Zapdos is here, and Team Instinct players wanting to get their mascot on their Pokemon team reportedly have only a week to do so. Like the other legendary Pokemon that have appeared so far, qualifying trainers will get notifications like the one seen below, and can then begin searching for a Zapdos in their vicinity. Players who are near a gym where one appears may get a notification telling them so, giving them time to put together a team to take on the powerful legendary pocket monster.
Finding a Zapdos will not be an easy feat, and taking it down will require coordinated teamwork and the right Pokemon. The Pokemon’s type gives it an edge over many types of creatures. Its type is a combination of an electric and flying Pokemon, and will make short work of just about anything but rock and ice types. Those who have gotten their hands on an Articuno or were among the many who trained Golem, Onix, and the like to battle the first two legendaries would do well to use those here. Vaporeon, usually a powerful all-rounder in the game, is a very bad choice to use against Zapdos, and all the other Eeveelutions available thus far in the game won’t do any extra damage or last any longer than a normal Pokemon. The same can be said of starters and their evolutions; those lucky enough to catch a Lugia or Moltres during previous legendary appearances will find them to be powerful allies, but they won’t do any extra damage against Zapdos. Once you’ve managed to beat a Zapdos, your chances of catching it, as with other legendaries, will likely hover around the three percent mark, so you may have to fight multiple Zapdos in order to actually get one.
Zapdos is the last legendary Pokemon shown in the original promotional art for the appearance of legendaries, so it may be the last we see for a while. With generation two Pokemon out in force, however, we could still technically see Ho-Oh, the legendary dogs, and Celebi. They have not been spotted in-game or in promotional art or postings from Niantic thus far, and given the story surrounding them in the handheld games and their movies, it’s quite likely that some of them could get their own events, especially Celebi and the three legendary dogs. The appearance of this legendary Pokemon is seemingly the last leg of the Pokemon GO Fest long-form event, meant to commemorate the game’s first anniversary.
