Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh appeared in Niantic’s Pokemon Go earlier this month for one weekend only. Between December 14 and December 17, Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh could be fought as Tier 5 Raid Bosses. After they finished their brief Raid stint, Heatran was added to Pokemon Go as the Tier 5 Raid Boss on December 18 and will remain in that position until January 15, 2019. If you want to catch Heatran, you can check out our Heatran counters guide; however, if you missed Lugia and Ho-Oh earlier this month—or simply want to catch more of them—then you’re in luck, as Lugia and Ho-Oh can now be encountered once again in Pokemon Go as rewards for a Research Breakthrough. Here’s how to catch Lugia and Ho-Oh in Pokemon Go.
Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh – How to Catch
Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh have been added to the pool of Legendary Pokemon that will be available to encounter from conducting Research in Pokemon Go for January and February. While it was already known that the Legendary Bird Trio—Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno—as well as the Legendary Dog Trio—Raikou, Suicune, and Entei—would be Research Breakthrough rewards, Niantic has now announced that Lugia and Ho-Oh will be joining the already massive pool of potential Legendary encounters.
It’s also worth mentioning that Lugia and Ho-Oh—as well as the Legendary Birds—will have a chance to be shiny. However, it isn’t known at present how likely players are to encounter Lugia and Ho-Oh in relation to the other six Pokemon in the pool. While Niantic may slightly increase the encounter odds of the most recent additions to the Research Breakthrough rewards pool, nothing has been set in stone yet.
All eight Legendary Pokemon in the pool—including Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh—will be available between January 1 and March 1, giving players plenty of time to complete their Research Breakthroughs and earn a Legendary encounter. However, the Legendary you encounter will be decided at random, so even if Lugia and Ho-Oh are awarded increased odds, there’s no guarantee that you’ll even get the chance to catch them. To even get the encounter chance in the first place, you’ll need to actually complete a Research Breakthrough. If you’re unfamiliar with how to do this properly, read on to the next part.
Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh – How to Complete a Research Breakthrough
It’s a good thing that Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh can be encountered as Research Breakthrough rewards as completing Research in Pokemon Go is actually pretty easy. While our Lugia and Ho-Oh Raid guide detailed everything about how to take on Lugia and Ho-Oh in fights, completing Research will usually be manageable, even for weaker trainers.
In order to get a Research Breakthrough opportunity from Professor Willow, players will first need to conduct regular Field Research tasks. These can be collected from PokeStops and are usually very easy to complete. Completing a Field Research task will net you a stamp. While you can do as many quests as you want, you can only earn a single stamp on any given day.
After you’ve collected seven stamps—which can be done in a single week if you’re disciplined—you’ll get a notification from Professor Willow. You’ll see a parcel icon on the home screen; interacting with it will initiate your Research Breakthrough quest, which will consist of several Special Research tasks. These aren’t quite as arbitrary or simple as the Field Research tasks you get from PokeStops, but they are still manageable. Once you have completed the full list of Special Research for a Research Breakthrough, you’ll be able to claim your reward. In this case, said reward is one of the eight Pokemon in the Legendary pool for January and February—two of which are Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh.
Once you begin the encounter, don’t worry about the Pokemon fleeing. The only way you can fail to catch them is if you run out of Poke Balls, so once you’re stocked up on Ultra Balls you’ll definitely be able to get yourself whatever Legendary Pokemon appears for you. That’s all you need to know; complete your Field Research, read the Research Breakthrough tasks, and hopefully you’ll be able to catch yourself a Pokemon Go Lugia and Ho-Oh!
