Pokémon GO Fest Global 2026 features the largest selection of Pokémon yet! But some catches are far more valuable than others. Between powerful raid attackers, useful PvP Pokémon, regional exclusives, rare costumes, shiny debuts, and the arrival of Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y globally, there is plenty to prioritize during the event.
This guide highlights the best Pokémon to catch at Pokémon GO Fest Global 2026 based on their value in raids, PvP, and collection. It covers confirmed wild encounters and raid bosses, including the Pokémon worth farming for Candy, good IVs, shinies, and future investment. As there are alot of Pokémon to cover this time around, this guide will be seperated into two articles one for Saturday and one for Sunday!
Standard Encounters
Now here’s the deal, normally GO Fests have select Pokémon spawn in the while on an hourly loop and each hour is called its own unique “habitat”. However, this time things are a bit different. Instead of specific Pokémon spawning in each habitat, each habitat will instead be differentiated based on typing and will go on for 3 hours. So, for example, a whole host of Ice, Electric, and Fire-types will spawn between 10 AM to 1 PM on Saturday. As such, it is unlikely that you will be able to prioritize specific Pokémon. Not only that, almost every major legendary and mega Pokémon will be appearing in raids as well.
As such, to start off we’ll briefly look at the handful of event-exclusive non-raid encounters that we know for sure will be available during the event and then jump on over to looking at all the raid Pokémon!
Incense Encounters: Regional Exclusives and Unown
These are the Pokémon that will have a chance to spawn when you’re running any incense other than the Daily-Adventure Incense. Firstly, Every form of Unown will be available during the event! If you’re trying to complete your Unown dex, or the much more difficult shiny Unown dex, this is a great opportunity to catch the ones you might be missing.
Other than that, Tropius and Bouffalant might also appear as incense encounters. Tropius is typically only found in Africa, the Levant, Malta and southern Spain. On the other hand Bouffalant can typically only be found in New York and its surrounding areas. As such, if you do not live in those regions you will still be able to add them to your collection during the event. They can both be shiny as well!
Zeraora
For the first time, trainers globally can encounter the Electric-type Mythical Pokémon, Zeraora via a special research that will be available during the event. Not only is Zeraora an exclusive encounter for this year’s GO Fest, it is also one of the best Electric-type raid attackers. So definitely log-in during GO Fest so you can acquire the special research! Check out this article for a full indepth meta analysis, along with the potential for Mega Zeraora in the future.
Costumed Pokémon
Three unique costumed Pikachus wearing hats with the symbols of each of the three teams available in Pokémon GO will be available during the event, adding to the ever-growing roster of costumed Pikachu. If you’re trying to collect them all or just like the one with your team’s hat, this is your time to catch ’em. They can be shiny as well!
The three first starters from Generation 1 will also have unique costumed forms. Not only are these fantastic collectors items, they have multiple gameplay uses as well. Starting with:
Charmander‘s final evolution, Charizard is almost a secondary mascot for the Pokémon franchise. So it should come as no surprise that Charizard has multiple uses across Pokémon GO’s various gameplay modes. While regular Charizard isn’t particularly exceptional, it’s shadow form often finds itself in the Great, Ultra and Master Premier Leagues, thanks to its many legacy attacks. Shadow Charizard and Mega Charizard Y are also fantastic Fire and Flying type raid attacker, whereas Mega Charizard X is a solid Fire-type raid attacker and even a decent Dragon-type raid attacker.
Bulbasaur‘s final evolution, Venusaur is a great Grass-type raid attacker, whether it be in its regular, shadow, or mega variant. It’s shadow and mega forms are solid as Poison-type raid attackers as well. As for PvP, Venusaur falls off and on in the Great League and the Ultra League depending on the meta, where it typically focuses on spamming its legacy move Frenzy Plant. But even in metas where it isn’t a top-player, it can still be a decent spice pick. Also worth noting, Bulbasaur itself frequently finds success in the 500 CP Little Cup formats.
Squirtle‘s final evolution is Blastoise, which is a very good Pokémon for the Great League and the Ultra League as it has solid stat products and can be quite spammy with the legacy move, Hydro Cannon. And while they won’t be available during GO Fest, Blastoise does have a Mega and a Dynamax form which are good for raids and max raids respectively.
Raid Encounters
Now we get into the real meat and potatoes of this article, the raid Pokémon! This time around, raids will be on a habitat based rotation as well. And each day will have its own unique habitats. As such, let’s seperate the raid mons based on days, habitats, and raid-type and get started!
Super Mega Raid
Mega X Mewtwo
So the main highlight of this year’s GO Fest is the release of Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y. Mega Mewtwo X will be available throughout the first day of GO Fest on Saturday and is a Psychic and Fighting-type. In terms of damage potential, Mega Mewtwo Y does outperform Mega Mewtwo X. But they both outperform most other Pokémon.
So Mega Mewtwo X thanks to its extremely high attack, is obviously a fantastic Psychic and Fighting-type. However, its also a very top-tier Ice, Ghost, and Electric-type as well. And can even be a decent Fire-type raid attacker. Outperforming actual Pokémons of those type categories just by having a single charged attack for each of those types! So without a doubt worth getting if you love Mega Mewtwo X. Just worth remembering that Mewtwo Y outperforms X in all type categories except for Fighting, so you might want to wait for Sunday if you’re planning to invest on catching just one.
Stormfire Peak
From 10:00am – 1:00pm the following Pokémon will be available in raids:
Mega Raids
Top Priority: Mega Blaziken – Top Tier Fire and Fighting-type Raid Attacker
No Mega Pokémon can be used in PvP regularly so their main use cases are in raids. WIth that being said,
Mega Ampharos is a very very good Electric-type raid attacker. Ranking 11th on our database. It is outclassed by only a handful of other mega, mythical and legendary Pokémon such Mega Manectric, Zeraora and Zekrom. Despite being a Dragon-type Mega Pokémon, Mega Ampharos is not a very good Dragon-type Raid Attacker though. Lacks good Dragon-type moves.
Mega Blaziken on the hand is at the absolute top of the list as both a Fire and a Fighting-type raid attacker. Ranking no.3 as a Fire-type and no.2 as a Fighting-type on our databse. Any major move update could easily put it at no.1 in either category.
Finally, Mega Abomasnow is similar to Mega Ampharos. It’s ranked no.11 as an Ice-type raid attacker. However, it’s only okay as a Grass-type raid attacker, not great, but can be used in a pinch.
Five-Star Raids
Top Priority: Ho-oh and Lugia – Master League Powerhouses
The legendaries available at the start of the event. Fittingly, its also the first legendaries ever available in the Pokémon franchise.
Starting with the legendary birds from Kanto, Articuno definitely is the least valuable gameplay-wise of the bunch. Being only just sort of okay as an Ice-type raid attacker and a spice pick for the Ultra League. The other two fare a lot better, Moltres is a fantastic Flying-type raid attacker, and Zapdos can be decent in a pinch. Zapdos is also a solid Electric-type raid attacker, whereas Moltres in an okay Fire-type raid attacker. Though it’s worth noting that all of the three have shadow variants that outperform their regular variants as raid attacker, and none of them are that good for PvP right now.
Now we reach the legendary beasts of Johto, once again, Suicune can be singled out as the least valuable gameplay-wise of the three. It’s more of a defensive Pokémon, making it not a very good raid attacker. But its PvP performance is pretty poor as well, because of its movepool and the meta surrounding it. Raikou is definitely the best of the three, being a solid Electric-type raid attacker on its own right, whereas Entei is only okay as a Fire-type raid attacker. Once again, all three have shadow variants that outperform their regular forms. In the case of Raikou, even in PvP.
Finally, the main two legendaries of Johto, Ho-oh and Lugia in their base forms are just kind of, sort of decent as raid attackers in their respective type categories. They not only have shadow variants but unique “Primal Shadow” variants that far outperform their regular variants in raids. However, PvP is where their regular forms truly shine, as Ho-oh and Lugia both in their regular forms, are some of the best Master League PvP Pokémon.
Astral Tides
From 1:00pm – 4:00pm the following Pokémon will appear in the Astral Tides habitat:
Mega Raids
Top Priority: Mega Genger – Spammy Ghost and Poison Raid Attacker
To start off with the Mega Pokémon again, Mega Alakazam is one of the best Psychic-type raid attackers, the only Pokémon that outperform it are the many unique forms of Mewtwo. Though Mega Alakazam does need the legacy move Psychic to bring out its max potential.
Next we have Mega Gengar, which is currently the 3rd best Ghost-type raid attacker according to our database, only behind once again Mega Mewtwo Y and Dawn Wings Necrozma. As Gengar is also a Poison-type Pokémon, it’s naturally also one of the strongest Poison-type raid attacker. In this case, 2nd only to Eternatus. Though in both type categories, Mega Gengar wants the Ghost-type, Lick for its fast attack of choice, thanks to its very fast energy generation.
Finally, we have Mega Swampert, which is the 2nd best Water-type raid attacker with the legacy charged attack Hydro Cannon, just behind Primal Kyogre. It’s also a solid Ground-type raid attacker, though there are a handful of other Ground-types that outperform it. So, in all three Pokémon’s cases, they need at least one legacy move for their best use-case scenario.
Five-Star Raids
Top Priority:
- Xerneas Yveltal – Top Tier Raid Attackers and Master League Pokémon.
- Lunala – Decent Raid Attacker and Master League Staple
Quite a whole host of legendaries during this habitat. So let’s go through some of them really fast. Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, the Psychic-type trio from Sinnoh have very little gameplay purpose. However, they are great for collection since they are typically rare Daily-Incense Pokémon which are each limited to specific regions.
Dialga and Palkia have been PvE and PvP staples for a while. However, nowadays the Origin Forms of Dialga and Palkia outperform their regular forms in the Master League. Whereas their shadow forms outperform their regular forms in PvE. Though Dialga in its regular form is still a solid Steel-type raid attacker, both are okay Dragon-type raid attacker, and Palkia is an okay Water-type raid attacker. Similarly, while the Origin forms outperform, both are still good for the Master League.
The third of the Sinnoh siblings, Giratina will also be available in two unique forms. In this case, despite having the same typing, Giratina Origin is better as a Master League Pokémon, whereas Altered is better in the Ultra League. Origin is also a solid Ghost-type raid attacker, Altered is only decent. Neither is particularly good as Dragon-type raid attackers though.
Moving away from Sinnoh and forward to Kalos. The main box art legendaries Xerneas and Yveltal are some of the absolute best Master League PvP Pokémon. Xerneas is also one of the best Fairy-type raid attackers, and Yveltal is one of the best Flying. Yveltal can be great as a Dark-type raid attacker too if you want to run it like that. Though for maximum performance, they require their iconic legacy moves Geomancy and Oblivion Wing respectively.
Finally, we reach the Alola legendaries, Lunala and Solgaleo. In this case, one of them is far better than the other. Solgaleo isn’t a good raid attacker at all but is pretty good in the Master League PvP format. Lunala on the other hand, is among the top 20 Psychic and Ghost-type raid attacker. Though its fusion form with Necrozma outperform it. Where Necrozma doesn’t outperform is in PvP, where Lunala is one of the very best in the Master League.
Dragonflight Summit
From 4:00pm -7:00pm the final Pokémon will be available in raids during Saturday:
Mega Raids
Top Priority: Mega Salamence – Strong Flying and Dragon Type Raid Attacker
Curiously, all three Mega Pokémon available during the last Saturday habitat are Flying types, Mega Salamence is the best of them, ranking #5 overall in our database. This is followed by Mega Pidgeot in the top 20, but Aerodactyl is nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Mega Aerodactyl makes up for its weak performance as a Flying-type raid attacker by being one of the best Rock-type raid attackers at #4. Mega Salamence also excels with its other typing, being one of the top ten Dragon-type raid attacker.
Five-Star Raids
Top Priority:
- Rayquaza – One of The Best Flying-type Raid Attackers
- Zekrom and Reshiram – Top Tier Electric and Fire-type Raid Attackers and Solid Master League Pokémon
Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza, commonly referred to as the nature trio of Hoenn. You know the drill by now, all three have Primal/Mega forms that outperform their regular forms in raids, however, their regular forms can be really great in this case as well. Kyogre, and Groudon are already really good Ground and Water-type raid attackers respectively, whereas Rayquaza as a Flying-type raid attacker is second only to its own Mega form. It’s fairly solid as a Dragon-type raid attacker as well, however it doesn’t do well in PvP. The same can’t be said about the other two, as Kyogre and Groudon in their base forms are Master League staples!
Then we reach the legendary Dragon trio of Unova. Zekrom is one of the best Electric-type raid attackers, and would’ve been in the top 3 if it wasn’t for those two new Mega Mewtwos. Reshiram is also one of the best Fire-type raid attackers, though it has a shadow form that outperform it. They are both okay as actual Dragon-type raid attackers though, nothing impressive. Reshiram and Zekrom are also really really good Master League PvP Pokémon. I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t mentioned Kyurem so far. That’s because it is the definitive worst of the three both in PvP and raids. It has fusion forms with the other two dragons which perform better overall.
As a final note, every one of these Pokémon have a signature charged attack. But every one of them except for Rayquaza’s is a legacy move and they really want the signature moves in their kits.
Conclusion
And there you have it! I’ve often been amazed at the sheer magnitude of some of the previous GO Fests. But GO Fest this year definitely takes the cake. Unsurpising since Pokémon GO does turn 10 this year! I hope this article has helped you narrow down your priorities for Saturday. Come back next time to see the highlights for Sunday. Until then, have fun and stay safe out there!
Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!
