Rayquaza and Other Gen 3 Pokemon Coming to Pokemon Go

Get ready for another wave of new Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go just announced that Rayquaza and a wave of Flying-Type Pokemon will start appearing in Pokemon Go beginning on February 9th. The new wave of Pokemon includes highly anticipated powerhouses like Salamance and Metagross, along with Pokemon like Altaria, Chimecho, and Tropius.

Rayquaza is the third and final of the "mascot Legendaries" from the Hoenn region. A powerful Dragon/Flying type, Rayquaza will remain in gyms through March 16th. That means that players will have a five day window in which they can battle both Kyogre and Rayquaza in gyms.

To celebrate the new wave of Pokemon, Pokemon Go also announced a "Gen 3" mini-event that will run through February 13th. During this four day event, Pokemon from the Hoenn region will take over all wild encounters, giving players a unique opportunity to quickly add to their Pokedex. The announcement also teased that some of the new Pokemon would appear as Raid Bosses and that there might be some changes to the game's egg pools as well.

Pokemon Go is also selling bundled in-game items at a discount to help players optimize their time capturing the new Pokemon Discounted items include Raid Passes, Incubators, and Star Pieces and will remain on sale through February 23rd. Lure Modules will also last for six hours when activated on a PokeStop during the same time period.

As with the other waves of Pokemon, we'll likely have at least a few surprises to find tomorrow. Pokemon Go has added at least one new species of Shiny Pokemon with each wave, along with making at least one Pokemon "regional-exclusive." There's also a few clues in Pokemon Go's code that suggests that Chimecho will be a special Pokemon that gives out more Stardust whenever it's captured.

Since Pokemon Go is doing a "Gen 3" event this month, it appears that the game will be skipping out on a Valentine's Day event this year. While that will disappoint some players, we're guessing that the opportunity to capture new Pokemon in increased numbers outweighs the prospect of seeing more pink Pokemon in the wild.

The new Pokemon will be released in Pokemon Go on February 9th, presumably around 4 PM ET.