Mega Rayquaza Shared Skies event June 2024
Image via Niantic

Pokémon Go To Hold Makeup Event After Disastrous Mega Rayquaza Elite Raid Rollout

Good news for those who missed out.

Pokémon Go may see the return of Mega Rayquaza sooner than expected as Niantic looks to remedy issues that impacted their player’s ability to catch the Legendary Pokémon in recent Elite Raids.

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Aug. 3 will see a specialty global event go live to make up for the recent Mega Rayquaza Elite Raid issues, it was announced in a post to social media from Niantic Support on July 11. This will start at 1 pm and 6 pm local time on the day. More details regarding what this event will include will be shared in the coming days.

rayquaza mega rural players elite raids

Mega Rayquaza was initially intended to be available for players to encounter and capture on June 29, however, due to lack of time provided to players to prepare, some regions weren’t able to capitalize on the Legendary Pokémon’s appearance. While a makeup day is better than nothing, players are screaming for Niantic to drop the Elite Raid label, and bring Mega Rayquaza’s back for a regular raid day. 

The big reason for the anger is that Elite Raids don’t allow players to use Remote Raid Passes meaning that those who want a shot at Mega Rayquaza will need to attend in person during the short window that it is available. This causes major issues for those who live in remote places, have mobility issues, or simply aren’t able to leave their homes during the allocated time.

Sadly it doesn’t seem likely that Niantic will be making this change for this makeup event, but with the community continuously making their voices heard, perhaps in the future, it could be changed.

On a better note, Pokémon Go players do have a lot to look forward to this weekend with Pokémon Go Fest 2024: Global set to take place providing habitat rotations allowing players to catch a variety of different Pokémon, some of which you wouldn’t typically see where you live. There are also plenty of opportunities to catch Ultra Beasts so make sure you make the most of this weekend.


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Image of Ryan Galloway
Ryan Galloway
Ryan is a Senior Staff Writer for The Escapist who has been working at GAMURS since 2020. He covers a wide variety of topics between anime and gaming and boasts a degree in Journalism from Murdoch University. Email: [email protected]