In Pokémon GO the next two raid events are canceled. The reason for this is the coronavirus and the restrictions of public life that make raiding difficult.
What has been canceled: Lugia was supposed to return to Level 5 raids tonight, but this return has now been canceled. The same goes for the raid hour tomorrow, on March 25: The raid hour in Pokémon GO will not take place either.
In return, the raids with Cobalion have been extended, so you can still find this Pokémon in raids and in the PvP rewards.
These changes in the raid events
Will the Lugia event be made up? So far, Niantic only mentions that the raid weekend has been canceled. There is no replacement date yet.
However, the developers said a few days ago that trainers should not worry about the raids. Each of the Pokémon will return and you will get another chance at it.
So you can expect that Lugia will return to the raids.
How long will Cobalion stay now? The legendary Pokémon was supposed to disappear already, but will now be available for a longer time. You can still challenge it until March 31 at 10 PM German time.
It is still available as a raid boss, but also appears as a reward in the PvP league. There you need to win 4 out of 5 battles to possibly receive Cobalion as a reward.
How are the trainers reacting to this? They cannot quite understand this decision. Many were looking forward to Lugia as a PvP reward. After all, it can learn the move Air Slash, which many trainers have eagerly awaited.
Some players even suggest that legendary raids should be canceled anyway and that legendary Pokémon should currently be made available through the PvP league. This way, every trainer would have the chance to catch legendary Pokémon without having to go outside.
The reddit user CobraCB summarizes the opinion of many trainers:
“Yes, there are very mixed signals. I feel like they didn’t want to lose the money from Lugia, so they canceled its release in the PvP league. But if they don’t want us to conduct raids, why do they allow Cobalion in Level 5 raids? They could certainly cancel all raids for our safety, not just the ones where they lose money?”
A Reddit user on the current situation
Could legendary raids not take place at all soon? This is a topic that many trainers are discussing. After all, there is a curfew in many countries: Here in Germany, no more than 2 people should meet. However, legendary raids often result in more than 2 people coming together.
Some players are now calling for Niantic to completely cancel legendary raids in Pokémon GO so that no one has the incentive to go outside.
Whether this will really happen soon remains to be seen. The cancellations of the raid events already speak in favor of this.
