Pokémon Sword & Shield: Shiny Gourgeist Raid Event Kicks Off Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend is kicking off in Pokémon Sword and Shield with a new ghostly Max Raid event and a chance to catch a Shiny Gourgeist. Trainers can also snatch up a Small Size or Super Size Gourgeist, or round out their ghostly collection with a chance to encounter Mimikyu, Yamask, Trevenant, Pumpkaboo, Polteageist, and Cofagrigus.

The spooky event is the first Halloween event in the latest installment of the Pokémon franchise since it launched last November. Shiny Pokémon first appeared in Pokémon Gold and Silver, as rare, differently-colored varieties of common Pokémon. While the look of Shinies is purely cosmetic, they’ve become coveted collectibles among hardcore trainers, but with a 1 in 4096 chance of catching them (1 in 1024 with a Shiny Charm), players normally have to rely on luck and a little skill to grab a Shiny. Max Raid events, on the other hand, offer trainers much better odds, albeit with limited offerings, for a chance to catch their Shiny favorites.

This weekend’s raid event is a prime opportunity for trainers to round out their Shiny collection with a chance to encounter a Shiny Gourgeist. It’s the only Shiny guaranteed to appear during the event, so players are encouraged to keep trying if they don’t find one right away. As a bonus, there’s a 1% chance of encountering two other variations of Gourgeist, Small Size and Super Size. According to Serebii, trainers will also get a 20% chance of coming across Mimikyu, Yamask, Trevenant, Pumpkaboo, Polteageist, and Cofagrigus in the raids, a great opportunity to fill out their Pokédex. Luck is still definitely a factor, but trainers have until November 1st to catch them all.

To participate in the event, trainers will have to connect their Nintendo Switches to the internet through Y-comm, or selecting “Mystery Gift” in the X menu and selecting “Get Wild Area News.” Afterwards, beams of light will appear over Pokémon Dens, which players can walk up to and interact with to kick off the Dynamax battles. If at first Gourgeist doesn’t appear, try try again – this is likely the last chance outside of random encounters that trainers will have to catch a Shiny Gourgeist until next year, so be sure to equip the Shiny Charm.

The Halloween event finishes off October’s spooky Pokémon rotation of Ghost- and Dark-types and wraps up November 1st at 3:59 PM PT / 6:59 PM ET. The raid rotation for next month has yet to be announced, but it’ll probably be a lot less Ghastly than October’s.

Sources: Serebii, Pokémon Blog

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