Pokémon GO raid battles that regularly take place in the Pokémon Gyms. During these games, the specific player and a group of trainers fight for a reward or the option to be able to catch the powerful Pokémon against which the battle is fought. When the player’s Pokémon party is completely wiped out, the option exists to revive the specific team or to alternatively obtain a new party. These groups consist of anything up to 20 people. The time limit on these raid battles is one hour, within which the player and their team have to capture the Raid Boss as well as receive the reward items.
Delving deeper into the Raid battles
Participation in a Raid Battle is only secured by a Raid Pass. The Raid Passes are issued once daily and only when spinning a photo disc at the Gym. Raid passes cannot be saved, and the new free Raid Passes can only be obtained if there is none available within the inventory. Premium Battle Passes can however be purchased. These work similar to your regular Raid Passes.
There is no limit on the number of Premium Battle Passes that can be purchased. The purchase amount per pass is 100 PokeCoins. With this Pass, players will be able to earn some premium rewards within the GO Battle League. These specific Raid Battles only take place at the Gym. In-game notifications will be issued as soon as a nearby Raid Battle is set to take place.
The upcoming Pokémon GO raids
There are some upcoming Pokémon GO Raids scheduled for July 2025. The schedule will allow players to be able to complete the Pokedex entry as well as offer the opportunity to be able to add some new and powerful Pokémon to the team. This month will also see the return of some of the legendary Pokémon. Missing out on this will mean waiting a few more years before they return.
Players are also able to participate in Shadow Raids. These Raids take place as soon as Team GO Rocket invades a gym. This is all part of their plan for the takeover of the Pokémon GO world. Players will be faced with Shadow Pokémon who will then become enraged Pokémon during the specific fights. Certain restrictions apply during these specific shadow Raids.
A much-celebrated mythical return
The month of July will also see the return of Lunala and Solgaleo. These two were first released on 18 November 2016 in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Solgaleo’s signature move is the Sunsteel Strike. As soon as its power is released, its appearance changes to the Radiant Sun phase. Lunala is a ghost / psychic type Pokémon with a signature move known as the Moongeist Beam.
When its power is released, it takes on the appearance of the “Full Moon phase”. Lunala and Solgaleo will see their return during the five-star raids. The July 2025 schedule for Pokémon GO is as follows:
- 30 June to 8 July 2025
- Pokémon – Mega Aggron (Shiny)
- 8 July to 14 July 2025
- Pokémon – Mega Charizard X (Shiny)
- 14 July to 22 July 2025
- Pokémon – Mega Blastoise (Shiny)
- 22 July to 28 July 2025
- Pokémon – Mega Venusaur (Shiny)
- 28 July to 4 August 2025
- Pokémon – Mega Aerodactyl (Shiny)
Mega Evolution cannot be caught from a Mega Raid. The Player will only be able to obtain the Mega Energy for that Pokémon and then encounter it in its regular form. The original starter trio’s Mega Evolutions will also make an appearance during the July Raids. This is all part of the ninth-anniversary celebrations of Pokémon GO! These Pokémon can also be added to the Mega Pokedex for those who don’t have them yet. The five-star Shadow Raids will only appear on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). Remote Raid Passes can be used for the Shadow Raids. The event schedule allows planning for optimal gameplay.
