It's what plenty of fans have been waiting for. Niantic and The Pokémon Company have revealed that after much speculation legendary Pokémon will be arriving in Pokémon GO this weekend.
The trailer below shows off the recently-implemented Gym features, included Gym badges and Raids, before revealing that a "Legendary Raid" is about to begin. Then, exploding from the eggs, Legendary Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia & Ho-Oh all take to the skies as trainers attempt to catch the mythical beasts. The video ends with a tease of fan favourite Mewtwo, which is briefly seen at the end of the video.
Niantic has also posted information about how the Legendaries will work, including where the Pokémon will first appear. Starting 22nd June at the Pokémon GO Festival taking place in Chicago, players will have to work together to defeat the legendary raid boss before having the opportunity to catch said Pokémon. If successful that Pokémon will begin to appear in raid battles across the globe once the festival has finished. It's also worth noting that, once caught, Legendaries cannot be placed in Gyms and can only be used for battling.

The full details from Niantic can be read below:
As part of our ongoing celebration of Pokémon GO’s one-year anniversary, we’re excited to reveal that Legendary Pokémon are nearly here! Soon, millions of Trainers around the world will be able to discover, battle, and catch these extremely rare and very powerful Pokémon.
As Trainers around the world go out and explore their neighborhoods in search of Pokémon and Raid Battles, they can keep an eye out for unique Legendary Eggs appearing at Gyms. If Trainers and their team are able to successfully defeat a Legendary Raid Boss, they’ll have the opportunity to catch a Legendary Pokémon of their own! While Legendary Pokémon will help them take on the toughest Raid Bosses and Gym Battles, they’re not willing to leave their Trainer’s side, so they can’t be left to defend Gyms.
On July 22, thousands of Trainers in Grant Park for Pokémon GO Fest and the millions of others around the world will be working together to unlock in-game bonuses for the entire Pokémon GO community. If they manage to catch enough Pokémon during the Pokémon GO Fest Challenge Windows, the first Legendary Pokémon will be revealed in Grant Park. If the Trainers in Chicago succeed in defeating the Legendary Pokémon, that Pokémon will start appearing in Raid Battles around the world, after Pokémon GO Fest.
Are you excited for the arrival of Legendary Pokémon? Will you be attending the event held in Chicago? Let us know.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 32
I'm tired of complaining about not being able to play.
It's a shame it took us so long to get this, I hope everyone has fun.
About Time
I might have been interested a year ago.
Sorry boss, gonna be late to work--it's a Lugia, motherf**ka!
....dary.
I think they waited way too long to do this kind of stuff.
How I Met Your Mother reference. Nice!
Hopefully once they go worldwide they'll have a reasonable frequency... if they're too rare or at awkward times it could be difficult to gather a large enough group.
Not sure what I'm more happy about. That we're finally getting Legendary Pokemon, or that they can't be used as defenders in gyms. I can only imagine the "variety" if that was the case.
Best of luck you trainers of Grant Park.
As much as I like the legendaries, it seems like too much hassle to do the Raid Battles, especially since they'll likely be almost impossible to defeat unless you have other players helping.
Wow! Legendaries! Just a little too late. A year late.
@ultraraichu
They couldn't think of a basic rule like "only one legendary per gym" or something?
@Jingo_Unchained If there was some kind of augmented reality displaying 50 foot pokemon I am sure people would!
@RupeeClock Not currently playing but I can say that I would not be too thrilled with the variety of Pokémon in gyms shifting to the 'Legendary of the week' filling each one. I'd rather fight normal Pokémon, not struggle against a Lugia everywhere.
The Pokemon company sure knows how to make a good commercial!
@Kalmaro Higher CP Pokémon lose motivation over time faster, resulting in CP dropping faster.
You're also bringing a team of 6 Pokémon to a gym battle against their team of 6 Pokémon.
You could possibly have 6 legendaries whilst they'd have one or none.
Doesn't seem that imbalanced.
@RupeeClock Yeah but you're missing my point. It's not that I'm saying we can't best the legendary pokémon, it's that if they start a power creep, then it will shift the meta to the point where. I able Pokémon start to vanish in favor of just whatever is the strongest... Which happen to be said legendary Pokémon. Eventually it could get to the point where you have to have a legendary just to get things accomplished.
@RupeeClock I can imagine People will be fighting to put their in first and complaining when someone else does (lucky 1 of 6). Similar to now with certain top defenders (cough, Blissey).
@Kalmaro
Power creep is going to be unavoidable as they continue to introduce new generations.
It's going to hit HARD when Gen 4 rolls out stuff like Rhyperior, Magnezone, Electivire and Magmortar.
@RupeeClock Sure but there's no need to rush it by allowing people have unlimited legendary pokémon in gyms.
Just had to come here to thank you for that HIMYM -reference.
Excellent.
Worthy of a high five.
YAYYY!! Super excited for this.
I'm really excited! I play a little every day to catch whatever random Pokemon pop up at my house, so i can get the catch bonus. I don't live near a gym or Pokestop, so the couple times I go somewhere each month I still play Pokemon Go and have a lot of fun with it. I guess not being able to fully play it most of the time has kept it from getting stale for me.
Cool stuff!
So, certain Gen I Pokémon are actually coming only after the Gen II update.
The wonders of Pokémon bureaucracy at work, ladies and gentlemen.
Other than that, Legendary raids seem awesome, hopefully they won't be too much out of players' league. I lost a raid against a Blastoise that seemed to be there just to troll the poor souls running into that thing.
I wish pokemon go was as fun as this advert
...Zapdos is only 5' 3''; Pidgeot and Gengar are 4' 11''. The commercial makes every non-legendary look like a Lesney/Matchbox toy car fighting a refrigerator.
I just want to know, what happens if everyone fails the mission?
Bring Mew!
I still can't participate in raids
@ultraraichu Did anybody read where it says Legendaries will not leave your side and therefore cannot be put into gyms?
Fantastic! This game has been so much fun over the last year and it just keeps on getting better (I never thought I'd hear myself saying that about a PKMN spin-off). What a fab reward the 1st year anniversary of this game which has taken the world by storm and brought PKMN back into global consciousness.
All the naysayers, whingers and quitters can sit down and take a back seat, it's not too late it's arrived exactly on time... now that we're 30+ Game on!
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...