Pokemon GO Accidentally Reveals Upcoming Legendary Dynamax Raids

Summary

• Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno are set to appear in Dynamax Raids from January 20 to February 3.
• The news was shared on the official Saudi Arabia Pokemon GO Twitter account but was quickly removed.

Pokemon GO has inadvertently announced the arrival of Dynamax Raids featuring the legendary Kanto birds—Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno—from late January. Dynamax Pokemon were first introduced to Pokemon GO in September 2024, marking these as the first Dynamax legendaries in the game.

These iconic birds have been cherished by fans since their debut in the original Kanto region. Pokemon GO initially added them to raids in its early stages, along with their Shiny variants. In 2023, the game introduced the Galarian forms of these birds through Daily Incense spawns, albeit with a lower spawn rate. Since October 2024, players have had the chance to encounter Shiny versions of the Galarian legendary birds. A now-deleted post from the official Pokemon GO Saudi Arabia Twitter account hinted at the upcoming addition of Dynamax versions of the Kanto birds.

Reddit user nintendo101 spotted the tweet, which stated that Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno would appear in Dynamax Raids between January 20 and February 3. The prompt deletion of the post suggests that the developers may have intended to keep this news under wraps a bit longer. If this leak is accurate, the introduction of Dynamax legendary birds could boost the appeal of Max Battles, especially given some players' reluctance to participate in Max Raids.

Pokemon GO Accidentally Reveals Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno Dynamax Raids

The inclusion of the Dynamax bird trio paves the way for other legendary Pokemon to potentially feature in Max Raids in the coming months. In Pokemon Sword and Shield, Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, and others had Dynamax forms, suggesting a similar possibility for Pokemon GO's legendaries. However, it's uncertain whether these legendary Max Raids will pose a greater challenge than the current standard ones. In October, Pokemon GO faced criticism over the difficulty of Max Raids, particularly when players struggled to assemble groups of 40 for each battle. It remains to be seen if these challenges will persist with the Dynamax legendaries.

Pokemon GO has started 2025 with a flurry of event announcements. Niantic has confirmed that Ralts will be the star of the next Community Day Classic on January 25. Additionally, a Shadow Raid Day on January 19 will feature Shadow Ho-Oh, with players able to collect up to seven free Raid Passes from Gyms during the event. The host cities for Pokemon GO Fest 2025 have also been revealed: Osaka, Jersey City, and Paris.