Roaming legendaries
Every month, one legendary bird roams the outdoor areas of Kanto and one legendary beast the grass of Johto. They are normal wild encounters, but extremely rare: here is which to hunt this month, where, and how to maximize your odds.
This month (September)
Next month: Zapdos (Kanto) + Entei (Johto).
How it works
- One per region per calendar month, until caught: it is a repeatable event, so you can catch a new one every month.
- Requirements: for the Johto beasts, defeat Ho-Oh during the Johto storyline; for the Kanto birds, earn all 8 Kanto badges.
- Encounter rate: estimated around 1/8,000 (never officially confirmed). If you faint it instead of catching it, it then reappears at roughly 1/500 until caught: "losing" it is not the end.
- What does not work: Lures do not raise its relative odds (they just increase encounter volume), the Repel trick does not work, and Intimidate / Pressure do not help. It simply replaces a normal encounter.
- Tip: it can replace a multi-encounter found while running (natural horde), but never a Sweet Scent horde. Hunt by chaining natural encounters in dense areas.
- Bring a standard catcher: False Swipe, a status setter (Spore, Paralysis) and a good stock of Balls (Timer Balls for long fights).
Yearly rotation calendar
The rotation is a fixed 3-month cycle: this page updates automatically. Want more legendaries? See the raid guide (Heatran, Cresselia, Meloetta and the Swords trio, 100% catchable) and the Ho-Oh boss.
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