Legendary offerings and Shiny regionals highlight Pokémon Go’s Road to Unova event

Ahead of the Pokémon Go Unova Tour’s in-person and global events at the end of February, Niantic has revealed a new event called Road to Unova, which will take place as lead-up to the event with multiple Legendary Pokémon raids and other activities planned to take place.

The Road to Unova event kicks off from Feb. 24 to March 1 and ties in with the release of Pokémon Go’s first Battle Pass, the Tour Pass, which has both free and premium options. It’s also when players can purchase the Unova Masterworks ticket simultaneously to try and get a Shiny Meloetta during Unova Tour.

During the Road to Unova event, every day from Feb. 24 onwards, a new Pokémon will appear in Five-Star Raids in the lead-up to the significant weekend action of the Global Go Tour on March 1. The following five-star raid Pokémon include:

If you are lucky, you can catch all the above raid Pokémon as Shiny. One-Star Raids featuring Snivy, Tepid, Oshawott, and Three-Star Raids with Druddigon will also appear for the whole week on top of the Five-Star Raids.

To help trainers get as many of these Pokémon as possible, Niantic has announced plans to increase Remote Raid Pass Limits to 20 instead of five uses from Feb. 24 to 28. From March 1 to 2, there will be no Remote Raid Pass limits at all.

There is another incentive for participating in the Five-Star raids, too, as Niantic is planning to give trainers the chance to get a Legendary Pokémon with Special Backgrounds. There are two Special Backgrounds available, one inspired by Pokémon Black and the other by Pokémon White, but not every Pokémon can get both of these background types. The following Pokémon can get either the Black or White version background.

Plus, when you fuse a Zekrom or Reshiram with a Special Background with a Kyrum with a Special Background of the opposite color, the fused Black Kyurem and White Kyurem will have their unique variant background.

Raids won’t be the only way to get these Legendary Pokémon. For those who miss out on the daily events, there will also be Timed Research during Pokémon Go Tour: Global that will reward players with Terrakion, Cobalion, Virizion, Therian Forme Tornadus, Thunderus, Landorus, and the Genesect forms. These Timed Research Pokémon also have a slim chance of being shiny but can’t have Special Backgrounds. Reshriam and Zekrom will only be available during Raids.

Outside of Raids, the main focus, there will also be other options to get some otherwise exclusive Regional Pokémon—at a cost. By purchasing a Road to Unova Paid Ticket, trainers will get an abundance of bonuses during the Global Event from March 1 to 2.

These include the Raid Pass ($4.99), which gives bonus XL Candy for all the Road to Unova Pokémon, including XP bonuses during Raids and additional free Raid Pass from spinning Photo Disks and Gyms each day.

You also have the Hatch pass ($4,99, which gives trainers Timed Research Rewards to get regional Unova Pokémon like Maractus, Sigluph, and Bouffalant, all of which have their Shiny Pokémon debuts during the festivities. Trainers also get 2x Hatch XP and more bonuses for the extra purchase.

There are a few extra bonuses, but it makes the event unmissable for those who want to complete their Unova Pokédex.