Pokémon Scarlet and Violet player did everything to beat Palkia Tera Raid and still lost

Dialga and Palkia have taken over five-star Tera Raids in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, giving everyone a chance to catch the two Gen IV Legendaries—except for one unfortunate player who was robbed of their Palkia.

The Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids are moderately tough, but you should be able to beat them with the right counter and strategy. All you have to do (in theory) is knock the raid boss out before the timer runs out in order to clear the raid in question, then you claim your rewards and catch your Legendary dragon. One player, however, shared an unlucky clip in a Dec. 9 Reddit post in which they lost to Palkia despite making it faint.

After one last Play Rough from the player’s Azumarill, the text clearly stated, “The wild Palkia fainted!” If that wasn’t obvious enough, the Palkia was then shown losing its Dragon Tera Type—usually a sign you’ve defeated the boss and won the raid battle. The Sinnoh Legendary was also swaying in a dizzy state when you’d normally be prompted to throw a Poké Ball at it.

But instead of having the opportunity to catch the fainted Palkia, the player was blown back by the raid boss “releasing its gathered energy.” They did everything they were supposed to do to beat the Tera Raid, and yet they still somehow lost.

Unfortunately, this is far from the only buggy instance in Scarlet and Violet raids. Tera Raids have been plagued with bugs since the release of the Gen IX games, as experienced by many players including myself. I’ve lost Tera Raids where all the action stops while the timer keeps ticking until it runs out. It’s frustrating to lose these sorts of battles when you know you could’ve won if it weren’t for the performance issues.

This particular instance was a little different, though, because the player clearly defeated Palkia with time to spare on the clock. There isn’t an excuse for players to lose raids after the boss has been defeated; especially during a limited-time Tera Raid event with rare Legendaries. It’s like being handed a trophy only for it to be taken away due to a tragic mix-up.

Still, players had fun making up excuses for the Palkia Tera Raid disaster. “Palkia used space distortion on its life bar to make you think you won lol,” one player joked, tying in the Legendary mon’s ability to control space. After all, Palkia is known as the “Spacial Pokémon” in the Pokédex.

The Dialga and Palkia Tera Raids will be popping up in Scarlet and Violet until Dec. 21.