Remote Raids and Invitations

Last month, I detailed most of the intricacies regarding remote raids in Pokémon Go, with the exception of one: the "invite friends" feature, which at that time still had not been implemented. Lo and behold, the very next day, the feature became implemented (live) and now Trainers can invite friends to partake in raids. This feature turns out to have lots of intricacies of its own and it seems worth it to detail as much of that in a single post, which happens to be this one.

On the "host" side, after entering a raid lobby, one can tap a button above the upper right corner of party selection in order to invite friends to a raid. Though any friend can be invited, it is suggested to invite only online friends (another new feature addition - perhaps more on this later) or friends who have directly communicated to request an invitation and are in the process of preparing to stand by for the raid. This has to be coordinated as well, since only five Trainers can be invited to a raid, whether it's a single Trainer inviting five others or even five Trainers inviting a friend each. This also counts into the limit of Trainers that can remotely participate in a raid, which is 10 and for which the rest of that are non-invited ("local") remote Trainers. After the lobby timer counts down to 0, the raid begins as expected.

On the "guest" side, when one is invited to a raid, the Nearby tab will turn orange and a notification will appear at the top of the screen. Tapping on the notification or popping out the Nearby tab, going to the Raids section, and tapping on the orange invitation box will take one to the Gym with the raid, at which point the procedure is the same as a remote raid, only one has to be quick, since the lobby timer may well have counted down. The invitation box remains until one "declines" it (not entering the lobby until the raid starts) or just after a victorious raid and the bonus capture challenge. If one is playing and is expected to be invited to raids, one ought to keep watch for a notice and an orange Nearby tab, as well as to have Remote Raid Passes handy - one shouldn't really buy these at the moment one is being invited.

The invitation box contains the photo disc image, Gym name, location, raid level, and raid boss. The location of the raid can be anywhere, even in another country; one of my fellows, who is currently in a different country, has used this as an advantage to invite other fellows to a raid in that country. It's well worth it, since the location of the caught Pokémon from the capture challenge is the location of the raid, which lets raid invitations open the door for Pokémon caught in faraway locations, which when traded will have increased Candy bonuses. This may also have potential for participation in "regional raids" around the world, which has happened with the Lake Trio of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf, especially should they come back at some point. The benefits are certain for those who have friends from different parts of the world.

It took a while for remote raids to appear and a while longer for remote raid invitations to be fully realized. However, looking at the development of both, they appear to be quite impressive. They've removed certain limits on raids and made them appealing in different ways. Each of them have intricacies of their own, but beyond all of those, the accessibility of raids is maintained and even improved to a certain extent. That has to be a joy for those who continue to raid in Pokémon Go even during times like these.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 8/3/2019

Two years ago: Divergent Anime?

Three years ago: A Hobbled Pikachu... 3DS XL