Pokémon’s inaugural expansion pass launched on June 17th, 2020. On the same day, The Pokémon Company aired a Pokémon Presents live-stream. The biggest news revealed was the return of Pokémon Snap (Check out our coverage of Pokémon Snap here). Snap wasn’t the only big news, however. The live-stream also announced a new Max Raid Battle event for Pokémon Sword & Shield. This particular event involves the Mythical Pokémon Zeraora.
Pokéfans will remember the Thunderclap-Pokémon Zeraora as one of Generation VII’s Mythical Pokémon. The electric-type monster sports a base stat total of 600 and resembles another electric-type ‘mon, Luxray.
The Zeraora Max Raid Battle
Most Pokémon Sword & Shield trainers, at this point, are familiar with Max Raid Battles. For newcomers, they are four vs. one boss battles where trainers join forces to take down a wild Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon. Often trainers catch the Pokémon in these scenarios.
However, this particular Zeraora cannot be caught. Trainers must defeat it in battle. That said, there is a CATCH!
Trainers may be able to add the Zeraora to their teams if they work together as a collective unit. This particular Max Raid Battle is available through June 28th, 2020. If at least 1 million trainers defeat the Zeraora, it will be available in Pokémon Home for ALL trainers.
The Zeraora Max Raid Battle event doesn’t stop there. Trainers will receive an Armorite Ore for every 100,000 that defeat Zeraora after the first million. Players are capped at ten total Armorite Ores. These unique items can be used at the Isle of Armor dojo to teach Pokémon new moves.
Shiny vs. Non-Shiny Version
To clarify, not all of the Zeraora trainers encounter will be the shiny version. Zeraora has a chance to appear in 3-star or higher Max Raid Battles. The shiny version has a chance to appear in 5-star Max Raid Battles exclusively.
That said, the Pokémon Home reward Zeraora is guaranteed to be a shiny version.
