Pokémon Go’s Legendary Heroes event divides players with version-exclusive rewards

The Max Out season brings the Galar region to the forefront for Pokémon Go players, as Niantic features Dynamax Pokémon from Pokémon Sword and Shield. To properly celebrate the Galar Region, a Legendary Heroes event highlights the region’s legendary Pokémon, but this event has version-exclusive rewards.

The Legendary Heroes event focuses on players choosing if they want to select the Sword or Shield path during the Timed Research. The Timed Research dictates what rewards players earn, the type of Collection Challenge they will get, and the Pokémon they can encounter when using Incense. Any Pokémon Go player forced to select one of these two paths will need to work with other players who make the opposite choice for the chance to trade Pokémon they can catch.

Niantic has done branching paths like this before in Pokémon Go. Typically, the divided rewards don’t offer too many changes, but the Legendary Heroes event directly changes specific elements of the event. Fortunately, players won’t have to choose between Zacian or Zamazenta, the Legendary Pokémon from the Galar Region. Instead, it’s merely the more common Pokémon encounters.

The Timed Research where players choose the Sword or Shield path is not a purchased ticket. It should be available to all Pokémon Go players. The event begins on Sept. 26 at 10am in player’s local area.

Those who pick the Shield path receive encounters with Larvitar, Lotad, Croagunk, Solosis, Spritzee, and Oranguru, with a Collection Challenge centered on them. If a Pokémon Go player chooses to go down the Sword path, Seedot, Scraggy, Gothita, Deino, Swirlix, and Passiman will appear when using Incense, with a Collection Challenge centered around catching these Pokémon.

When it comes to raids, Galarian Ponyta, Galarian Darumaka, Goomy, Jangmo-o are spawning in one-star encounters, Turtonator and Drampa are spawning for three-stars, and Zacian is appearing in five-star raids. The Legendary Heroes event also gives Pokémon Go players their first chance to catch a Shiny version of Zacian after beating it in five-star raids. No new Dynamax Pokémon have been announced for this event, unlike the Psychic Spectacular, which features the debut of Dynamax Beldum.

It’s good to see Niantic did not take the Legendary Heroes event too far by forcing players to choose between the Sword or Shield path and blocking them from picking between Zacian or Zamazenta raids. However, it’s odd to see this approach around a smaller event, given they usually save this sort of thing for larger events, such as the Pokémon Go Tour events. Players may need to watch out for more of these moving forward.