If you want to catch the best Pokémon, you're going to have to participate in Pokémon Go raids. These are difficult events that pit you against a variety of your favorite monsters alongside your friends, providing you with a bunch of rewards if you succeed. You'll also get a chance to catch the monster you fought, which makes it a great method of tracking down more elusive monsters.
Raids take place at gyms and require you to have a raid pass, which you can get once per day by visiting a gym, to participate. There are different tiers of raids, with the highest giving you a chance to receive a legendary Pokémon. You can also find out more information about your favorite mobile game by checking out our Pokémon Go Eevee evolution, Pokémon Go event, and Pokémon Go community day guides.
Here's the Pokémon Go raid schedule for the next month:
May Pokémon Go five-star raids
Niantic has revealed the May five-star raid schedule. The following Pokémon will appear in five-star raids:
- Tapu Fini that knows Nature's Madness appears in five-star raids from May 1 – May 12. You may even encounter a shiny!
- Uxie will appear in Asia-Pacific raids from May 12 – May 25. You may even encounter a shiny!
- Mesprit will appear in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India raids from May 12 – May 25. You may even encounter a shiny!
- Azelf will appear in the Americas and Greenland raids from May 12 – May 25. You may even encounter a shiny!
- Tapu Bulu that knows Nature's Madness appears in five-star raids from May 26 – June 3. You may even encounter a shiny!
Every Wednesday, a raid hour event runs from 18:00 to 19:00 local time. Raid hours feature the Pokémon appearing in five-star raids that week.
May Pokémon Go mega raids
If you're curious about what Pokémon will soon appear in mega raids, you can find the full schedule right here:
- Mega Houndoom appears in mega raids from May 1 – May 12. You may even encounter a shiny
- Mega Gyarados appears in mega raids from May 12 – May 25. You may even encounter a shiny
- Mega Altaria appears in mega raids from May 25 – June 3. You may even encounter a shiny
May Pokémon Go Max Mondays
Every Monday from 18:00 – 19:00 local time, you can battle Dynamax Pokémon that take over all Max Battles at Power Spots. Here are the Pokémon you can expect to encounter:
- Grookey appears at Power Spots on May 5
- Gastly appears at Power Spots on May 12. You may encounter a shiny
- Sableye appears at Power Spots on May 19. You may encounter a shiny
- Rookidee appears at Power Spots on May 26
What are Pokémon Go raids, and how do they work?
Raids are multiplayer events in Pokémon Go that challenge you to battle powerful monsters in exchange for exclusive rewards. Each raid has a tier from one to five, with the lowest tiers being the easiest and the highest being the most difficult. You can battle easier raids alone, but you'll need to work with the community to participate in the tougher raids.
Here's how to start and complete a Pokémon Go raid in steps:
- To initiate a raid, you'll need a raid pass, which you can get from a gym once per day
- Next, find a gym with an egg above it and wait until the timer counts down
- Visit the gym when the timer has come to an end and you'll be able to face the raid boss
- The raid boss is a Pokémon with much higher CP than usual, and you have an hour to form a team and beat it
- You can participate in raids solo or join a group of up to 20 other players
- You can bring up to six Pokémon into the battle with you, just like in a usual gym battle
- If you fail the boss fight, you can try again as many times as you'd like until the hour is up, and it won't cost you another raid pass
- If you're successful, you'll receive a bunch of rewards and a chance to catch it using premier balls, which are exclusive to raids
How do I get premier balls?
Premier balls are exclusive to raids and are the sole type of Pokéball that you can use to try and capture the raid boss if you successfully defeat it. You can't collect premier balls using ordinary means, and will instead earn a set number depending on the following factors:
- Defeat the boss: five premier balls
- Damage: up to four premier balls
- Gym: up to two if you control the gym
- Team contribution: you gain extra premier balls depending on the damage your team, as a whole, inflicts
- Friends: Raid with a friend to receive up to four extra premier balls
So, as you can see, it's possible to earn a fair number of extra balls by paying attention to the above.
How do I catch raid bosses?
Even with the maximum possible number of premier balls at your disposal, you're still not guaranteed to catch the Pokémon, especially if it's a legendary at tier five. If you want to significantly increase your chances, you're going to need to use a golden razz berry.
Fortunately, golden razz berries are a reward for defeating raid bosses in the first place, so if you raid often, you should have plenty on you to increase the chances of capturing the boss.
Here's a round-up of other things you can do to increase your chances of catching a difficult raid boss:
- Throw a curveball by spinning the Pokéball before you throw it
- Get an excellent throw by landing the Pokéball within the circle when it's small
- Get medals for the type of Pokémon you're aiming to catch
What rewards can I get?
Aside from the chance to catch a really powerful Pokémon, you also get several other rewards for successfully completing a raid:
- Golden razz berry
- Fast TM
- Charged TM
- Rare candy
- 3k XP (standard raids)
- 20k XP (legendary raids)
What are remote raid passes?
Remote raid passes allow you to raid from the comfort of your home. They're available to purchase in the shop individually.
Here's how the raid remote pass works in Pokémon Go:
- Remote raid passes are a premium item that cost 195 Pokécoins individually or as a pack of three for 525 Pokécoins
- You can only hold a limited number of remote raid passes at a time
- Once you've purchased one, you can participate in any raids that appear on your nearby screen remotely
- Twenty trainers can participate in the same raid battle
- Raids performed remotely still count towards research tasks and achievement medals
If you'd like to learn more, we've got a list of every single 'mon in our Pokédex so that you can see all the available creatures.