How To Catch Legendaries in Pokemon GO

For many Pokemon GO newbies, catching a Legendary seems more like an unattainable dream than a feasible goal. That shouldn't be the case, though. All a Trainer needs to catch a Legendary is a solid knowledge of Pokemon GO’s RNG, excellent throws, and good guidance. Here’s a complete guide to catching Pokemon GO Legendaries to help with that.

Updated on July 3, 2024, by Mohsen Baqery: Not much has changed regarding Legendary Pokemon hunt in Pokemon GO over the past few years. However, we updated this guide with the latest information for Trainers as well as a complete list of all Legendary Pokemon players can catch in Pokemon GO.

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By  Mohsen Baqery

What Is a Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon GO?

Close descendants of Arceus, Legendaries are the strongest and rarest Pokemon with an average Max CP of 3,789 and a catch rate of 1.6%. Another feature of Legendaries is their unknown gender (except for The Eon Duo). In Pokemon GO, encountering a Legendary in the wild is close to impossible. The only ways to obtain them are through quests, events, and Raids.

Every Method for Catching Legendaries in Pokemon GO

Considering the rarity of Legendary Pokemon, catching Legendaries has only four guaranteed methods: 5-Star Raids, Special Research tasks, Giovanni questline, and reward encounters. Events, Festivals, and time-limited quests might also reward players with Legendary encounters, but they’re excluded from the list due to their unpredictability.

Here are the best repeatable methods to get Legendaries:

5-Star Raids

Defeat Raid Bosses in 5-Star Gyms for a Legendary.

Raids are the optimal way to catch Legendaries for three reasons:

• The Bosses rotate, so there are new and returning Legendaries all the time.
• Players team up to defeat the Legendary Pokemon.
• Battles can be replayed in case of failure.

To find and beat 5-Star Raids, visit the Nearby Menu on the map or head to neighboring Gyms. (Look for a tower with a purple egg on top.) The 5-Star egg hatches in 24 hours. But when it does, players have only 45 minutes to get into the Gym and defeat the Legendary Boss.

Special Research Tasks

Get Mew for completing A Mythical Discovery at Level 15.

The first Special Research task is a series of 21 objectives that ends with catching Mew, a Mythical Pokemon. Continue the quest line to get Celebi, Meltan, Jirachi, Victini, and Meloetta. To find the tasks, open the Research Menu and select the “Special” tab. If the tab is empty, spin a nearby PokeStop.

Giovanni PvP Challenge

Seize the Shadow Legendary of Giovanni.

After “A Troubling Situation,” players receive a Super Rocket Rader, which shows the location of Team GO Rocket Grunts.

Use the radar to locate Giovanni, the team’s leader. And beat his 3-phase PvP challenge to get Shadow Legendaries like Mewtwo. Giovanni usually spawns in Gyms or Balloons. But he might have his convoys disguise themselves as him.

Reward Encounters in Go Battle League

Compete in the Leagues for a lucky Legendary encounter.

As a part of the GO Battle League update in Rising Heroes Season, players ranked 20 or above may get a Legendary Pokemon in Reward Encounters. (The Pokemon they catch is the same as the current 5-Star Raid Boss). Since these are Standard Encounters, the Legendary will not be Shiny. But it might be a Hundo.

List of All Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon GO

The following table reveals all 69 Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon GO:

How to Catch Legendary Birds in Pokemon GO

During the Mythical Wishes Season, players could catch three Galarian Legendary Birds (Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres) with the Daily Adventure Incense. But currently, the only way to catch Legendary Birds is by completing 5-Star Raids. In June of 2024, for example, Oh-Ho—a Flying/Fire-Type Legendary—was available to catch in the Raids.

What Makes Catching Legendary Birds Challenging

The low catch rate is why getting Legendary Birds is difficult in Pokemon GO. On average, there’s only a 0.3% chance of catching a Legendary Flying-Type Pokemon. And 90% of the time, the creature flees after the first throw.

However, six factors increase the catch rate of Legendary Birds: The Pokeball, throw bonus, curveball bonus, catch items, catch medals, and the Bird’s level. Players are 35% likelier to catch a Level 1 Legendary Bird for whom they have the platinum catch medal and who’s been fed Golden Razz Berry and hit with an excellent curveball using an Ultra Pokeball. That’s the perfect condition.

Can Legendary Pokemon Be Traded?

Players can obtain Legendaries in Pokemon GO by trading them. However, this is not a viable option as it costs up to 1,000,000 Stardust per trade. The lowest Trainers can trade Legendaries for is 800 Stardust, which is only available for Best Friends who already have that specific Pokemon in their Pokedex.

How to Guarantee Legendary Catches

In Pokemon GO, RNG (Random Number Generator) decides whether the catch should be Legendary. However, there are two methods to turn the odds in the player’s favor: increasing the catch modifier effect and circle locking.

Catch Modifier Effect

Four factors affect the Legendary catch rate: the Pokeball, Catch Item, curveball, and throw type. A perfect throw—with all the factors at best—multiplies the chance of catching a Legendary by 8.2 times.

Here’s how the Legendary catch modifiers work:

Circle Lock Technique

Hold a finger on the Pokeball and take it off as soon as the target circle reaches the Excellence size. This will lock the circle. Wait for the Legendary Pokemon’s attack animation and throw the ball immediately after. The circle lock technique is quite useful with Legendary Pokemon, as they taunt a lot. It guarantees excellent shots, which increases the catch rate by 2.0.

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Pokémon GO

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Released

July 6, 2016

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Where to play

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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

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Developer(s)

Niantic

Publisher(s)

Niantic

Engine

Unity

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op

Franchise

Pokemon

Platform(s)

iOS, Android

Genre(s)

Augmented Reality, RPG

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