Niantic Pokemon Go Fest Chicago is currently underway.
Legendary Pokemon are expected to make their debut in Pokemon Go today. This comes as part of Pokemon Go Fest, which is an all day event. So what time precisely are the legendaries expected to be released?
It seems that the first legendary Pokemon will appear in Chicago, Illinois at 6:00 p.m. CDT.
The idea here is that throughout the day, players in Chicago and around the world are encouraged to catch as many Pokemon as they possibly can. If they catch enough during particular “challenge windows,” a legendary Pokemon will appear in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Niantic initially described this as a “mystery challenge,” but it has since become clear that this refers to the appearance of the first legendary. On Niantic’s website, they specify that the mystery challenge will happen between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. CDT. Presumably, then, the first legendary Raid Battle will begin at 6:00 p.m. and last until 7:00 p.m.
If you won’t be in Chicago for Pokemon Go Fest, you won’t be able to get a legendary at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Instead, if the players in Grant Park defeat the legendary, it will start appearing in Raid Battles around the world afterwards. However, it seems that the legendary won’t be in Raid Battles everywhere until Sunday. Niantic had previously said on its website that the “global reward,” which we now know refers to the release of the legendary Pokemon, will be available on July 23rd and July 24th.
It’s unclear precisely what time the legendary will be made available on July 23rd. Niantic has just said that the legendary will “start appearing in Raid Battles around the world “after Pokémon GO Fest.”
However, if you’re dying to get your look at the first legendary, you can watch a live stream of Pokemon Go Fest here, tuning in at 6:00 p.m. Central Time to see it.
Nobody knows what legendary will be appearing on Saturday, but it seems that whichever creature it might be, it’s this specific Pokemon that will start appearing in Raid Battles starting on Sunday; it’s not that every single legendary in the game will be unlocked at that time. There are six legendary Pokemon that appear in the newly-released trailer for legendaries, so it’s probably one of those that will be in Chicago. Those six Pokemon are Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Ho-Oh and Lugia. Lugia plays the largest part in the trailer, so a lot of fans speculate that this will be the one to appear in Chicago.
Technically, Niantic has said that it’s not a guarantee that a legendary will be released on Saturday at all; it’s dependent upon whether players are able to catch enough Pokemon to unlock the legendary Raid Battle.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Niantic Global Marketing Lead Archit Bhargava told The Chicago Tribune. “It’s not. It’s going to completely depend on how the day progresses.”
However, it’s pretty difficult to believe that Niantic would have thousands of fans purchase tickets to an event only for the company to not release a legendary because players worldwide did not reach some arbitrary goal, so a legendary appearing later today seems like a pretty safe bet either way.