'Pokemon Go' Brings Back Lugia and Ho-Oh for Another Raid Weekend

Pokemon Go is bringing back the Legendary Pokemon Lugia and Ho-Oh for one last raid weekend in [...]

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Go is bringing back the Legendary Pokemon Lugia and Ho-Oh for one last raid weekend in 2018.

Earlier today, Pokemon Go announced a special weekend-long event in which the two Legendary Birds would appear in Raid Battles for a limited time. Lugia and Ho-Oh will start appearing tomorrow at 4 PM ET and remain in the Raid Boss pool through 4 PM on Monday December 17th.

By now, most players should be familiar with Lugia and Ho-Oh, as they've appeared in various Raid events multiple times. Lugia was the first Legendary Raid Boss and appeared in the game through most of summer 2017, while Ho-Oh first appeared late last fall.

Both Legendary Pokemon also have Shiny forms, which are potentially available once players beat them in Raid Battles. Shiny Ho-Oh has golden feathers, while a Shiny Lugia has light purple markings instead of its usual deep blue hues.

No reason was given for the return of either Pokemon, but it could be related to Pokemon Go's recent addition of features related to the Trainer Battles system. Players can now unlock second Charge Moves by spending Candies and Stardust and adjustments were recently made to how damage is calculated when attacking with Super Effective moves. Both these changes will at least make this weekend's Raids a little different from all the other times Lugia and Ho-Oh have appeared in gyms.

Another possibility is that Pokemon Go is phasing out Lugia, Ho-Oh, and other "older" Raid Bosses for the time being. With this weekend's event, players have a chance at getting every Legendary Pokemon from the first two pairs of Pokemon games, a sign that Pokemon Go could be moving to focus on newer Legendary Pokemon in 2019.

Whatever the reason, players have one last chance to nab these Legendary Pokemon in 2018 starting tomorrow.

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