Pokemon Go: Ho-Oh Returning For A Very Limited Time

Pokemon Go is in the midst of a Gen 2 celebration following the arrival of Celebi earlier this week, and now another Legendary from the Johto region is returning to the game for a limited time. From now until the end of the Johto Week event, players around the world will once again be able to encounter the Rainbow Pokemon Ho-Oh.

Just as during its initial run, Ho-Oh will appear as a Raid Battle at Gyms. To catch it, you'll first need to team up with other players at a Gym where a Ho-Oh Raid is taking place and challenge the Legendary to a battle; once it's been defeated, you'll be rewarded with Premier Balls and a chance to capture it.

Ho-Oh is a dual Fire/Flying-type, so you'll want to bring along strong Rock Pokemon like Golem, Tyranitar, and the game's newest Legendary, Regirock, to battle it. This time around, Niantic teases that you'll also have a chance of encountering a Shiny Ho-Oh, making that a good incentive to visit a nearby Raid even if you already have the Legendary in your collection.

Ho-Oh will only be available until August 27, while the Johto Week event is scheduled to end at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on August 28. As part of the event, Pokemon that originally appeared in the Johto region have been spawning in Pokemon Go much more frequently. Niantic also introduced six new Shiny Gen 2 Pokemon to the game.

Ho-Oh isn't the only Johto Legendary making a comeback. Next month, Niantic is rolling out a new batch of Field Research tasks related to Fire Pokemon. If you manage to complete enough of them to achieve a Research Breakthrough, you'll be rewarded with another encounter with Entei, one of the three Legendary dogs from Pokemon Gold and Silver.

The aforementioned Regirock will appear in Raid Battles until September 20. Shortly after that, Niantic will host the next Pokemon Go Community Day, which will feature the Gen 2 starter Chikorita.