New legendary added to Pokémon Go after trainers catch 3 billion monsters in 6 days

Do people still play Pokémon Go? It’s a question you might have heard a few times since Niantic’s mobile game based on the insanely popular Nintendo franchise smashed all expectation last year.

The answer is, quite clearly, yes. In fact, there are so many dedicated trainers out there that its user-base caught a staggering three billion pocket monsters during the recently-held Global Catch Challenge event.

As a reward for their hard work, players have been treated to double XP, double Stardust, and other in-game goodies. Niantic also brought Farfetch’d, the leek-toting bird Pokémon, to countries other than Japan for 48 hours, although that deadline has now sadly passed.

Up until now, only four of the six legendary Pokemon from the series’ second-generation (introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver on Game Boy way back in 1999, wow I’m old) have transitioned to the augmented reality app: Lugia, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune.

That left the still-absent Celebi and Ho-Oh – a Fire/Flying-type Pokémon famous for being the mystery rainbow-bird that appeared in the first ever episode of the Pokémon animated series.

As with previous legendary additions, you’ll have to team up with other trainers, battle, and then hopefully catch the majestic beast in Raid Battles. Ho-Oh’s arrival comes just over a week after Niantic pushed through a number of tweaks to Raid Battle rewards, so even if it takes a few tries to nab the elusive critter, you should at least get a few bonus items along the way.

Will you be venturing outside to hunt down Ho-Oh? Let us know in the comments.