Can you catch Legendary Pokemon in the wild in Pokemon GO?

Pokemon GO trainers are always looking for ways to get their hands on legendary Pokemon, and with good reason too.

Like in the main series games, legendaries are often far superior to any ordinary Pokemon. They typically have higher stats as well as more expansive movepools.

Some of them might even have an exclusive move on them, for instance, Psystrike on Mewtwo. The trade-off with legendaries, though, is that they are much harder to catch than the normal critters.

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Can Legendary Pokemon be found outside of Tier 5 Raids?

Normally, trainers cannot find legendary Pokemon just by searching the wild. They can only be battled and caught by participating in Tier 5 raids.

There has been, however, one exception. Early in 2020, the lake spirits from Generation IV were released into the wild. The lake spirits are Azelf, Uxie, and Mespirit, a trio of Psychic-type Pokemon, native to the three lakes in the Sinnoh region (Acuity, Verity, and Valor).

While these legendary Pokemon were released into the wild, they still aren’t easy to find. They are considered to be extremely rare encounters in the game.

On top of that, they were all region-locked. Only Azelf can be found in the Americas; Uxie is located in Eastern Asia, and Mespirit was released in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Outside of the lake spirits and the Galarian Birds Trio, all other legendary Pokemon can only be caught through Tier 5 raids. This likely takes inspiration from the main series games, where legendary Pokemon couldn’t be caught in the wild either.

All legendary Pokemon in the games fall under two categories: static or roaming. Static encounters have one specified area where the trainer can attempt to battle and catch the legendary Pokemon there.

Roaming legendaries are, instead, found at different points on the map. Trainers have to search the wild in the hopes of finding these Pokemon. There are ways, though, to help narrow down which wild areas these roaming legendaries will be in.

Not only are they hard to find in the main series games, but they're also hard to catch. Many trainers save their Master Ball for a premier legendary Pokemon.

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Disclaimer: The article reflects the writer's views.