The Lapras Raid Event

I kinda wish Niantic would do more Raid events like the Lapras raid event that just happened. Like the Legendary Birds raid events and the Gengar raid day, the Lapras raid day stuck a raid on every single available gym (assuming it didn’t already have a raid on it) that’s available for three hours. During this time you have an increased chance of getting a shiny (which is a guaranteed catch if you get a shiny from a successful raid) and everyone gets 5 free orange Raid Passes, valid only for the raid event.

When I first heard of the Lapras event though, I wasn’t that fussed. Lapras’s purple shiny had already been made available at a Pokemon Go Fest event. This was just another chance to get it, especially since Lapras is a rare Pokemon that rarely spawns and the research which rewarded a Lapras (win 5 gym battles) was insanely scarce to the point that I never managed to get it. I kinda expected that we’d get something that doesn’t have a shiny yet and could do with getting a new move or a legacy move, like Rhyhorn, Rhydon and Rhyperior. But oh well, it’s nice to actually see Lapras for a change.

The thing that worried me more though were the timings. 11am until 2pm on a Saturday. For the Americas, Europe and Africa at least. While I’m torn between the 12 until 3 and 3 until 6 timings, this time slot seems even more awkward. And when it came to the actual event, it turned out that most local players here couldn’t actually play. We only managed to get 10 accounts (8 people, two alt accounts) and most of us weren’t available until 1pm. Luckily, the raid, a level 4 raid, is doable with 3-4 accounts with sub-optimal gear. I only had level 25 Machamps, a Raikou and two Electivires, brother had level 30 Machamps on his main account and a handful of Machamps on his second account and sister had a random assortment of electric types. We managed to do the raid with 50 seconds to spare, no weather boosts (although we did get Best Friend damage boosts).

Not that we needed it though, most of us were only available to do five raids, with the free raid passes. Me and the siblings though had an extra pass, as we had intentionally not done a raid on Friday – you still get the 5 free raid passes even if you already have a raid pass from the day before.

As for the odds? Well for me, it was 50%. I lucked out (after months and months of having shit luck) and in the 6 raids we did, I got 3 shiny Laprases. Sister did 5 raids (one raid bugged out, kicked her out and then wouldn’t let her rejoin) and she got two shinies. Brother, with 2 accounts, did 12 raids and… only got one on his alt account. Pretty much everyone else did get a shiny though in the raids we did, many of them on the very last free raid pass. Don’t cry for brother though, he basically trips over shiny Pokemon (and perfect IV) on a daily or weekly basis.

The Laprases we got though, shiny or otherwise, are still useful since they all have legacy moves. Two ice moves in fact. We don’t really need ice-type Pokemon right now but it’s nice for everyone to have easy access to more than just Mamoswine. And apparently Lapras is insanely useful in PvP because of its water and ice typing.

But still, I think the timing for this raid event was off. Even more so because the Gengar raid event was 1pm until 3pm, and we saw a far larger turnout for that than we did for the Moltres event.

Also, thank heavens for the instant catch on shinies, because Lapras is a squiggly little prick to catch, busting out of ball faster than an angry regional Legendary.