Pokemon GO Just Released BIG Changes To Raid Battles

The new system of Raid Battles in Pokemon GO is here, and it's very different from what's come before! Per Niantic's official update on the subject: there will no longer be 2-star or 4-star raids at all! All the 4-star tier raid Pokemon have been added to 3-star raids, and 2-star raid Pokemon have been moved down to the 1-star raid tier.

If you're interested in battling in the 1-star raid tier, you'll find that the rewards are greater than they were before. Now, instead of getting the rewards you've have gotten with a 1-star raid, you'll get the rewards you'd have gotten from 2-star raids, regardless of the Pokemon you face!

The same is true of 3-star raids, with an increase in rewards to what you'd have gotten if you won a 4-star raid battle. If you're rolling with the maximum amount of teammates in a raid, and you beat the Raid Boss with all speed, you can get up to 20 Premiere Balls by winning a raid with your friends!

This should be interesting in September, as the month of wild updates and upgrades begins on the 10th! Through September 10th, we'll still be seeing the Raid Boss (currently Heatran) switch to the strange and mysterious Cresselia. Special raid hour occurrences happen at 4PM local time.

Starting on September 18th, 2020, you'll start to see the Legendary Ice Bird Pokemon Articuno! Fast forward to the 25th of September and Articuno switches out with Zapdos! On October 2, 2020, we'll see Moltres take the cake!

Also note: Starting on September 1, there's a new Research Breakthrough that'll allow you to encounter an Alolan Raichu. Eevee will appear as a "Spotlight Hour" special at 6PM to 7PM local time on September 1, 2020. September 8th is a spotlight on Houndour, September 15th is Tentacool, the 22nd is Spearow, and September 29th the spotlight is on Skitty.