Pokemon GO fans were already looking forward to May 19, as today is Charmander Community Day. However, Niantic has made today's festivities even more exciting by bringing the legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh to raids, along with its shiny variant.

Niantic announced late yesterday that Ho-Oh would be coming to Pokemon GO today, and it has held true to that promise. The legendary bird is now appearing in raids all over the world, alongside Latios and Latias. Anyone who hopes to catch Ho-Oh and add it to their collection of Pokemon will have from now until June 7.

The addition of Ho-Oh to legendary raids is surprising. After all, the allure of Charmander Community Day seems like it would be enough to get fans of the game out anyway, so it's not like Niantic was hurting for people to play Pokemon GO today. Plus, Latios and Latias are the current legendary raid Pokemon and they don't seem to have any major connection to Ho-Oh.

It will be interesting to see if future Community Day events mark the return of other legendary Pokemon to raids as well. Even though legendary Pokemon are now available through the Field Research system, those legendaries are far weaker than the ones encountered in raids, so new players may still want the chance to add some more powerful legendary Pokemon to their roster.

At some point, Niantic will run out of legendary Pokemon to add to Pokemon GO, and one has to imagine that will mean it will start rotating through all the legendary Pokemon in the game. This could give players numerous opportunities to fill out their roster of Pokemon with the most powerful creatures possible.

In the meantime, today should be an eventful one for Pokemon GO fans. Not only do they have the chance to add a shiny Ho-Oh to their collection, but they should also be able to nab a shiny Charizard as well.

Pokemon GO is out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.