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Apex Shadow Ho-Oh and Apex Shadow Lugia, powered-up versions of the Shadow Legendary Pokémon.
Image via Niantic

Pokémon Go players discover that Ho-Oh caught from raids don’t know Sacred Fire

Many players still hoped to get that attack without spending an Elite TM.

They saw it coming but were still disappointed. Pokémon Go fans recently gathered in a Reddit thread to discuss the release of Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh in raids.

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The Pokémon joined raids for everyone in the latest rotation, after a special appearance in a Shadow version for the Pokémon Go Tour: Johto over a week ago.

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During the event, all Shadow Ho-Oh caught knew the attack Sacred Fire. But its regular version, available now in raids, doesn’t, and players are disappointed.

“Since when is it a good thing that Niantic is not giving a raid boss its past exclusive move, when they totally could?” a commenter wrote. “Since when is it a good thing that a Pokemon with a much-needed Community Day move is now considered a ‘luxury’?”

There was no guarantee Ho-Oh would know this Attack. It’s highly valuable due to its significant damage output, but it’s also difficult to get. It usually necessitates the use of an Elite TM to be taught to Ho-Oh.

Sacred Fire isn’t the best move for Ho-Oh in every situation, but it’s popular in PvP, especially. That means it’s mostly used in the Go Battle League.

An Elite TM must be used to get this attack. They are rare in Pokémon Go, though. They are only a limited number of them, which are available in limited periods of time, such as Community Day events or in the Go Battle league.

For this reason, a free Sacred Fire attack for Ho-Oh would have been a significant boost for PvP. Now that players must spend a rare item to get it, many are recommending other Pokémon on which to use it instead for more value.

Most of the time, events that celebrate specific Pokémon also grant special attacks that are considered as powerful for a limited time.

When the event ends, however, the Pokémon lose those attacks and players must spend TMs to get them. Still, the developer already rewarded those special attacks after the events ended in the past —which is why players were hopeful to get it, this time.


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Author
Image of Eva Martinello
Eva Martinello
Eva is a Staff Writer from Paris. Her part-time job is charging into walls with Reinhardt. She has been covering League of Legends esports and other titles for six years. She still believes in a Moscow Five comeback. She also fell into the MMO pit and covers FFXIV and Genshin.