Pokemon GO Professor Willow’s Global Challenge: How to catch Zapdos

Even if you didn’t make it to the second annual Pokemon GO Fest in Chicago — quite possibly because, like yours truly, you don’t live anywhere near the Windy City — you just played your part in Professor Willow’s Global Challenge. As a result of every region of the world hitting their goals for said challenge, several bonuses have been unlocked for every Pokemon GO player, and Zapdos will be available to find and catch on Zapdos Day, which is coming up on Saturday, July 21.

Zapdos isn’t just a Legendary Pokemon, it’s also the mascot of the best team (in this writer’s humble opinion) in Pokemon GO, Team Instinct. The yellow team players can hold their heads especially high soon enough, as there’s even a chance to catch a Shiny Zapdos on the 21st.

Here’s everything you need to know to catch Zapdos next weekend:

• Zapdos will only appear for a three-hour window during Zapdos Day, making it similar to a Pokemon GO Community Day. In North America, that window will be from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT, or 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Check out this article for times in other regions.
• As was true before, Zapdos will only appear in Raid Battles. That means it’s a good idea to gather some friends together or at least seek out areas where other Pokemon GO players will be trying to take the Legendary Pokemon down.
• Unlike normal days, Zapdos Day will allow you to grab five Raid passes for free simply by spinning the disk at any Gym. That should give you ample opportunities to jump into a Zapdos Raid.
• When battling against Zapdos, remember that it’s weak against Rock-type and Ice-type attacks. Some of the better Pokemon to use against in a Raid include Tyranitar, Golem and Piloswine. Some Pokemon GO players also swear by Mewtwo, even though it doesn’t have a type advantage, because both Psychic and Confusion can be effective.
• Along with the aforementioned Shiny Zapdos that’s possible to encounter in raids, any Zapdos you catch on the 21st will have the Fast Attack Thundershock.

Let’s say for some reason, you have no interest in catching Zapdos at all, maybe because you’re loyal to one of the other two teams and just can’t bring yourself to catch the yellow team’s flagbearer. Is Zapdos Day still of some use to you?

Well, maybe not July 21 specifically, but the bonuses unlocked thanks to Professor Willow’s Global Challenge still should be, and the best part is that they are already in effect.

• You’ll get double candy from catching Pokemon, so six pieces instead of three.
• You’ll also get double the candy from hatching all kinds of eggs.
• To go along with that, all eggs will hatch in half the distance (only if you start incubating them now, though, not ones you already had going prior to this time), including the 7-km eggs that yield Alolan Pokemon.
• A guaranteed rare candy will drop during all Raids.

These global bonuses are in effect through Monday, July 23, so this is a great time to get out and take advantage of not just the opportunity to encounter Zapdos, but to play more Pokemon GO in general. Have fun!

Nick Tylwalk

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Nick Tylwalk enjoys writing about video games, comic books, pro wrestling and other things where people are often punching each other, regaardless of what that says about him. He prefers MMOs, RPGs, strategy and sports games but can be talked into playing just about anything.