Pokemon Go Update Hints Legendary Pokemon are Coming This Weekend

Pokemon Go players, get hyped! There’s new evidence that Legendary Pokemon will be added to the game as soon as this weekend.

On Tuesday evening, Pokemon Go announced a surprise update to the game, which should be released to the Google Play and Apple App Store sometime this week.

The update will bring plenty of much welcomed changes, but the announcement and timing is a bit suspicious. After all, Pokemon Go Fest is this weekend, so players suspected that the update would also contain some new hints about whatever Niantic has planned for this Saturday.

Not only does the update contain several new items of code specifically for Pokemon Go Fest, dataminers have also discovered new assets and code items related to Legendary Pokemon. Basically, Legendary Pokemon are now ready to go in Pokemon Go. All Niantic needs to do is pull the trigger.

Keep scrolling down to see what hints at Legendary Pokemon the new update contains:

Legendary Discoveries

The new update confirms that Legendary Pokemon will be distributed via high-level raids. Dataminers found new image assets related to “Legendary Raids,” including a special raid icon and a special victory banner for when players beat a Legendary Raid. 

Pokemon Go also added new “Exclusive” Raids to the game with the new update. Players will need a special “Exclusive Raid Pass” to participate in Exclusive Raids. The Exclusive Raid Pass contains the time, date, location, and even a link to Google Maps for directions, so that players know exactly when and where the Exclusive Raid will be.

While there’s nothing in the code that states that all Legendary Raids will be Exclusive, it does sync up with early reports that Niantic would selectively distribute Legendary Raid Passes to certain players. 

The new update also contains several new lines of code related to how players can use Legendary Pokemon after they’ve caught them. Not only will the game warn you if you try to transfer a Legendary Pokemon, it also prevents players from adding Legendary Pokemon to gyms. We’ve known for a while that Legendary Pokemon won’t be gym defenders, but the new update finally adds the mechanics needed to make this change happen. 

When Will Legendary Pokemon Be Added?

We won’t know for certain that Pokemon Go is adding Legendary Pokemon until they’re actually in the game. However, the new update strongly suggests that Legendary Pokemon will be rolled out this weekend at Pokemon Go Fest, likely as the “Mystery Challenge” players will need to beat at the end of the event.  

Check back later for more Pokemon Go news and analysis, including any other surprises players might find in the new update. 

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