Copperajah #879: the copper elephant that levels mountains

Three meters and 650 kilos of weathered copper. Copperajah (Pachyradjah in French) is Galar's elephant: having come from faraway lands with its pre-evolution to lend humans a hand, it lives in herds and crushes boulders with a simple squeeze of its trunk. In its Gigantamax form, it no longer crushes boulders but entire mountains.

Contents

• Who is Copperajah?
• Evolution: Cufant at level 34
• Pure Steel type, Sheer Force and Heavy Metal
• Gigantamax Copperajah and G-Max Steelsurge
• A maharaja from faraway lands
• Copperajah Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Copperajah?

Listed as #879 in the National Pokédex, Copperajah is the "Copperderm Pokémon" of the eighth generation, the one set in the Galar region. Three meters, 650 kilos, and an almost rectangular body.

Its skin is dark green, while the tip of its trunk, its belly and the end of its short tail are turquoise. Its orange face is set off by heavy dark eyelids that give the illusion of a line of eyeliner and lend it a rather menacing look.

Two white tusks with squared-off tips frame its wide mouth, four rock-like growths crown its head, and orange arabesques run along its flanks. Its trunk looks like the bucket of an excavator.

Poképédia sees it as an Asian elephant crossed with construction machinery, drawing on the shared history of Great Britain and India, on the elephants once put to the heaviest labor, and on the elephant statues of Indian art.

Evolution: Cufant at level 34

Copperajah evolves from Cufant starting at level 34. No stone, no held item, no trade: a simple level-up completes this two-stage line, which has no third member.

The leap is spectacular: 1.2 meters and 100 kilos become 3 meters and 650 kilos, and its stat total climbs from 330 to 500. On evolving, it also immediately learns Heavy Slam, a Steel-type move that hits harder the heavier the user is.

In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, you'll find it in the Wild Area, at the Lake of Outrage and in the Hammerlocke Hills. The Crown Tundra places it at the Giant's Foot and even in the Max Lair.

Pure Steel type, Sheer Force and Heavy Metal

Copperajah is pure Steel type, the best defensive typing in the game. Ten types deal only half damage to it — Normal, Flying, Rock, Bug, Steel, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon and Fairy — and Poison doesn't affect it at all.

Only three types deal double damage to it: Fire, Fighting and Ground. Water, Electric, Ghost and Dark hit it for normal damage, and a quadruple weakness is impossible since it has only one type.

It shares both of its Abilities with Cufant. Sheer Force strips the added effects from its moves but gives them 30% more power in return; Heavy Metal, its Hidden Ability, doubles its weight, which directly powers up Heavy Slam.

Its stats total 500 points, with a clear offensive lean: 130 Attack and 122 HP, against 69 in both Defense and Special Defense, 80 Special Attack and just 30 in Speed. Defeating it yields 2 Attack EVs.

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Gigantamax Copperajah and G-Max Steelsurge

Some Copperajah carry the Gigantamax Factor and can take on this form in battle for three turns. It then rears up on hind legs that have grown enormous, its body rises like a tower, and its trunk reaches a gargantuan size.

Its Gigantamax move is called G-Max Steelsurge, and it's the only Pokémon that uses it. This Steel-type move deals damage and then leaves a lasting trap around the opponent: the game describes it as scattering sharp spikes around the battlefield.

There are two ways to get it. The first is through Max Raid Battles : certain dens, in the Wild Area and later in the Crown Tundra, offer Copperajah that have the Factor. The second is Max Soup, introduced in The Isle of Armor expansion, which gives the Factor to eligible species — Copperajah among them.

Don't mix up the mechanics: a Gigantamax form isn't a Mega Evolution. Copperajah isn't among the 93 existing Mega Pokémon, and the only Mega Evolution of the eighth generation belongs toFalinks, unlocked with the Falinksite.

A maharaja from faraway lands

The Pokédex stresses its past as a worker: Pokémon Sword notes that it settled in the region long ago and worked together with humans, and that its green skin is resistant to water.

Pokémon Shield shows it living in herds, with a trunk grip strong enough to crush a boulder into powder. Pokémon Violet adds a delightful character trait: this very proud Pokémon has a rather bad temper, and the vivid green of its skin earns it the respect of its peers.

Its French name, Pachyradjah, sums all this up: Poképédia reads it as pachyderm and maharaja. On screen, it appears in episode LV044 as the main Pokémon of Chairman Rose, who already owned it back when it was only a Cufant.

Finally, in its Gigantamax form, the Pokédex no longer talks about construction work but about geological catastrophe : when it unleashes the power packed in its trunk, "the resulting blast could level mountains." Reason enough to give it pride of place among the collectible figures and the Pokémon plushies.

Copperajah Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do you get Copperajah?
  By leveling up a Cufant to level 34, or by catching one directly in the wild. In Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, it appears in the Wild Area, at the Lake of Outrage and in the Hammerlocke Hills, as well as in several Max Raid dens. With The Crown Tundra expansion, it also shows up at the Giant's Foot and in the Max Lair.
• How do you get Gigantamax Copperajah?
  There are two ways. Either catch a Copperajah that already has the Gigantamax Factor in a Max Raid Battle: certain dens in the Wild Area and later in the Crown Tundra offer them. Or feed Max Soup to a regular Copperajah, the feature introduced in The Isle of Armor expansion: a dojo student makes it for you in exchange for three Max Mushrooms, and it gives the Factor to eligible species. Careful: if the Pokémon already has the Factor and eats Max Soup, it loses it.
• What is Copperajah's Gigantamax move?
  G-Max Steelsurge, a Steel-type Gigantamax move that only Gigantamax Copperajah can use. It deals damage and scatters a Steel-type entry hazard around the targets; its in-game description talks about sharp spikes scattered around the battlefield. Like all Gigantamax moves, it replaces the Pokémon's damaging moves of the same type, and it has no listed power, accuracy or PP of its own.
• What are Copperajah's Abilities?
  Sheer Force as its main Ability and Heavy Metal as its Hidden Ability, exactly like Cufant. Sheer Force removes the added effects of its moves but raises their power by 30 percent. Heavy Metal doubles its weight, which strengthens Heavy Slam, whose power depends on the user's weight. Neither one specifically boosts Steel-type moves: the Ability that does that is called Steely Spirit and belongs to Perrserker.
• What are Copperajah's weaknesses?
  As a pure Steel type, it only fears Fire, Fighting and Ground, which deal double damage to it. It has no quadruple weakness, since it only has one type. Ten types deal only half damage to it: Normal, Flying, Rock, Bug, Steel, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon and Fairy. Poison does nothing to it at all, and Water, Electric, Ghost and Dark deal normal damage.
• Does Copperajah have a Mega Evolution?
  No. It isn't among the 93 existing Mega Pokémon, and it has no regional form either. Its Gigantamax form isn't a Mega Evolution: they're two different mechanics, with Gigantamax dating from the eighth generation and lasting only three turns of battle. The only Mega Evolution of the eighth generation is Falinks's, obtained through the Falinksite in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

In short

Proud, touchy and built for heavy labor, Copperajah needs thirty-four levels to go from an orange calf to a verdigris giant. A trunk that pulverizes rock and, for the lucky few, a Gigantamax form that reshapes the landscape.