What Will Pokemon Go’s Next Raid Bosses Be?

Pokemon Go’s raids are less than a week old, but people are already asking what’s next. While there’s over 20 different Raid Bosses currently in the game, players have speculated that the game will eventually cycle out the current Raid Bosses for a new set of Pokemon.

This theory is supported by Pokemon Go‘s website, which shows Raid Battles against several Pokemon that aren’t in the current Raid Boss pool.

Which Pokemon will be tapped to fill out the next group of Raid Bosses? Well, we’ve come up with a list of Pokemon that we feel are likely candidates to appear in future raids, along with our reasoning why.

Scroll down to find out which Pokemon will (probably) be taking over a gym near you soon!

Definitely Happening

We should start with the four Pokemon we KNOW will be a part of the next group of Raid Bosses. Dragonite, Blissey, Ninetales, and Charmeleon all appeared as Raid Bosses in various promotional pictures used by Niantic to explain the new Raid mechanic on Pokemon GO‘s website, so we’ll likely see them used in some capacity in the near future.

All four Pokemon make a lot of sense. Dragonite is the Gen 1 equivalent to Tyranitar, which is currently the toughest Raid Boss you can face. Blissey is a high HP threat similar to Snorlax and will need some large group of trainers to take down.

As for Charmeleon, we already saw Quilava, Bayleef, and Croconaw as low level Raid Bosses, so it seems like they’ll eventually cycle through starters. Ninetales is in a similar position, as Arcanine is currently a Raid Boss in the game. 

Sure Things

If Charmeleon is destined to be a low level Raid Boss, then it makes sense that it would be joined by Ivysaur and Wartortle.

It also means that we’ll likely get Meganium, Thyphlosion, and Feraligatr at some point too. Although the Gen 2 Starter Pokemon have similar stats to their Gen 1 counterparts, all three only have a single type and different movesets, which means that different strategies might be needed.  

Espeon and Umbreon are also likely to become new Raid Bosses. After all, their Gen 1 “siblings” are all Level 3 Raid Bosses, so it would make sense to include both Eeveelutions in the next wave of Pokemon. 

Likely Candidates

So, now that all the easy guesses are out of the way, what other Pokemon do we think will be in the next group of Raid Bosses? 

Gyarados seems like an obvious pick due to its popularity and gaudy stats. We’re also guessing that the next group of Raid Bosses will have more Gen 2 Pokemon as only a handful made the first round of cuts. Both Ampharos and Donphan would be solid choices due to their rarity and top-tier stats.  

Other smart choices could include Houndoom, Steelix, or Ursaring due to their strong stats and unique typing compared to current Raid Bosses. 

Wild Guesses

Most of the Pokemon we’ve suggested would be Level 3 or Level 4 Raid Bosses. So what Pokemon would fill out the bottom two Raid tiers? 

We’re guessing that the lower level raids could be used as a chance to bring in some relatively rare Pokemon. Aerodactyl, Pinsir, Porygon 2, and Granbull all have Max CP stats comparable to the Pokemon currently used as Raid Bosses.

If Pokemon Go wanted to get really creative (and cruel,) we could see Shuckle replace Magikarp as the “joke” Raid Boss. Although Shuckle has one of the lowest CP stats in the game, its Defense is the highest in the game, meaning that players would actually have to strategize to beat it within the time limit. 

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