Pokémon GO May 2025 Event Schedule: Best Raids, How to Get Dynamax Suicune

The rare Lake Trio make their return to Legendary Raids in the May 2025 lineup
Dynamax Suicune is the next legendary to make its Dynamax debut in Pokémon GO
How do the May raid bosses impact the Raid and PvP metas?

Taven Passey | Apr 26, 2025

Pokemon GO May 2025 Content Update / Pokemongo.com

May is shaping up to be one of the most exciting months of the year so far in Pokémon GO. As we get closer to GO Fest, the events and premium rewards continue to ramp up. From new Dynamax legendaries to exclusive regional raid battles, and a visit from Giovanni, trainers have ample opportunities to get excited about the content coming in May.

Legendary Raids in May
Mega Raids in May
Mega Kangaskhan Raid Day
Shadow Raids in May
May Spotlight Hours
Dynamax and Gigantimax Battles in May 2025
Unknown Pokémon GO May Events
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Below is a quick overview of the major events coming in May:

Growing Up Event: May 2–7
Mega Kangaskhan Raid Day: May 3
Crown Clash Event: May 10–18
Dynamax Suicune Max Battle Weekend: May 10–11
May Community Day: May 11
Crown Clash: Taken Over: May 14–18
Shadow Raid Day: May 17
Final Strike: GO Battle Week: May 21–27
May Community Day Classic: May 24
Gigantamax Machamp Max Battle Day: May 25

Legendary Raids in May

May will have three different legendary raid rotations including a chance to catch the rare Lake Trio of Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. Below is the list of legendary raid bosses for the month of May:

May 2025 Legendary Raids / @PokemonGoApp on X

May Legendary Raid Esports Meta Relevance

Tapu Bulu is the Pokémon with the most meta relevance. It is the 7th best Fairy type and the 16th best Grass type, making it extremely viable for both typings. The Lake Trio and Tapu Fini are all ranked very low in their typing as legendries and aren't worth hunting extensively apart from their shinies.

Mega Raids in May

Following the same timelines as the legendary raids, we will see three different Pokémon will be available in Mega raids during the month of May.

Mega Raids for May 2025 / @PokemonGoApp on X

Mega Houndoom (May 1-12)
Mega Gyarados (May 12-25)
Mega Altaria (May 25 - June 3)

All three of these Mega Pokémon can be shiny. Typical shiny odds for Mega Raids are 1-64 which is what we expect for all of these Pokémon. With all three of these Pokémon having dual typings, be sure to stock up on Mega energy in order to maximize candy for Dark, Fire, Water, Dragon, and Flying types.

May Mega Raid Meta Relevance

The May Mega Raid slate is relatively underwhelming, considering that all of these Mega-Evolutions are heavily overshadowed by others with the same typing. Mega Houndoom is the 4th best Dark-type Mega and the 15th-best Fire Type attacker. Mega Gyarados is the 5th best Water-type Mega and the 6th best Dark-Type attacker. Mega Altaria is the 54th-best Dragon-type attacker and the 24th-best Fairy-type attacker.

There are much better options for each typing to optimize your raiding team, however with each Mega being a dual-typing, it doesn't hurt to have each of these leveled to Mega Level 3.

Mega Kangaskhan Raid Day

On May 3rd, trainers will have the chance to battle Mega Kangaskhan as it appears at every gym from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM local time. All Kangaskhan encountered from raids will know the signature charged attack Stomp.

Mega Kangaskhan Raid Day / Pokemongo.com

Mega Kangaskhan has no relevance as a raid attacker or in PvP. The sole use for Mega Kangaskhan is for its mega-evolution bonuses. If you don't have any normal-type megas then make sure to catch at least one Kangaskhan.

Shadow Raids in May

Regirock will make its shadow return in May as it will be the featured legendary for the month.

Regirock is the shadow legendary of May 2025 / @PokemonGoApp on X.com

As a Rock type that is weak to Fighting, Grass, Ground, Steel, and Water attacks, Regirock will require multiple trainers to take down. The top 5 attackers to counter Regirock are:

Necrozma (Dusk Mane)
Groudon (Primal)
Kyogre (Primal)
Garchomp (Mega)
Lucario (Mega)

Regirock Meta Relevance

Regirock will see most of its PvP play in both the Ultra League and Master League, where it is ranked 50th and 103rd, respectively. The perfect IV for the Ultra League is 6/14/14 so keep an eye out on that as you are hunting and always keep an eye out for a Shadow Hundo which would be perfect in the Master League.

Regirock PvP Performance / PvPoke

May Spotlight Hours

May 2025 Spotlight Hours / @PokemonGoApp on X.com

May will contain four spotlight hours where one singular Pokémon will spawn in the wild giving trainers a chance to take advantage of the many unique bonuses that are included in the hour. Spotlight hours occur every Tuesday from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM local time. Below are the four spotlight hours for May 2025:

May 6: Furfrou (2x Catch Candy)
May 13: Sandygast (2x Transfer Candy)
May 20: Poochyena (2x Evolve XP)
May 27: Golett (2x Catch Stardust)

Spotlight Hour Meta Relevance

None of these four Pokémon have any PvP relevance in any league. However, trainers can prepare for these Spotlight Hours in advance to take advantage of the unique bonuses they offer. For example, save any extra legendary Pokémon in your collection and transfer them on May 13 to receive double candy (bonus points if you mirror trade them first with a friend). If you are still working on building up your XP, save lots of 12 candy evolution Pokémon to farm lots of XP. Below is a list of all of the Pokémon with 12 candy evolutions:

Pidgey
Caterpie
Weedle
Wurmple
Whismur
Pidove

Dynamax and Gigantimax Battles in May 2025

Dynamax Battles May 2025 / @PokemonGoApp on X.com

We will get a new rotation of Dynamax battles to take down during the month of May. Dynamax Charmander, Beldum and Bulbasaur are very strong Pokémon to hunt and can all be done solo. Prioritize Bulbasaur as it will allow you to effectively take down Dynamax Suicune when it debuts during the month.

Dynamax Suicune Max Battle Weekend

Dynamax Suicune Max Battle Weekend / Pokemongo.com

Dynamax Suicune will be making its debut from May 10-11, and it can be shiny. Trainers will get an increased Max Particle-themed bonus that will allow you to take down many raids during the day. As a Water-type Pokémon, use Grass-types to maximize group effectiveness. Bulbasaur will be in Dynamax battles during this time so make sure to optimize your Venusaur lineup before heading into battle.

Gigantimax Machamp Makes its Debut

Directly following the Community Day Classic, Gigantimax Machamp will make its debut in Pokémon GO on May 25. No official details have been released but we expect that you will need 12+ trainers at least to effectively take this boss down.

Unknown Pokémon GO May Events

We are still waiting on the official event details for the rest of the confirmed events, including which Pokémon will be included for the two Community Days and which Pokémon will be featured in the Taken Over event. Make sure to check Campfire and see what events your local Community Ambassador will be hosting. These events are even more fun when you participate with others!

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Published Apr 26, 2025

TAVEN PASSEY

Taven is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon's Sports Business program. During his time post-grad, he has developed his own website where he has covered the Call of Duty League as well as college football. He competed semi-professionally in the CDL Challengers Circuit for three years as well as for The University of Oregon's CCL team, which made playoffs and placed T48 each of Taven's three years. Taven still enjoys playing Call of Duty in his spare time, as well as World of Warcraft and any game he is obsessing over at the time.