Pokemon Go Elite Raids is a brand new feature to give trainers powerful Legendary Pokemon. While trainers have already seen Legends and Mega Pokemon appear in Five-Star and Mega Raids, these Elite Raids will look like they’ll give Pokemon Go players a new challenge and reward.
It can be divisive in the Pokemon Go community due to its new feature in Season of Lights and a limitation on who can participate in these battles. We’ll get into that more in the next section.
However, what else makes Elite Raids different from regular Raids? This guide will break down everything trainers need to know about this new Pokemon Go feature.
What are Elite Raids in Pokemon Go?
Pokemon Go Elite Raids is a challenging new variant of Raid Battles. They only appear for a limited time, forcing trainers to gather their friends to try and take down this mighty Pokemon.
Elite Raid eggs will take 24 hours to hatch and the Raid Boss will only appear for 30 minutes after hatching, so be sure to gather your friends and arrive at the Raid location on time. Also, prepare your team in advance. Pokemon Go will let trainers know which Pokemon will appear in these Elite Raids so you have plenty of time to assemble your team. We’ll review the Pokemon that appear in Elite Raids in the section below.
The most critical detail of Elite Raids in Pokemon Go is that those who participate in these battles must be in person. This means instructors cannot use Remote Raid Passes to participate in these Raids.
This is Niantic’s latest attempt to get its players to get out and interact with others and get out and about.
How to get Raid Pass in Pokemon Go
Raid Passes in Pokemon Go are easy to obtain, but are limited to the free ones trainers can get.
Instructors can obtain a Raid Pass once a day by visiting a Gym that already has Raids. Instructors can only stock up on two Raid Passes at a time and must use one to earn another free one each day.
Raid Passes can also be purchased from the in-game store. Premium Battle Passes cost 100 PokeCoins each, and trainers can keep as much as they want. These passes can also allow trainers to join the Go Battle League.
Pokemon appearing in the Pokemon Go Elite Raid
Currently, there is only one Pokemon that appears in Elite Raids in Pokemon Go.
Hoopa Unbound, an upgraded version of Hoopa, appeared in Elite Raids on October 16. While this mighty Legendary is likely to return to Pokemon Go at a later date, those who missed it will have to wait.
Niantic has confirmed that more Pokemon will appear in these Elite Raids during the Season of Light.
We will update this section as more information becomes available.
How to find Elite Raid Partners in Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go is over five years old and still very popular, but not as popular as when it first came out. While many users are still playing, it may not be so easy to find friends or other trainers to fight Elite Raids.
Especially on Facebook and Reddit, there are many social media groups that are specifically there to help educators come together in certain areas.
Silph Road, a fan-run Pokemon Go site, has its own community finder This can help trainers find other players in their region. Give it a try and let us know if you found a successful Raid party.
