Niantic
Developer Niantic and The Pokemon Company announced that Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, the legendary trio from the Johto region, are all coming to Pokemon Go today. They join the previously added Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Mewtwo, and Lugia.
Here’s everything you need to know about Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Go, including where to catch them and how to battle with them as well as a brief history of their appearance in the game.
1. Here’s How to Catch Legendary Pokemon
Niantic
All legendary Pokemon will be available to catch only for a limited time (usually a month), so be sure to nab yours right away.
Legendary Pokemon are found via Raid Battles. Raid Battles are where a group of up to 20 people work together to take down an extremely tough Raid Boss Pokemon. Before a Raid Battle begins, a timer will appear above a Gym before the raid boss is revealed. You’ll need a Raid Pass to enter a Raid, and you can get one for free each day by visiting a Gym. If you successfully defeat the boss within three minutes, you’ll have a chance to catch the Pokemon. You can also win Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, and Technical Machines.
According to Eurogamer, Raid Bosses are graded from one to five, with five being a legendary Pokemon. You’ll need at least 10 or 12 players to take it down. Raid Boss CP for legendaries range from 37,603 with Articuno to 49,430 with Mewtwo.
Once you defeat the Raid Boss, you can catch it. According to Eurogamer, you have a 3 percent base chance to catch a legendary Pokemon. However, if you use a Golden Razz Berry, throw a curve ball, get a “Excellent” throw, and have a gold medal matching the legendary’s type, you can bring the chance up to 24 percent. Also be sure to throw Pokeballs before their attack animations end so they don’t deflect it.
Some legendaries like Mewtwo will only be available in Exclusive Raid Battles. You need to receive an invitation to join Exclusive Raid Battles by completing a Raid Battle recently at the Gym where the Exclusive Raid Battle will take place, according to a blog post from Niantic. Invitations include advance warning of when the Exclusive Raid will take place, allowing you to coordinate with other players. However, Exclusive Raid Battles are getting an overhaul.
EX Raid Battles will be taking the place of Exclusive Raid Battles after Niantic gathered valuable feedback from players. EX Raid Battles will be available via field-testing phases at select Gyms before the feature becomes available globally, according to a blog post from Niantic. Periodic adjustments to the eligibility requirements, frequency, times, locations, and durations will be made during the tests. The first EX Raid Passes will be sent out soon and invited players will be able to test them out starting September 6.
2. Here’s When and Where to Find Every Legendary Pokemon
NianticZapdos is currently available in Pokemon Go.
Raikou, Entei, and Suicune will join Raid Battles at Gyms around the world today, though each one will be exclusive to a specific region. Raikou is found in the Americas, Entei in Europe and Africa; and Suicune in the Asia-Pacific region. Just like their in-game counterparts, they’ll roam to different regions starting September 30 to give players in other regions a chance to catch a different legendary beast. Then on October 31, they’ll make one more rotation and then presumably disappear from the game.
Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Lugia are unavailable after August 31.
Players battled Mewtwo at the Pokemon Go Stadium event in Yokohama, Japan on August 14th. However, Niantic still hasn’t given us a date on when we can battle Mewtwo. From what we could gather on our report, a Pokemon email newsletter suggested that we could see Mewtwo on August 31 or the day after. In addition, Mewtwo’s story as told in the Pokemon Mansion journals in Pokemon Red/Blue said that on September 1 Mewtwo became to powerful and couldn’t be controlled. Nobody has mentioned getting an invitation to Mewtwo’s Exclusive Raid Battle.
Get updates on when legenday Pokemon are comming by following the official Pokemon Go Twitter as well as the Twitter account for Pokemon Go fan site The Silph Road.
3. Here’s How to Battle With Legendary Pokemon
NianticMoltres is now available in Pokemon Go.
Legendary Pokemon can be used in battle just like any other Pokemon. This includes battling in Gyms and Raid Battles.
However, they cannot be used as gym defenders. Niantic said in a blog post that “While Legendary Pokémon will help them [players] take on the toughest Raid Bosses and Gym Battles, they’re not willing to leave their Trainer’s side, so they can’t be left to defend Gyms.”
This is understandable as legendaries are really strong and can make hundreds of Gyms unwinnable. However, you can still use your legendary to win Gyms. You just need to use another Pokemon in your party as a defender after you beat the Gym.
4. Legendary Pokemon and Raid Battles Were Teased Back in Pokemon Go‘s Debut Trailer
The idea of how legendary Pokemon are caught dates back to the debut trailer for Pokemon Go on September 9, 2015. The trailer shows hundreds of people in a Raid Battle in Times Square facing off against a Mewtwo. It even has the word “Raid” show up briefly in the trailer and has the timer and everything, though the timer was at 10 minutes in the trailer instead of three.
Legendary Pokemon were teased again back in July 2017 with an App Store ad. A datamine of Version 0.69.0 for Android showed evidence of legendary Pokemon appearing in the game.
Legendary Pokemon were then formally announced in a new trailer on July 20, 2017. The first legendary Pokemon to be released was Lugia, which was given to everyone who attended the Pokemon Go Fest in Grant Park, Chicago on July 22, 2017. Because Team Mystic caught the most Pokemon during the event, Articuno was the next legendary Pokemon released.
5. Generation Three Legendaries May Be Coming Soon
Nintendo
According to a datamine of the 0.71.0 version of Pokemon Go, generation three Pokemon may be coming soon to the game. This includes the legendary Pokemon from that generation like Deoxys and Jirachi.
A list of the names for all 135 Pokemon from generation three of the Pokemon series (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald) was found in the game’s code. A list of 73 new candy families was also found. However, there is no evidence of sound files or new moves.
Generation two Pokemon were added to Pokemon Go on February 16, 2017. Pokemon GO Hub datamined the existence of gen two Pokemon three months before they were officially released.
