Giratina, a Ghost/Dragon Legendary Pokemon, is coming back to Pokemon GO for a limited time in a five-star raid. This is far from the first raid Giratina is part of, though, and some Pokemon GO users may be becoming concerned that the legendary is being overused in Niantic's popular mobile game.
Pokemon GO is a constantly-updated game that features Pokemon across generations and regions to keep things fresh for its players. Although Pokemon GO has yet to include all 800+ Pokemon in the franchise, more and more monsters get added pretty regularly. Some event and raid Pokemon are more popular than others, and while Giratina is not unpopular, it may be time for the game to stop leaning on its use.
Giratina is considered one of the scariest Ghost-type Pokemon, and it does make sense for such a Pokemon to show up in October around Halloween time. This time, Giratina will be available October 9-23 in five-star Raids in its Origin Forme (as opposed to Altered Forme). Both are plenty spooky, although Origin Forme is arguably the creepier of the two as it makes Giratina look like a floating spectral serpent.
This will, however, be the sixth time Giratina is appearing in Raid battles, and some people are wondering if Niantic is getting too reliant on this particular Legendary. Giratina appeared for the first time around Halloween in 2018, and then again during that holiday season in 2019, plus three other times in the last two years. Six times in two years is a lot for one Pokemon, especially since Legendary Pokemon are supposed to be rare and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for people to see in the franchise lore.
Of course, players in the main Pokemon games encounter Legendaries quite a bit more often, but those games are guided by a story and plot that places them right in a Legendary's path. The much-asked-for potential Pokemon Platinum remake, if it followed its predecessor's plot, would have the player character encountering Giratina while literally trying to save the world. Of course, Pokemon GO is a fantasy game like every other in its series, and it makes sense for fantastical things to happen.
Raiding a Legendary is fun, yet since there are a lot more Legendaries than Giratina that haven't even come to the game, hopefully some of those Pokemon start getting featured soon. As it is, players can hope to catch Giratina this year during a Pokemon GO Raid Hour event, which happen on Wednesday evenings at 6 PM in whatever time zone the player happens to be in.
Pokemon GO is out now in selection regions on Android and iOS devices.