How to Raise Pokémon: Riolu/Lucario

Lucario was one of the most popular pokemon back during 4th gen. He  has a pretty cool design, and is very good in battles as well. Since lucario's pre-evolution riolu is accessible very early in Black and White 2 as opposed to having to be hatched out of a mystery egg like in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum I figure it'd be a good idea to give you some tips on raising one up. So let's get started!

Where do I catch Riolu?

Riolu can be found in the tall grass at Floccesy Ranch, and nowhere else. There is a 5% chance of any encounter being riolu. Riolus caught at the ranch range from level 5 to 7.

Is Riolu good?

Heck yes. Even before evolving, riolu is a very good pokemon to have on your team. Having a fighting type at such an early point is very good for beating all the normal types (the first gym), rock types and dark types that are commonplace at the start.

After Riolu evolves into Lucario it gets huge attack as well as special attack, and a plethora of strong moves of various types to take of advantage of. That's not to say you should evolve him immediately though, as riolu can learn a few good attacks that lucario can't after evolving.

How does Riolu evolve? 

Riolu evolves into lucario he has a high amount of friendship and then levels up during the day. You can raise a pokemon's friendship by leveling it up, giving it vitamins (protein, carbos, etc.), having someone massage it, feeding it certain berries or even just by walking around.

When riolu evolves into lucario it's type changes from fighting to fighting/steel.


What moves should I teach Riolu/Lucario?

Riolu for the most part only gets access to normal and fighting type attacks while leveling up. Once it evolves into Lucario however you should get a lot more diversity in it's attacks. You should have 3 attacks and one status move preferably.

What you should teach Riolu:
Slot 1:(Level 1) Foresight > (Level 15) Force Palm > (TM) Brick Break/(Level 51 as Lucario) Aura Sphere/(Level 55 as Lucario) Close Combat
Slot 2:(Level 1) Quick Attack > (Level 11) Feint > (Level 65) Extremespeed
Slot 3:(Level 1) Endure > (TM) Work Up/Swords Dance/Bulk Up/(Level 47 or TM)Calm Mind
Slot 4:(Level 6) Counter > (Move Relearner as a Lucario) Dark Pulse/(TM) Shadow Claw

Work up is a great move choice as it powers up Lucario's special and physical attacks so you don't have to choose between one or the other. On the other hand if you want to use mostly physical attacks or special attacks you can swap it out for Swords Dance or Calm Mind respectively. You could also use Nasty Plot for special attacks, but that involves not letting riolu evolve until level 47...

Other attacks to consider:


(Level 1) Endure + (Level 29 as a Riolu) Reversal combo

This strategy involves getting riolu down to 1 HP using endure and then abusing Reversal which deals more damage the less HP the user has. At 1 HP reversal has a whopping 200 base damage. For reference that's basically selfdestruct's base power but without killing the user immediately. And it gets same type attack boost too. Wow.

(Level 60 as a Lucario) Dragon Pulse

This move can let you get a surprise super effective hit on enemy dragon types, but other than that it's pretty useless as your fighting moves are stronger. If you were to teach your Lucario this I would put it in slot 4.

(Level 19) Me First

This attack is weird. If the user moves first it will steal the enemies attack and then use it against him with twice the power. In some situations this can be amazing, but if the enemy doesn't use a damaging attack or they just move before you it is useless. I would put this in slot 2.

In Closing

Lucario's a pretty boss pokemon. As you can see there are a lot of different ways to use in battles, so try getting creative! Leave a comment about how you raised/want to raise your Lucario.