Pokemon GO update: Ho-oh Returns!

Thanks to all the "hard work" Pokemon GO trainers did during Thanksgiving week last week, Ho-Oh returned to the game once again. This week the legendary bird Pokemon was announced to invade the world's Ex-Raids without mercy. As such, we'll likely see a whole lot more participants in each raid battle as winter begins to descend upon our ever-crunchier bodies and bones.

Bonus Surprise Ho-Oh

The LEGENDARY Pokemon Ho-Oh has been spotted in Pokemon GO! Gather all your friends, grab your kids, grab your wife, and grab your husband, because there's a Legendary Raid Battle coming up real soon right around where you likely are. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere – like basically anywhere in North or South Dakota, for instance.

For everyone that lives in a big city, rejoice! Ho-Oh will be here for a few days – maybe even until the end of this week. At that time, Ho-Oh will go back into hibernation, possibly forevermore. For now Niantic's not been entirely clear on whether rare Pokemon like these will return to the game, or if they're each a one-time release.

These Pokemon beat Ho-Oh in Pokemon GO:• Omanyte: (as long as it's not with Mud Shot)• Tyranitar: with Bite and Stone Edge• Vaporeon: with Hydro Pump or Aqua Tail• Golem: with Rock Throw and Stone Edge or Rock BlastVS Ho-Oh With Solar Beam:• Zapados: with Charge Beam and Thunderbolt• Golem: with Rock Throw and Stone Edge or Rock Blast• Raikou: with Charge Beam and Thunderbolt• Dragonite: Dragon Tail or Dragon Breath and Outrage, Dragon Claw, or Hurricane

Above you'll find a list of Pokemon that'll work well against Ho-Oh. These Pokemon aren't the only monsters that'll help beat Ho-Oh, but they're certainly amongst the most effective! Below you'll see an IV chart created by n0stresss from the Reddit community Silph Road.

UPDATE: This Pokemon will remain in play until the 12th of December! That gives you one whole heck of a lot of time to kick one in the shin! But don't hesitate. That time might seem massive, but before you know it, your time will have been taken up by holiday shopping and last-chance playground playing.

Bonus Bonuses

In addition to the Ho-Oh re-invasion, a number of bonuses will remain in play until December 1st. Those include double Stardust for all stardust-friendly activities and double XL for all XP activities. That'll last until 1PM PST (afternoon) on December 1st, 2017.

In our Pokemon GO Event Bringing Big Bonuses post, we've got all the details. All the details you could ever want, about bonuses, and the event, and all the wild Pokemon out there, outside your door, right now.

For more information on what's to come, stick around our Pokemon GO Central party house thread over on Facebook. The discussion continues there and here on SlashGear this week!