Back in May, Pokemon Go developer Niantic announced it is bringing three Legendary Pokemon back to the game, beginning with Cresselia. If you've yet to capture one, however, your time is quickly running out. The Lunar Pokemon is scheduled to leave Raid Battles later today, June 18, making this your last opportunity to catch it--and possibly find a Shiny Cresselia.
If you're hoping to add Cresselia to your collection, you'll first need to team up with other players in-person and take on the Legendary Pokemon in a Raid Battle. Cresselia is a pure Psychic-type, so you'll want to bring along Ghost, Dark, and Bug Pokemon like Giratina, Tyranitar, and Scizor when you battle it. If you manage to defeat Cresselia, everyone who participated in the Raid will receive a handful of Premier Balls along with an opportunity to catch it.
Immediately following Cresselia's departure, the Gen 3 Legendary Kyogre will return in Pokemon Go. It'll appear in Raid Battles until June 27; after that, it'll be replaced by its Pokemon Ruby counterpart, Groudon, which will be available until July 10. Just as with Cresselia, you'll also have a chance of encountering Kyogre and Groudon's Shiny forms when each Legendary returns to Raids.
Niantic's annual Pokemon Go Fest event took place in Chicago this past weekend. To celebrate the occasion, the Water-type Pokemon Horsea was spawning more frequently than normal throughout the event, and players had a chance of finding Shiny Horsea. Those who attended the event in-person were also able to find Shiny Abra, as well as Alolan Vulpix, a special Eevee wearing a floral crown, and the Mythical Pokemon Jirachi. As a reward for completing this year's Global Challenges, Niantic is making a handful of bonuses available in the game beginning June 18.
In other Pokemon news, we learned much more about the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield games during E3 2019. Nintendo shared details about the games' new Dynamax battle mechanic, which can supersize a Pokemon during a battle. We also learned more about how Max Raid Battles work and why you can't transfer every old Pokemon to the games. Sword and Shield launch on November 15; you can read more about the games in our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.