Pokémon GO Event Review: Hisuian Avalugg Raid Day

Hisuian Avalugg debuted in Pokémon GO this past weekend with a special Raid Day dedicated to this species from Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Let’s see if this Christmas Eve Raid Day lived up to previous similar events.

What worked in this Pokémon GO Event

• Simultaneous release and Shiny release: Just like Hisuian Braviary and Ursaluna, two species that arrived in the hobby in the open-world RPG Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Hisuian Avalugg had its Shiny form and standard form released at the same time. This is a fun trend that hasn’t impacted the Hisuian species in the wild or in Eggs, but I hope to see it continue. I’d love Raid Days or special releases for species like Kleavor, Hisuian Lilligant, Hisuian Samurott, Hisuian Decidueye, and especially Hisuian Typhlosion. The latter three would even be a fun way to make Community Day Classic events for those three species so much more fun.
• Shiny rate: Raid Days have a Shiny rate of one in ten, which is by far the highest Shiny rate we get in the game. Tier Five raids use one in 20, and Community Days use one in 25, with most standard species using one in 500, just so you can see how strong of a boost this is.
• Consistency: This is a related point to the Shiny rate, but the best aspect of Raid Days is how consistent they’ve been. We have seen Niantic nerf a lot of major events and features in the past few years, but Raid Days have remained consistently generous with both the Shiny rates of the featured Pokémon as well as the extra free in-person raid passes.

What didn’t work in this Pokémon GO Event

• Missed opportunities: The one thing this event was missing was some narrative dialogue, perhaps in a single-page Timed Research, about why we’re seeing Hisuian Pokémon in the game. The fact that these species are ancient is something worth including in the game’s overall story rather than just plopping them in there as visually different Pokémon.

Overall

Another strong one! Hisuian Avalugg Raid Day made for a fun day of holiday gameplay.