Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre arrive with Pokémon Go Tour: Hoenn

The teased arrival of Primal Pokémon has now been confirmed with Niantic revealing both Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre will make their first appearance at the Pokémon Go Tour: Hoenn – Las Vegas in-person event. 

This means Primal Reversion as a mechanic will debut from Feb. 18 to 19 and then be widely available in the game from that point on. 

Primal Reversion is a transformation certain Pokémon can undergo that is somewhat similar to Mega Evolution in that it allows them to take on a new appearance, gain new abilities, and otherwise improve their performance in battle. And for Pokémon as powerful as Groudon and Kyogre, those improvements take them to another level. 

Players attending Go Tour: Hoenn – Las Vegas in-person, or later participating in the Go Tour: Hoenn global event from Feb. 25 to 26, will have a chance to complete special Primal Surge Field Research—along with seeing certain species of Pokémon appearing more frequently in the wild and raids. That research might also increase opportunities to encounter Primal Kyogre or Primal Groudon in raids.

Defeating Primal Kyogre or Primal Groudon in a Raid Battle, or completing specific research tasks, will net players Primal Energy. This works just like Mega Energy in that Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon will stay in their primal form for eight hours after Primal Reversion is achieved and it will take up less Primal Energy the more times you use it.

During the in-person event, ticket-holding players will also be teaming up with Team Go Rocket for a new Special Research story. Additional event bonuses will also be live, such as Groudon and Kyogre gaining access to the moves Precipice Blade or Original Pulse respectively, and boosted Shiny odds for Pokémon originally discovered in the Hoenn region.

A new set of in-game bonuses has also been introduced that involve Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre:

• When Primal Kyogre is in your party, Water, Electric, and Bug-type attacks will be boosted in raids.
• When Primal Kyogre is active as your Buddy, Water, Electric, and Bug-type Pokémon will grant you additional XP and Candy when captured.
• When Primal Groudon is in your party, Fire, Grass, and Ground-type attacks will be boosted in raids.
• When Primal Groudon is active as your Buddy, Fire, Grass, and Ground-type Pokémon will grant you additional XP and Candy when captured.

Players around the world will also gain access to the new ticketed Masterwork Research: Wish Granted, which will have them complete a number of tasks to encounter a Shiny Jirachi.