Pokemon GO's new Research feature launched seven days ago and players have been very busy in the last week completing both Special and Field Research. Now that a full week has gone by, that also means diligent players are able to claim their first major award for earning seven stamps. The rewards are exactly as exciting and legendary as some Pokemon GO players predicted...

Once players earn their seventh stamp, it is possible to claim the special reward. Players are assuming that this reward will rotate from time to time, but for now it includes Stardust, a mystery item, and a special pokemon encounter. As some early leaks suggested, it seems like the first special pokemon encounter triggered by Breakthrough is with Moltres.

To trigger the Moltres encounter, players simply need to earn seven badges and then claim the Breakthrough rewards. The encounter will begin right away, so be sure to have a good stockpile of berries and Ultra Balls ready. Some players have reported being about to run away from the encounter, visit the shop, and then return; so that might also be a possibility.

Moltres originally appeared as a Legendary Battle Raid boss over the summer, but since then there has been no other chance to catch the team valor mascot. That all changed this morning when players all around the world claimed their reward and ran into the legendary fire-type.

Although the chance to catch Moltres again is definitely exciting, the future implications are the more exciting development here. Depending on how often these Breakthrough rewards rotate, this could offer rural players the first real chance to catch up and get all of the Legendary pokemon that they've missed in Battle Raids.

Up to this point, nearly all chances to catch a legendary depended on participating in level 5 Battle Raids. That simply isn't an option for some players, so having an alternative path to the legendary monsters is a fantastic development.

Hopefully in the next few weeks we learn more about how often these rewards will change and what other special encounters might show up. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!

Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.