Legendary Pokemon Announced for Pokemon Go

The Legendary Pokemon are OFFICIALLY coming to Pokemon Go. The popular mobile app confirmed that Legendary Pokemon will be added to the game, beginning with the first ever Legendary Raid at Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago.

In Pokemon canon, Legendary Pokemon are super-powerful and rare Pokemon that typically appear only once per game. While the original Legendary Pokemon were optional side quests in Pokemon Red and Blue, later games featured some Legendary Pokemon prominently in the storyline, usually with an inevitable confrontation between the player and a game’s “mascot Legendary” Pokemon near the end of the game.

Legendary Pokemon will work a bit differently than normal Pokemon in Pokemon Go. Niantic confirmed that players will not be able to leave Legendary Pokemon in gyms, although they can still be used to attack gyms and fight Raid Bosses.

As previously leaked via datamines, Legendary Pokemon will have special Raid Eggs to differentiate them from normal Raids. Players will also need a special Legendary Raid Pass to participate in Legendary Raids, which will be distributed seperately from normal Raid Passes.

Pokemon Go Fest

In a press release, Niantic confirmed that the “mystery challenge” players will try to unlock at Pokemon Go Fest is the first ever Legendary Pokemon Raid. 

In order to unlock the Legendary Raid, players around the world will need to catch as many Pokemon as they can during three hour-long “Challenge Windows.” If players around the world meet that goal, they’ll unlock the first ever Legendary Raid at Pokemon Go Fest.

If players at Pokemon Go Fest beat that Legendary Raid, they’ll in turn unlock Legendary Raids for other players worldwide. 

Pokemon Go also plans on livestreaming Pokemon Go Fest and the Legendary Pokemon Raid live on Twitch, so that players around the world can share in the excitement of seeing the first ever Legendary Pokemon in the game. 

Post-Launch

Details are still murky as to how Legendary Pokemon raids will work for players not attending Pokemon Go Fest. A new trailer released to announce the addition of Legendary Pokemon seems to hint that certain players will automatically receive a Legendary Raid Pass, along with a time, date, and location for a Legendary Raid. The trailer indicates that players will have at least two days’ notice for when the Raid will take place.

The other interesting part about the trailer is that players who beat the Raid automatically received the Legendary Pokemon they defeated. It looks like players won’t need to bother trying to capture a Legendary Pokemon, which is nice given the low success rate of Premiere Balls. 

More details about Legendary Pokemon will be released soon, so keep following WWG for all your Pokemon Go news! 

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