside of it. All of Darkrai's cooldowns are reset on use as well!

Creep It Real with Darkrai in Pokémon UNITE

Lull your opponents to sleep and strike them with powerful nightmares as this Melee Speedster comes to Aeos Island. Show off your dark side with Darkrai in Pokémon UNITE. This Dark-type Mythical Pokémon was originally discovered in the Sinnoh region, and as folklore would have it, it’s known for making people see horrific nightmares on moonless nights. Now, the Pitch-Black Pokémon is sneaking onto Aeos Island during the spookiest time of year as a Speedster ready to bring unbridled horror. Look forward to special Halloween events and a slew of spooky-themed Holowear alongside its arrival!

You can obtain the Unite license for the Melee Speedster Darkrai for 13,000 Aeos coins or 790 Aeos gems at the Unite Battle Committee shop. Darkrai will only be obtainable with Aeos gems for the first seven days of its release. Read on to learn more about the Pitch-Black Pokémon before slinking into action on Aeos Island.

Darkrai Basics

Ability: Bad Dreams - Darkrai deals damage over time to nearby sleeping opposing Pokémon. The damage dealt by Bad Dreams will not wake the opposing Pokémon. Opposing Pokémon affected by Bad Dreams take increased damage from the next attack.

Basic Attack - Basic attacks made against sleeping opposing Pokémon will become boosted attacks with increased range. Boosted attacks deal damage to opposing Pokémon with an attack from a void and restore Darkrai’s HP.

Lv. 1 & 3 Moves

Hypnosis - Darkrai employs hypnotic suggestion in the designated direction, dealing damage to opposing Pokémon it hits and making them fall asleep after a short time.

Calm Mind - Darkrai quietly focus its mind and increases its Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and movement speed for a short time.

Lv. 5 Moves

Dark Void - Darkrai deals damage with a dark power to the designated opposing Pokémon and Pokémon near it and marks them. When Darkrai deals damage to marked opposing Pokémon, the marks are removed and the opposing Pokémon fall asleep. Dark Void can be upgraded to apply a slowing effect when applying a mark to an opposing Pokémon.

Shadow Claw - Darkrai slashes in the designated direction with sharp claws made from shadows, dealing damage, applying a slowing effect, and marking opposing Pokémon it hits. When Darkrai deals damage twice to marked opposing Pokémon, the mark is removed and the opposing Pokémon falls asleep. When Shadow Claw hits, it can be used again, and Darkrai deals damage to the designated opposing Pokémon with huge claws. This damage increases if there are opposing Pokémon that activated Bad Dreams around Darkrai. Shadow Claw can be upgraded to increase the damage it deals.

Lv. 7 Moves

Nasty Plot - Darkrai gains one Nasty Plot counter while moving in the designated direction. A maximum of two Nasty Plot counters can be stored. When Darkrai uses its next basic attack or boosted attack, Darkrai consumes all Nasty Plot counters and deals additional damage based on the number of counters consumed. Nasty Plot can be upgraded to store one use of itself when an opposing Pokémon falls asleep.

Dark Pulse - Darkrai hides in a shadow and creates additional shadows around itself. Darkrai can freely move between the shadows. When Dark Pulse is used again, Darkrai appears from a shadow, deals damage to opposing Pokémon it hits, then returns to the shadow. At this time, if the move button is held down, Dark Pulse ends without Darkrai returning to the shadow. If Dark Pulse is used again after returning to the shadows, Darkrai attacks opposing Pokémon one more time. While Darkrai is hiding in a shadow, it can use Shadow Claw to attack with claws from that shadow and deal damage to opposing Pokémon. Dark Pulse can be upgraded to grant Darkrai a shield when the move hits.

Darkrai’s Unite Move, Worst Nightmare
Darkrai sends the designated opposing Pokémon into a nightmare. Darkrai then suddenly appears in the nightmare. Pokémon inside the nightmare take damage over time. When Darkrai deals damage to the opposing Pokémon inside the nightmare, damage is also dealt to that same opposing Pokémon outside of the nightmare. When Worst Nightmare is used, all of Darkrai’s move cooldowns are reset.

Metagame Watch

Strong Against: Decidueye
Decidueye specializes in doing long-distance damage with Spirit Shackle but struggles against Speedsters once they get close. Nasty Plot and Dark Pulse are both strong moves that allow Darkrai to get close to Decidueye without taking much damage, setting it up to quickly put the Arrow Quill Pokémon to sleep and inflict its worst nightmares.

Weak Against: Umbreon
Everything about Umbreon makes it difficult for Darkrai to deal with. It has high defensive stats, can heal itself often with its basic attacks, and can shake off being put to sleep with its Ability, Inner Focus. As Darkrai, it’s best to wait for one of your teammates to trigger Umbreon’s Inner Focus Ability before diving in with damage of your own. You’ll want to avoid being hindered by Umbreon’s Foul Play or Snarl too, as the hindrances will enable your opponents to do plenty of damage to you in return.

Source: https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/creep-it-real-with-darkrai-in-pokemon-unite