Pokémon Go’s getting Legendary Pokémon, those ultra rare, ultra powerful pocket monsters that typically figure prominently in the narrative arc for the main series console games. The Legendary Pokémon will appear as Eggs at gyms, and they’ll act as bosses for the new Raids that the game recently introduced – once defeated, you’ll get a chance to catch them, much like you can in main franchise titles.
Legendary Pokémon are indeed extra tough and powerful vs. the ordinary variety, and there are some caveats to using them that go along with that – you can use them in Raids, Boss fights and Gym battles, but they can’t be assigned to defend a gym, as can ordinary Pokémon, likely because that would be a game-breaking balance issue.
As for when you can start to find, fight and capture Legendary Pokémon in Go, mark your calendars for July 22: That’s when Pokémon Go Fest is taking place in Grant Park in Chicago, and if players there and world-wide capture enough Pokémon during the ‘challenge window’ taking place during that event, the first Legendary Pokémon will make its appearance in Grant Park. Then, if the Chicago trainers take that down in a collective raid, it’ll unlock the Legendary Pokémon for Raids worldwide.
Niantic and Pokémon are smart to make this an unlock that the community has to come together to earn – it’s a great mechanic for this and future events. Super cool. I’m not sure it’s something that will bring lapsed players back to the platform, but it’s bound to be great for retaining existing fans.