Although Pokemon GO players have all month to earn multiple encounters with Raikou through Research Breakthrough rewards, many trainers want to make sure to get the most out of the opportunity. To do that, lots of players have saved up seven stamps with plans to get their first Raikou as early as possible.
Those trainers have to be very careful not to open the Pokemon GO Research Breakthrough reward box early or else they will end up with another Body Slam Snorlax. That said, we're officially passed 1pm PT and many users are reporting that Raikou encounters are now live!
As far as we can tell, it seems like it is now safe to go ahead and crack open those reward boxes in hope of a perfect IV Raikou.
It's well-established that Raikou is one of the strongest Pokemon in the metagame and that isn't going to change when the next generation releases. The electric-Type is a very reliable choice in many Battle Raid scenarios and players should definitely do their best to earn at least a few of them throughout August.
Many of the hardcore players already have plenty from last summer, but the additional candy and chance to get a high IV spawn are well worth the minimal effort it takes to trigger the encounter once every seven days.
Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that the September reward is just as exciting... Until next time, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.