Darkrai is the latest Legend/Mythical Pokemon to feature in five-star Raid Battles in Pokemon Go. Usually this means it is also a GO Battle League reward encounter but not this time, at least right now.
Trainers have been trying to figure out whether Darkrai isn’t among the GBL encounter pool or if they’ve simply been unlucky in not encountering it. Now though, Niantic have confirmed trainers won’t be able to find the Pitch-Black Pokemon.
“You won’t be able to encounter Darkrai through GO Battle League, but you can encounter them by Raiding remotely,” Niantic support confirmed on a Reddit post.
Niantic could change their mind
It looks like the Gen 4 species exclusion is to encourage players to try the new Remote Raid Pass feature. If Darkrai was available as a GBL reward then many trainers would be less inclined to spend the time trying to get hold of it in Raid Battles.
However, this decision could well change. “I’ll be collecting the feedback you all have given here for the team,” the same Niantic support representative also said. So, at the very least, it looks they’re open to adding Legendary and Mythical Pokemon back into the reward pool.
Getting four wins in the Pokemon Go PvP mode is far from easy but many skilled players have been able to take advantage of it and get Pokemon such as Landorus in abundance. There are many trainers losing Pokemon Go battles on purpose to make the matchmaking favorable to them, also.
If they become too common though, it will take away from their rarity and appeal. This is something Niantic obviously have to consider.
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Not fair on all trainers
While Darkrai and co’s inclusion as a reward in GO Battle League may lessen them to some degree, some trainers argue this is the only way they can get hold of them.
“I unfortunately live in an area where I cannot see any gyms or PokeStops on my nearby,” one Redditor revealed. “I was loving the ability to still have a chance at legendaries via GO Battle League battles.”
The purpose of the Remote Raid Pass is to help trainers play Raid Battles while on lockdown. However, players in rural areas who don’t have gyms anywhere near them still struggle to play.
For these trainers these rare Pokemon in GBL make sense. These are the vast minority though, and while unfortunate, it becomes a case of whether Niantic want to make Legendary Pokemon too common as opposed to leaving some trainers out.
For the moment Niantic have opted for the latter but it sounds like this could change.
