A new mega Pokémon is set to have its debut in Pokémon Go, and this time around, it’s going to be Mega Gyarados. They will make their first appearance alongside the Lunar New Year event, which is set to happen from February 9 at 10 AM to February 14 at 1 PM in your local time zone. Mega Gyarados will be sticking around much longer than that, though, and you can expect to engage them in mega raids until February 20 at 9 AM in your local time zone.
Mega Pokémon have been arriving in the mobile game left and right since their first introduction in August 2020. Mega Gyarados has been a highly anticipated addition. As Mega Gyarados, it becomes a Dark and Water-type Pokémon, making it weak to Bug, Electric, Fairy, Fighting, and Grass-type moves, but it’s resistant to Dark, Fire, Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Steel, and Water-type attacks. Gyarados is already a powerful Pokémon in the game. By adding Mega Gyarados, players can expect to receive even more benefits from this Pokémon to take down difficult five-star raids. At the time of Mega Gyarados’ launch, mega Pokémon are not allowed in the Battle League, the PvP portion of the game, but that has been speculated to change in the future, in which case Mega Gyarados will boost player’s potential with it even more.
For those eager to add a Mega Gyarados to your collection, you’ll have first to defeat it in mega raids to obtain Mega Gyarados candy to evolve it. You’ll likely need 200. Once you earn that and evolve, it will cost a reduced amount to activate the mega evolution, and you can earn mega candy by having Gyarados as your buddy and walk around with it.
The Lunar New Year event offers an increased chance for players to capture a shiny red Gyarados, so if you haven’t captured one yet, now’s a good time. Players can also expect to see Latios and Latias returning to five-star raids during the Lunar New Year. Because it’s the year of the ox, Tauros, the Wild Bull Pokémon, will be the primary focus for the event’s timed research that all players can complete.
