[PokéMMO Guide] Roaming Legendaries FAQ

Credits to @Damian for making this guide/FAQ and sharing it on the PokéMMO Forum.

Q. There are legendaries in the game now?????

A. Yes, Shaymin has been in the game since the Chinese New Year event in February :^)

Serious answer: Yes, the legendary beasts have been released for permanent capture as part of the Johto region launch. The legendary birds are available as of the Xmas 2023 event.

 

Q. Which roaming legendaries are obtainable?

A. The roaming legendaries rotate every IRL month. Suicune was available in August 2023, Raikou is available in September of 2023, and Entei will be available in October of 2023. Then the rotation will begin again, so Suicune will be available in November 2023, Raikou in December 2023, Entei in January 2024, etc. The same is true for Articuno in Dec 2023, Zapdos in Jan 2024, and Moltres in Feb 2024 etc.

 

Q. How do I encounter a roaming legendary?

A. For legendary beasts, defeat the Ho-Oh boss fight during the Johto storyline; after this, the current month's beast will become obtainable in all exterior grass locations in Johto except the Safari Zone (Suicune can also be found while surfing). The chance to encounter it is very low (players report it as less than 0.1%).

For legendary birds, obtain 8 badges in Kanto, then the bird of the month can be found in the same way in any exterior location in Kanto including the Sevii Isles.

The chance to encounter a roaming legendary is not affected by Lures (although Lures will increase the overall rate of wild encounters), nor can it be Repel-tricked, nor do Intimidate/Pressure improve the chance to find it by suppressing other encounters of a lower level. It replaces an otherwise normal encounter.

There are no "legendary locks", it's just a very low encounter rate. The roaming legend encounter will not replace a summoned Sweet Scent horde, but it can replace a horde or multi-encounter found while running, either with or without a Lure active.

 

Q. What happens if I fail to capture the roaming legendary or kill or flee from it by accident?

A. You can re-encounter it as normal, except that the chance to encounter it will significantly increase if you fail to catch it.

 

Q. Can the roaming legendary be shiny? Can I shiny hunt them?

A. Yes, like alphas, the shininess is rolled on the first encounter and fixed afterwards for subsequent encounters. This means that you can't repeat encounters in the same month to try to get a shiny one, ie shiny hunting them in the traditional sense is not possible.

 

Q. How many roaming legendaries can I catch?

A. One per character, per region, per monthly rotation. If you caught Suicune in August, you can catch another one in November. If you caught Zapdos in Kanto in Jan 2024, you can still catch Entei in Johto if you haven't caught one in Jan 2024 already.

 

Q. Do I need to capture Suicune to catch Raikou? Do I only get one legendary?

A. No, they're independent from one another. You can catch all 3, and you can catch duplicates of the same one as long as you wait for the next monthly cycle. Once you catch one for the month, you won't encounter a second one. You cannot catch the previous month's beast until the next rotation if you missed it.

EDIT: This was previously bugged such that if you had caught Suicune you would unable to encounter Raikou. This has since been fixed.

 

Q. Can I change their IVs/natures?

A. Yes; the legendary beasts' IVs can be increased/decreased using Rainbow Quills. The birds can have their IVs increased/decreased via Elemental Orbs. The natures can be changed using Nature Herbs.

 

Q. How do I obtain Rainbow Quills/Nature Herbs/Elemental Orbs?
A. You get a fixed number (20) of Quills when you catch a beast. You can gain additional ones by using the Pickup ability or through player pickup in Johto only (not other regions). Nature Herbs drop randomly when harvesting Gracidea plants. Elemental Orbs drop randomly when defeating a wild pokemon with a move matching the elemental type of the bird in battle (eg faint wild mons with Zapdos using an Electric-type move for a chance at Elemental Orbs).

 

Q. Are they dogs or cats or some other animal?

A. I have called them dogs since I was single-digit years old, so they're dogs to me.