There’s a special Raid Hour coming to Pokemon Sword and Shield, but it’s not what you might think.
It actually has nothing to do with the Pokemon Company or Nintendo. In fact, it has been arranged by a super fan named Joe Merrick, owner of the Serebii website, who decided to do something to bring the Pokemon Community together in this difficult time.
Everyone is aware of what’s going on in the world right now, so we won’t harp on about it here. With a lot of people in self isolation, people have more time on their hands and are perhaps needing interaction with others.
Pokemon Community come together
One way to fix this, at least for Pokemon trainers, is to bring them together for a weekly Raid Hour. Max Raid Battles are a big part of Pokemon Sword and Shield and require trainers to join together in order to defeat some super strong species.
This is one of the best ways to catch powerful Pokemon. It’s also a great way to catch some of the more elusive ‘mons and even Gigantamax forms.
“We’re in a dark time right now, and it sucks. So for the past few days I’ve been putting together a whole new Pokemon community initiative,” Merrick shared on Twitter. “A Pokemon #CommunityRaidHour, in order to lift our spirits and give us something fun to focus on and play together.”
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We’re going to do optional challenges each week to make it even more fun. This week: an Easter/Spring theme so use Rabbits, Egg related Pokémon, birds etc.
The important thing here is for us to do some raids, either alone or with friends, and have fun!#CommunityRaidHour
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) April 6, 2020
When is the Community Raid Hour?
That hour will take place on Wednesdays. It is open to all trainers and there will be “over 50 Pokemon content creators” who will also join and stream those Raid Battles. Those times are as follows:
- 09:00 PDT
- 12:00 EDT
- 16:00 UTC
- 17:00 BST
- 18:00 CEST
There will also be optional challenges each week in an attempt to make it even more fun. Merrick shared further details: “This week: an Easter/Spring theme so use Rabbits, Egg related Pokemon, birds etc.” He concluded by saying: “The important thing here is for us to do some raids, either alone or with friends, and have fun!”
It’s an excellent idea and if it proves popular maybe it’ll be increased to more than once a week!