Hey, remember the first trailer for Pokémon GO, waaaayyyy back about a thousand years ago, a.k.a. 2015? Among other parts of the new-infamous game it hinted at, it showed a number of players all coming together in one location to take on Mewtwo all at once in a manner suspiciously similar to the raid battles that arrived in the game recently? That’s not a coincidence, and now legendary Pokémon are coming with it.
As part of the game’s anniversary celebration, alongside an in-person Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago this weekend, legendary Pokémon are joining in through the raid feature. In the video Niantic put out to display the additions, they show all three Red/Blue Version legendary birds (Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres), as well as Lugia and Ho-Oh. There’s even a little tease of Mewtwo at the end, who will likely be rare even among the legendaries.
Like the original trailer, the new one shows tons of people taking to the streets together in a way we haven’t really seen since the game’s launch, but this change could cause it to happen again. I’ve personally seen more than forty people show up for a raid battle with a rare Pokémon in a much more remote location than the one in the trailer, and it looks like the legendary raids will give more advanced warning to draw in as many players as possible. Be prepared for Pokémon players clogging the streets once more.
The lucky attendees of the Pokémon GO Fest on Saturday will get to take the first crack at a legendary Pokémon, and if they succeed, it’ll become available to players around the world in raid battles. To keep some balance in the game, Niantic won’t allow players to leave legendary Pokémon to defend gyms, only allowing their use for offensive purposes—so it’s probably a good thing they’re also going to let you remotely feed your defending Pokémon to keep their strength up.
There will also be in-game challenges that players around the world can participate in at different times throughout the day on Saturday, and you can keep up with what’s going on with the official live stream on Twitch.
(image: Niantic)
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