A New Age of EX Raids

Good news for Pokémon Go Trainers: EX Raids have returned. Today, I got my EX Raid Pass for one that is due to happen in four days. After nearly four weeks of waiting, this may indeed be a pleasant news for many. Of course, with that pleasant news, there have been quite a bit of changes to EX Raids. It's enough to say that with these changes, it becomes a "new age" for them, enough that I've started to refer them differently for more consistency from this post onwards.

As I've divulged a little over a week ago, part of that change involves the EX Raid boss. It's no longer Mewtwo, which has "stepped down" and is available to just about everyone up until the middle of next month as a (regular) Level 5 raid boss. The new boss is Deoxys, which is famous for its extraterrestrial origins... as well as its four forms. Currently, it has been advertised that the Normal Form is up for grabs, so for the other three forms, it has to be seen how they will all play out.

A slight change, but one that seems a bit more significant, is in the Gyms that can host EX Raids. Previously, there was no way to tell if a Gym was a possible EX Raid contender, other than specific indications of sponsorship or being located in a park space. Now, Gyms that can host EX Raids will clearly say so with an "EX Raid Gym" tag on the upper right corner when viewing its Pokémon or Photo Disc. This should lead to a lot less guess-and-checking and may open up new possibilities for Trainers in certain locations.

The biggest change so far is that Trainers who earned an EX Raid Pass may then share that pass with (actually, use it to invite) an Ultra or Best Friend of choice. This means that Trainers don't have to come to the specific Gym to "qualify" for the EX Raid Pass, so long as the Trainer has Ultra or Best Friends that can earn the Pass before sharing it to the Trainer. The catch is that this sharing (or invitation) can only be done once, so careful decision is required before inviting. This has the side effect of stepping up the "friend game" of everyone so that more Trainers can join EX Raids.

It seems that this time around EX Raids have gotten slightly easier to obtain, but also more exciting as well. The same sensibilities of previous EX Raids are still likely to apply, with some slight alterations due to these changes. That said, it really does represent a new age for these EX Raids, and with that, I say to let it begin.

One year ago: To Teach and To Delight