Pokemon GO Accidentally Reveals Upcoming Legendary Dynamax Raids

Summary

• Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno are slated to appear in Dynamax Raids from January 20th to February 3rd.
• This information, initially posted on the official Saudi Arabia Pokémon GO Twitter page, was quickly removed.

Pokémon GO has inadvertently revealed upcoming Dynamax Raids featuring the legendary birds Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, launching in late January. While Dynamax Pokémon debuted in Pokémon GO in September 2024, these would be the first legendary Dynamax Pokémon in the game.

The Kanto legendary birds remain incredibly popular within the Pokémon community. Pokémon GO previously featured Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno in raids, including their Shiny forms. In 2023, the Galarian bird trio were added to Daily Incense spawns, albeit with a lower spawn rate. Shiny Galarian versions have been available since October 2024. A now-deleted official post suggests Pokémon GO is adding another iteration of the Kanto birds.

As discovered by Reddit user nintendo101, a tweet from the official Pokémon GO Saudi Arabia account announced the Dynamax Raids featuring Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno from January 20th to February 3rd. The swift deletion of this tweet suggests the announcement may have been premature. If accurate, the introduction of Dynamax legendary birds could boost the popularity of Max Battles, which some players have avoided due to perceived difficulty.

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

The addition of these Dynamax legendary birds hints at more iconic legendary Pokémon potentially joining Max Raids in the coming months. Considering Pokémon Sword and Shield featured Dynamax forms of Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, and others, a similar treatment for Pokémon GO's legendaries seems plausible. However, the difficulty of these legendary Max Raids remains uncertain. October's Max Raids faced criticism due to their difficulty, particularly the requirement of 40 players per battle. Whether this issue will persist with the Dynamax legendaries is yet to be seen.

Pokémon GO has begun 2025 with a flurry of event announcements. Niantic confirmed Ralts as the star of the next Community Day Classic on January 25th. A Shadow Raid Day featuring Shadow Ho-Oh is scheduled for January 19th, offering up to seven free Raid Passes from Gyms during the event. Finally, the host cities for Pokémon GO Fest 2025 have been revealed: Osaka, Jersey City, and Paris.