After MONTHS of rumors, we’ve finally got confirmation that legendaries are coming to Pokémon Go this Saturday—here’s what you need to know to capture your own.
Previously, we knew that the very first Pokémon Go Fest event would give players rare prizes for capturing monsters and doing raids. Turns out, the prizes are gonna be legendaries, just as players suspected. Niantic explains how it’s going to work:
As Trainers around the world go out and explore their neighborhoods in search of Pokémon and Raid Battles, they can keep an eye out for unique Legendary Eggs appearing at Gyms. If Trainers and their team are able to successfully defeat a Legendary Raid Boss, they’ll have the opportunity to catch a Legendary Pokémon of their own! While Legendary Pokémon will help them 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.
On July 22, thousands of Trainers in Grant Park for Pokémon GO Fest and the millions of others around the world will be working together to unlock in-game bonuses for the entire Pokémon GO community. If they manage to catch enough Pokémon during the Pokémon GO Fest Challenge Windows, the first Legendary Pokémon will be revealed in Grant Park. If the Trainers in Chicago succeed in defeating the Legendary Pokémon, that Pokémon will start appearing in Raid Battles around the world, after Pokémon GO Fest.
So, folks in Chicago attending the event will get first dibs on legendaries, while players around the world will get a chance to encounter the same monsters if the requirements are met. In the trailer, we see all sorts of mythical monsters, from Ho-oh to Lugia and Mewtwo, but it’s unclear which, specifically, will start appearing on Saturday. Niantic says that, if successful, legendaries will start appearing for everyone starting on July 23rd, but only in legendary raids.
If nothing else, I suspect a ton of people are about to start playing Pokémon Go this weekend. Remember, you need to be at least level 5 to raid, so go get grinding if you’re not there already! Given these are legendary-raid-specific, it’s sounding like mostly high level players with powerful monsters to begin with will be able to own legendaries.
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