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Pokémon Go Legendary Pokémon: List of all currently and previously available Legendary Pokémon

Every Legendary Pokémon that has been released in Pokémon Go so far.

Pokémon Go Legendary Pokémon had been hotly anticipated for some time, eventually arriving a full one year after the game released.

Fans of the classic games will remember them fondly - from the flying trio Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres to the elusive Mewtwo and Mew in Red, Blue and Yellow to Gen 2's Gold, Silver and Crystal, Legendary beasts Raikou, Entei, Suicune, and beyond.

These are amongst the game's rarest creatures, and can be caught from multiple sources - from Raids, the Legendary Lunch Hour event to occassionally Field Research rewards.

Below you'll find a list of every legendary Pokémon which has been released so far in Pokémon Go.

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Battling and catching Zamazenta in Pokémon GoWatch on YouTube

Legendary Pokémon released in Pokémon Go

Below you'll find every Legendary Pokémon which has been released in Pokémon Go so far, along with their orignal debut date.

Legendary PokémonTypeCountersFirst Available
Articuno
(Gen 1)
Ice
Flying
Omastar (Rock moves)
Golem
Tyranitar
Flareon
Arcanine
Summer 2017
Zapdos
(Gen 1)
Electric
Flying-type
Golem
Piloswine (double Ice moves)
Tyranitar
Dragonite
Jynx
Summer 2017
Moltres
(Gen 1)
Fire and Flying-typeOmastar (Rock moves)
Golem
Tyranitar
Vaporeon
Kabutops
Summer 2017
Articuno
(Gen 1, Galarian form)
Psychic
Flying-type
Giratina
Gengar
Darkrai
Weavile
Raikou
July 2022 using Daily Adventure Incense
Zapdos
(Gen 1, Galarian form)
Fighting
Flying
Togekiss
Gardevoir
Granbull
Raikou
Electivire
July 2022 using Daily Adventure Incense
Moltres
(Gen 1, Galarian form)
Dark
Flying
Mewtwo
Hoopa (Unbound)
Metagross
Togekiss
Raikou
July 2022 using Daily Adventure Incense
Mewtwo
(Gen 1)
PsychicTyranitar
Mewtwo
Lugia
Houndoom
Gengar
EX Raids in 2017
Raikou
(Gen 2)
ElectricRhydon
Golem
Dophan
Autumn 2017
Entei
(Gen 2)
FireGolem
Vaporeon
Omastar
Autumn 2017
Suicune
(Gen 2)
IceZapdos
Venusaur
Jolteon
Autumn 2017
Lugia
(Gen 2)
Psychic
Flying
Articuno
Tyranitar
Gengar
Omastar
Houndoom
Summer 2017
April 2018
Ho-oh
(Gen 2)
Fire
Flying
Golem
Raikou
Tyranitar
Vaporeon
Autumn 2017
Regirock
(Gen 3)
RockMachamp
Kyogre
Groudon
Gyarados
Breloom
In Level 5 Raids until September 20th
Regice
(Gen 3)
IceMoltres
Entei
Flareon
Machamp
In Level 5 Raids until July 19th
Registeel
(Gen 3)
SteelMoltres
Entei
Flareon
Rhydon
Donphan
In Level 5 Raids until August 16th
Kyogre
(Gen 3)
WaterJolteon
Raikou
Venusaur
Exeggutor
2018, and January 2019
Primal Kyogre
(Gen 3)
WaterKartana
Raikou
Thundurus
Xurkitree
In Primal Raids during the Go Tour: Hoenn Las Vegas event
Groudon
(Gen 3)
GroundGyarados
Dragonite
Venusaur
Exeggutor
2018, and January 2019
Primal Groudon
(Gen 3)
Ground
Fire
Kyogre
Landorus
Rhyperior
Swampert
In Primal Raids during the Go Tour: Hoenn Las Vegas event
Rayquaza
(Gen 3)
Flying
Dragon
Articuno
Lapras
Dragonite
Piloswine
Golem
Tyranitar
March 16, 9pm UK / 1pm PST
Latias
(Gen 3)
Psychic
Dragon
Rayquaza
Dragonite
Salamence
Tyranitar
Gengar
Mewtwo
Latios/Latias
May 8th to June 5th in North America, South America and Africa
Mega Latias
(Gen 3)
Dragon
Psychic
Rayquaza
Giratina
Salamence
Reshiram
Hydreigon
Palkia
Garchomp
In Mega Raids on May 3rd 2022
Latios
(Gen 3)
Psychic
Dragon
Rayquaza
Dragonite
Salamence
Tyranitar
Gengar
Mewtwo
Latios/Latias
May 8th to June 5th in Europe and Asia
Mega Latios
(Gen 3)
Dragon
Psychic
Rayquaza
Giratina
Salamence
Reshiram
Hydreigon
Palkia
Garchomp
In Mega Raids on May 3rd 2022
Deoxys
(Gen 3)
PsychicTyranitar
Weavile
Absol
Houndoom
Mewtwo
Yanmega
Dusknoir
Honchkrow
Monday 9th September to Monday 16th September 2019
Uxie
(Gen 4)
PsychicMewtwo
Tyranitar
Metagross
Latios
Dialga
Darkrai
Regionally exclusive - Asia, Pacific
Mesprit
(Gen 4)
PsychicMewtwo
Tyranitar
Metagross
Latios
Dialga
Darkrai
Regionally exclusive - Europe, Middle East, Africa, India
Azelf
(Gen 4)
PsychicMewtwo
Tyranitar
Metagross
Latios
Dialga
Darkrai
Regionally exclusive - Americas, Greeland
Dialga
(Gen 4)
Steel
Dragon
Machamp
Groudon
Breloom
Haryama
Lucario
Mamoswine
Until Thursday, March 28th at 9pm UK / 1pm PST (Level 5 Raids)
Palkia
(Gen 4)
Water
Dragon
Salamence
Rayquaza
Dialga
Palkia
Togekiss
Garchomp
Until Thursday, February 28th at 9pm UK / 1om PST (Level 5 Raids)
Heatran
(Gen 4)
Fire
Steel
Groudon
Rhyperior
Golem
Machamp
Kyogre
In five-star raids from Tuesday, January 7th 2020 at 9pm to Tuesday, February 4th 2020 at 9pm
Regigigas
(Gen 4)
NormalMachamp
Poliwarth
Mewtwo
Lucario
Blaziken
Hariyama
Gallade
Emboar
Toxicroak
Palki
Dialga
Complete the 'A Colossal Discovery' Special Research quest line
Giratina
- Altered Forme (Gen 4)
Ghost
Dragon
Rayquaza
Dragonite
Latios
Salamence
Gengar
Until Tuesday, November 20th at 9pm UK / 1pm PST (Level 5 Raids)
Cresselia
(Gen 4)
PsychicTyranitar
Gengar
Houndoom
Until Tuesday, December 18th at 9pm UK / 1pm PST (Level 5 Raids)
Darkrai
(Gen 4)
DarkMachamp
Hariyama
Blaziken
Togekiss
Fardevior
Breloom
From Thursday 17th October to Friday 1st November in five-star raids
Cobalion
(Gen 5)
Steel
Fighting
Machamp
Flareon
Moltres
Entei
Blaziken
Hariyama
Chandelure
From November 4th to November 26th in five-star raids
Terrakion
(Gen 5)
Rock
Fighting
Venusaur
Mewtwo
Sceptile
Breloom
Metagross
Latios
Roserade
From November 26th to December 17th in five-star raids
Virizion
(Gen 5)
Grass
Fighting
Moltres
Mewtwo
Lugia
Honchkrow
Togekiss
Unfezant
Chandelure
From December 17th in five-star raids
Tornadus
(Gen 5)
FlyingRaikou
Rampardos
Mamoswine
Magnezone
Electivire
Terrakion
In five-star raids from February 4th at 9pm to March 1st 2020 at 9pm
Thundurus
(Gen 5)
Electric
Flying
Tyranitar
Rampardos
Rhyperior
Mamoswine
Glaceon
In five-star raids from March 2nd 2020 at 9pm
Reshiram
(Gen 5)
Dragon
Fire
Salamence
Goundon
Rayquaza
Rampardos
Dialga
In five-star raids from Tuesday, May 26th 2020 to Tuesday, June 16th 2020
Zekrom
(Gen 5)
Dragon
Electric
Gardevoir
Goundon
Rayquaza
Palkia
Weavile
In five-star raids from Tuesday, June 16th 2020
Kyurem
(Gen 5)
Dragon
Ice
Tyranitar
Gardevoir
Metagross
Lucario
Togekiss
In five-star raids from Tuesday, July 7th 2020
Landorus
(Gen 5)
Ground
Flying
Gyarados
Lapras
Swampert
Kyogre
Mamoswine
In five-star raids from March 31st from 9pm to April 21st
Genesect
(Gen 5)
Bug
Steel
Darmanitan
Entei
Moltres
Chandelure
Charizard
Complete the 'A Drive for Investigate' Special Research quest line
Xerneas
(Gen 6)
FairyMetagross
Roserade
Dialga
Excadrill
Genesect
In five-star raids from 4th May to 17th May 2021
Yveltal
(Gen 6)
Dark
Flying
Raikou
Rhyperior
Mamoswine
Rampardos
Electivire
In five-star raids from 18th May to 24th May 2021
Tapu Koko
(Gen 7)
Electric
Fairy
Garchomp
Rhyperior
Roserade
Toxicroak
Victreebel
In five-star raids from 1st March to 15th March 2022
Tapu Lele
(Gen 7)
Psychic
Fairy
Chandelure
Giratina
Roserade
Toxicroak
Metagross
In five-star raids from 22nd March to 29th March 2022
Tapu Bulu
(Gen 7)
Grass
Fairy
Roserade
Darmanitan
Rayquaza
Mamaoswine
Toxicroak
In five-star raids from 12th April to 26th April 2022
Tapu Fini
(Gen 7)
Water and fairy-typeRoserade
Zapdos
Raikou
Electivire
Victreebel
In five-star raids from 10th May to 25th May 2022
Nihilego
(Gen 7)
Rock
Poison
Groudon
Garchomp
Mewtwo
Swampert
Gyarados
In five-star raids on 5th June 2022
Pheromosa
(Gen 7)
Bug
Fighting
Moltres
Ho-Oh
Rayquaza
Lugia
Tornadus
As part of Go Fest Berlin on 1st July 2022
Buzzwole
(Gen 7)
Bug
Fighting
Moltres
Ho-Oh
Rayquaza
Lugia
Tornadus
As part of Go Fest Seattle on 22nd July 2022
Xurkitree
(Gen 7)
ElectricGroudon
Excadrill
Garchomp
Rhyperior
Landorus
As part of Go Fest Sapporo on 5th August 2022
Celesteela
(Gen 7)
Steel
Flying
Entei
Ho-Oh
Reshiram
Electivire
Raikou
In five-star raids on 13th September 2022
Regionally exclusive Pokémon
Kartana
(Gen 7)
Grass
Steel
Chandelure
Reshiram
Darmanitan
Moltres
Entei
In five-star raids on 13th September 2022
Regionally exclusive Pokémon
Guzzlord
(Gen 7)
Dark
Ghost
Xurkitree
Zacian
Gardevoir
Togekiss
Tapu Koko
In five-star raids on Tuesday, 8th November 2022
Zacian
Hero of Many Battles form
(Gen 8)
FairyScizor
Metagross
Roserade
Dialga
Genesect
In five-star raids from 20th August to 26th August 2021
Zamazenta
Hero of Many Battles form
(Gen 8)
FightingMewtwo
Espeon
Gardevoir
Latios
Rayquaza
In five-star raids from 26th August to 1st September 2021
Regieleki
(Gen 8)
ElectricRhyperior
Mamoswime
Landorus (Therian and Incarnate Forme)
Rhydon
Garchomp
In Elite Raids on Sunday, 9th April
Regidrago
(Gen 8)
DragonGardevoir
Sylveon
Mamoswine
Galarian Darmanitan
Rayquaza
In Elite Raids on Saturday, 11th March

How to catch Legendaries and how to unlock Legendary Raids in Pokémon Go

Ninatic finally unlocked Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go following Pokémon Go Fest. Summer 2017 saw Legendary birds Moltres, Articuno and Moltres come and go, with Legendary beasts Raikou, Entei, Suicune here for Autumn - and the start of a Gen 3 Legendary rollout over the winter that year, starting with Groudon.

Though they are similar to standard Raid Battles in many ways, there are several differences in both their appearance and capture:

  • Legendaries are only be available via five-star raids, the highest difficulty of Raid Battle - although they've been known to reappear as Research Breakthrough rewards for completing Field Research Quests, appear in the wild during certain in-games like Go Tour: Hoenn and you can catch Shadow Legendaries by defeating Giovanni.
  • The spotlighted Legendary Pokémon in five-star raids regularly rotates. This means, if you've missed a certain Legendary, you can just sit back and wait until it returns. (Although you could also trade for one...) You can also earn an encounter with the current Legendary Pokémon in five-star raids by reaching Rank 20 in the Go Battle League and then earning a Pokémon encounter reward.
  • Elite Raids - formally called EX Raid Battles - see certain elusive Legendaries, like Regidrago, take the spotlight. Elite Raid eggs take 24 hours to hatch and are only available for 30 minutes, so you need to make sure you make the most of that time to defeat the legendary in question. Unlike EX Raids, you don't need an EX Raid Pass to partake in an Elite Raid.
  • Legendary Raid Pokémon have the highest CP of any Raid creature. For example, Articuno was at 37,603, Moltres at 41,953, Zapdos at 42,691, Lugia at 42,753 and MewTwo at a staggering 49,430.
  • Once the battle is over, the Legendary still must be captured like any other Raid, though the capture rate is lower.
  • Once you have captured the Legendary, you cannot use it to defend Gyms - but they can of course attack with them in subsequent Raids.
  • The Buddy Distance for Legendaries is 20km per one Candy - so we'd recommend using Rare Candy rewards from Raid battles as a way to easily power them up.

How to capture Legendary Pokémon

Like other Raid encounters, once a Legendary's defeated you have to then catch it. This is difficult seeing as, according to research available from Pokémon Go community The Silph Road, your chances are pretty slim.

  • The base catch rate for Legendary Pokémon, aside from Mewtwo, is currently 3% - meaning with no modifiers of any kind, throwing the ball straight, not using any berries and not even getting a "Nice" throw, you have a 1 in 33 chance of catching the Pokémon - not great odds.
  • There are several ways of increasing your chances - Golden Razz Berries and Curveballs (when you spin the PokéBall before releasing your throw) drastically increase your chances, whilst Nice, Great, and Excellent throws increase those chances further respectively, and there's also a small bonus for having a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Medal (see more in our guide to Pokémon Go Catch Bonuses).
  • A Golden Razz Berry, Curveball, and Excellent throw, with a Gold medal for that Legendary's Type, give you a 24% chance of catching the Legendary - meaning one in roughly four throws like this will catch it, which is much better considering the roughly 5-13 balls that will be available!
  • Mewtwo's base catch rate is currently a 6% chance - meaning it's considerably easier to catch than the other legendaries, and actually easier than some Tier 4 Raid bosses, too!

If that's not clear enough, here's a handy image, created by reddit user and Silph Road member Epimetheos:

Epimetheos' visual is an excellent way to represent your chances. Note that the X axis along the bottom, although unmarked, represents the different levels of throw you get - Normal, Nice, Great, Excellent - separated by each vertical line into sections.

With the above in mind, what can you do to increase your chances of catching Legendary Pokémon? It's recommended you:

  • Attempt Curved and Nice, Great or Excellent throws (landing the ball in the centre of the circle - the smaller the better)
  • Using a Golden Razz Berry between every catch attempt
  • Level up as many relevant Catch Bonus medals as possible to Gold by catching wild creatures of the same Type
  • As well as increasing the chances of individual throws, you want to have as many attempts as possible by earning more Premier Balls for the catch phase. One way is to target a Gym controlled by your team (which can be somewhat out of your control), and another is dealing a high amount of damage. It's worth noting your contribution is wiped out when your team faints, so you want to keep them alive for the entire fight, and one way of doing that is bring high defense tank creatures (Snorlax and Blissey) so you can absorb a lot of damage.
  • Finally, you want to land as many Premier Balls you can. Legendaries and other high level Raid creatures attack very regularly, and since they are immune during these attacks, you can waste a lot of opportunities simply trying to land a single ball. While these attacks are random, there is a way to avoid them; by observing these attacks, and throwing the ball before the animation ends, the ball will land in the vulnerable window between attacks. This Silph Road thread discusses the practice in detail, as well as the following video from Mesa:

The history of Legendaries in Pokémon Go

Before we even heard their presence was confirmed in the big Gym rework in 2017, we already knew the various Legendaries were in the game.

Mewtwo.

That's thanks to some good old-fashioned datamining. NesstendoYT on YouTube was one major player, who dug through the game's files to discover that the above first generation Legendary Pokémon are indeed listed in the game.

Their absence in the game led to plenty of speculation, particularly with one of the strongest and most famous Legendary Pokémon - Mewtwo - being the focus of one of the game's first trailers, showing crowds of people teaming up to fight it, whittling down its health as a timer ticks down before capturing the Pokémon in a packed Times Square, suggesting that Mewtwo and other Legendaries could be unlocked through public events rather than random encounters. That's since been confirmed of course.

As for Gen 2's Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-oh and Celebi, they appeared in datamining efforts too, with their stats showing up alongside the likes of the birds, Mew and Mewtwo.

These stats reveal them to be among the some of the best Pokémon in the game at the time, with Mewtwo and Ho-Oh having some of the highest base attacks in the game, more so than existing creatures Alakazam and Dragonite.


The Season of Timeless Travels has arrived in Pokémon Go! The Along the Routes event is here, bringing Gift Exchange and the A Route to New Friendships quest with it. During it, take the time to try out Routes and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


We knew for some time that Legendaries were coming, but what's the story, and how did we get to this point?

When did we think Legendaries were coming? The Legendary teases:

In an interview with Wired Germany (via Den of Geek, Niantic CEO John Hanke said "with certainty that we will see [legendaries] more this year" - so that at least narrowed it down to 2017!

The biggest suggestion to date came from a five word acceptance speech from Niantic during the 21st Annual Webby Awards: "This summer will be legendary", a heavy hint we were set to see something soon:

That seemed to have been corroborated by the latest trickle of information, where Niantic suggested that "Legendary Pokémon and battles between players" were set to arrive some time this summer.

Whether this was going to happen at the same time as the implementation of the new Raids feature or a little while after was unknown, although things certainly did at least appear to be tying together quite nicely at that point.

The first Legendary Pokémon spotted in Pokémon Go - but how did it appear?

Back in early August of 2016, before any of this official news was even close to being announced, a player topped a Gym in Ohio with an Articuno, which is said to be the first Legendary appearance in the game. Multiple players verified the sighting, but how the player got the creature is in question. Amazingly, the owner claimed she received the Pokémon as part of an apology from developer Niantic after contacting them via email about an issue.

Other possibilities could be an exploit that has edited the creature's data to appear in the game, an error that has seen one spawn accidentally, or a glitch turn another Pokemon into the famed Legendary, similar to a case reported by a user who had their wild Caterpie transform into a Charizard once in their possession.

What else we know about Legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Finally, it's also worth pointing out - for history's sake, at the very least - that all this time there's been a hunt of Legendary Pokémon in plain sight, with users who have progressed to level 5 and interacted with a gym find themselves invited to one of three teams - Team Instinct, Team Mystic, or Team Valor - which are shown to be tied to Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres respectively.

The addition of Pokémon Go's Buddy system also paves the way for players to earn Candy and power up rare creatures without the need to catch any more - perfect for ultra rare Pokémon such as Legendaries.

Finally, Remote Raid Passes and apps like Poke Genie make it easier to catch legendary Pokémon, especially if you live a rural location or want to catch a regionally exclusive legendary like Mesprit.

Good luck catching legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go!

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Matthew Reynolds avatar

Matthew Reynolds

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Matthew Reynolds edited guides and other helpful things at Eurogamer from 2010 - 2023. When he wasn't doing that, he was out and about playing Pokémon Go or continuing to amass his amiibo collection.

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