Pokemon Go Forgets to Give Zapdos Day to a Group of European Islands

Pokemon Go players in the Azore Islands are livid after they missed out on a second straight month of special events.

Today was Zapdos Day, a special mini-event in Pokemon Go in which players could battle Zapdos at every gym over a three hour period. Players got free raid passes to participate in the raid battle, and had a chance to capture a Shiny Zapdos during the event. Any Zapdos caught during the event also had the move Thunder Shock, which gave it an extra edge in battle.

Zapdos Day was supposed to be a worldwide event, but players living the Azores, a small island chain of nine islands located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, are complaining that they couldn't participate in Zapdos Day....and that this wasn't the first time that this problem has occurred.

There are over 240,000 people living on the Azores, which are considered part of Portugal, so it would make sense that there's at least a few Pokemon Go players living on the island. But a popular post on Reddit claims that the Azores didn't get ANY Zapdos raids, despite promises from Niantic officials that it would happen.

The Redditor posted a screencap from a Niantic employee, who claimed that the Azores would get to participate in Zapdos Day from 6 PM to 9 PM local time, along with a complaint that they also didn't get to participate in Articuno Day.

AGAIN zero Zapdos spawns in the Azores islands... even after this response by Niantic! from r/TheSilphRoad

The issue seems tied to how Pokemon Go cuts off raids in the evening in the Americas. Players can only participate in raids before 8 PM in the Americas, which directly contradicts the 9 PM end time for the event in the Azores.

As of press time, Pokemon Go hasn't commented on the issue, nor have they said whether they'd give the Azores a makeup day for the error. While the Azores are just a tiny fraction of the Pokemon Go community, it seems like Niantic should do something to make up for players missing out on two events.