Pokémon GO Fest 2026 Chicago (June 4–7) brings a raid lineup featuring two Primal bosses, four Shadow Raid legends, Mewtwo, and the Electric legends Raikou and Zapdos. This guide ranks all 10 limited raid bosses from lowest to highest priority based on raid attacker tier, candy-bonus value, and how hard each form is to get outside this event. We also cover the bonus Mega Mewtwo X/Y Super Mega Raids (the "Unity Raid") that appear in the final 30 minutes of each Park session.
Last verified: June 2, 2026 — based on the official Pokémon GO Fest 2026 Chicago gameplay page and in-game raid mechanics. Raid rankings reflect our editorial reading of current attacker tier data.
Event Overview
| Dates | June 4 (Thu) – June 7 (Sun), 2026 |
|---|---|
| Where | Chicago — Grant Park (Park experience) + Citywide. No ticket is required to join raids; without a ticket, caught Raid Bosses won't have a Location or Special Background, and Shiny Blaze Breed Paldean Tauros is ticket-only |
| Raid Passes | Up to 9 per day from Gym Photo Discs; the "Raid Lover" add-on raises this to a maximum of 18 per day |
| Lineup | ★6 Primal Raids · ★5 Shadow Raids · ★5 Legendary Raids · ★3 Standard Raids |
| This guide covers | 10-Pokémon priority ranking + Mega Mewtwo X/Y bonus (Unity Raid, last 30 min of each Park session) |
A ticket unlocks the Park experience with event backgrounds and shiny chances, but even without a ticket you can take part in these raids — caught bosses just won't have a Location or Special Background, and Shiny Blaze Breed Paldean Tauros is ticket-only. Either way, this is a stacked lineup worth jumping on.
Priority Summary
| Tier | Pokémon | One-line verdict |
|---|---|---|
| ★★★ Top priority |  Primal Groudon ·  Primal Kyogre ·  Shadow Groudon ·  Shadow Kyogre |
#1 Ground and Water DPS pair, plus their #2 Shadow counterparts and a multi-type candy bonus via Primal Reversion |
| ★★ Mid priority |  Mewtwo ·  Shadow Raikou ·  Shadow Zapdos ·  Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed) |
Mewtwo headlines but standard catches cost 7,500 Mega Energy; Shadow Electric pair is top-tier Electric; Blaze Breed is regional Dex/PvP |
| ★ Low priority | Raikou · Zapdos |
Strong Electric legends, but their Shadow forms are also available this event, so the regular versions are lower priority |
| Bonus tier |  Mega Mewtwo X /  Mega Mewtwo Y |
Super Mega Raid (Unity Raid), last 30 min of each Park session |
Chicago Limited Raid Lineup
| Tier | Pokémon |
|---|---|
| ★3 Standard Raid | Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed) |
| ★5 Legendary Raid | Mewtwo · Raikou · Zapdos |
| ★5 Shadow Raid | Shadow Kyogre · Shadow Groudon · Shadow Raikou · Shadow Zapdos |
| ★6 Primal Raid | Primal Kyogre · Primal Groudon |
These bosses are featured across June 4–7 at GO Fest Chicago. Lower-priority raids don't need much explanation, so we'll move through #10 → #7 briefly and spend more depth on the top picks.
#10 Zapdos
Zapdos lands at #10. All ten Pokémon this event are either strong or rare, so Zapdos only ranks last in relative terms.
With Shadow Zapdos and Dynamax Zapdos also available, a regular Zapdos is lower priority right now. If you're a Zapdos fan or want one with the event background, go for it — but within this lineup, treat it as a low priority.
#9 Raikou
Raikou is a very strong Electric attacker, but with Shadow Raikou in this lineup, a regular Raikou is relatively lower priority.
It's still a great pickup if you don't have one or want to chase a good IV — but with the Shadow version available the same week, it sits here at #9.
#8 Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed)
Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed) isn't a top raid attacker, but it's a regional Pokémon you normally can't get in your home region — so this is a great chance to catch the Blaze Breed and register it in your Pokédex.
It can learn strong moves for the GO Battle League, so it may become useful in PvP later. If you're a league player or still missing the Dex entry, it's worth a raid or two; otherwise you can skip.
#7 Shadow Zapdos
Shadow Zapdos has some of the best damage output among Electric types.
It's strong in its own right, but its rival — Shadow Raikou, which we cover next — edges it out, so Shadow Zapdos sits at #7.
#6 Shadow Raikou
Shadow Raikou hits even harder than Shadow Zapdos as an Electric attacker.
It can also learn Aura Sphere, which gives it value in gyms, raids, and even the GO Battle League. If you can secure a good one this event, it'll pay off across several parts of the game.
#5 Mewtwo
Mewtwo is part of the event's headline — Mega Mewtwo X and Y are the stars — so why only #5?
The issue is that Mewtwo caught from standard raids requires 7,500 Mega Energy to evolve into Mega Mewtwo, while Mewtwo caught from the Super Mega Raids needs no Mega Energy at all. So a standard-raid Mewtwo is less efficient toward the headline goal of the event. If you specifically want a high-IV Mewtwo with the event background, it's still a good week to hunt for one.
#4 Shadow Kyogre
Shadow Kyogre has the second-highest Water-type damage, right behind Primal Kyogre.
A key strength is that you can run it on the same team as Primal Kyogre (only one Mega/Primal allowed per party), so the two stack rather than compete. We placed it at #4, but it's strong enough that you could argue for putting it near the very top.
#3 Shadow Groudon
Shadow Groudon has the second-highest Ground-type damage and is a top-tier attacker.
Compared to Water, Ground comes up more often against raid bosses — Electric, Fire, and so on — so Shadow Groudon sees even more use than Shadow Kyogre, which is why it ranks higher here. It can also be paired with Primal Groudon on the same team.
Should you purify a high-IV Shadow Groudon? Generally it's better to keep a high-IV Shadow as a Shadow — standard Groudon can be re-obtained via trade, but a Shadow legendary only comes from a Shadow Raid. For the full decision framework, see our Shadow purification guide.
#2 Primal Kyogre
Primal Kyogre is the strongest Water-type attacker in the game — the #1 Water DPS.
Primal Reversion grants a 3-type candy and damage bonus — Water, Bug, and Electric — for the whole party, where normal Megas grant a single-type bonus. The candy bonus is the real reason to use it regularly: it works both as a day-to-day candy-bonus Pokémon and as a top raid attacker.
Water-Type Raid Attacker Rankings
| Rank | Pokémon | Note |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Primal Kyogre |
Headline Water DPS leader; daily-use Primal driver |
| #2 | Shadow Kyogre |
Pairs with Primal Kyogre in the same party — no conflict |
For reference, the Water-type DPS top is dominated by Primal Kyogre and Shadow Kyogre — both available at this event. For new or returning trainers, this is a rare window to lock in both top-tier Water attackers at once.
#1 Primal Groudon
Primal Groudon is the strongest Ground-type attacker — the #1 Ground DPS.
Like Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon grants a 3-type candy and damage bonus — Fire, Ground, and Grass — matching the types boosted by sunny weather. Ground is one of the most useful attacking types in the game, so Primal Groudon gets called into raids even more often than Primal Kyogre. That's why it's our #1 priority this event.
Primal Reversion Tier Comparison
| Tier | Pokémon | Why |
|---|---|---|
| S | Primal Groudon |
Fire / Ground / Grass — these three types hit each other for super-effective damage, making the candy bonus useful in almost every raid matchup |
| A |  Mega Rayquaza |
Dragon / Psychic / Flying — Dragon hits Dragon, so it's useful for Dragon-type raid bosses, but it takes super-effective damage from Dragon attacks in return (fragility concern) |
| B | Primal Kyogre |
Water / Bug / Electric — only Electric > Water is a same-bonus matchup, and you wouldn't deploy Kyogre into those raids anyway. The candy bonus is less practical day-to-day |
Why does Primal Groudon outrank Primal Kyogre for daily usability despite both getting a 3-type candy bonus? It comes down to type synergy among the boosted types. For Primal Groudon (Fire / Ground / Grass), all three types hit each other for super-effective damage, so whenever a raid boss of any of these types appears, you can field Primal Groudon, trigger Primal Reversion for the candy haul, and get a damage boost from the matchup too. For Primal Kyogre (Water / Bug / Electric), you wouldn't typically use Kyogre against Electric or Bug bosses, so the bonus is harder to convert into actual raid usage.
This tier comparison is our editorial judgment based on candy-bonus utility plus type matchups, not an official Niantic ranking.
Ground-Type Raid Attacker Rankings
| Rank | Pokémon | Note |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Primal Groudon |
Top of class for Ground DPS + bulk; also a daily-use Primal driver |
| #2 | Shadow Groudon |
Pairs with Primal Groudon in the same party — no conflict |
Just like the Water side, the Ground-type DPS leaderboard is dominated by Primal Groudon and Shadow Groudon — both available at this event. For new trainers, this is a rare chance to lock in both top Ground attackers in a single weekend.
Final Priority Summary
| Tier | Pokémon |
|---|---|
| Priority 3 (★★★) | Primal Groudon · Primal Kyogre · Shadow Groudon · Shadow Kyogre |
| Priority 2 (★★) | Mewtwo · Shadow Raikou · Shadow Zapdos · Paldean Tauros (Blaze Breed) |
| Priority 1 (★) | Raikou · Zapdos |
If you're in Chicago, start with the four Priority 3 raids — Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, Shadow Groudon, Shadow Kyogre — and fit the rest in around them.
Mega Mewtwo X/Y — Unity Raid Bonus
Beyond the lineup above, the single most valuable opportunity at GO Fest 2026 Chicago is the Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y Super Mega Raids, which appear in the final 30 minutes of each Park session.
At GO Fest Tokyo, these ran as a special format called a Unity Raid: a large-scale battle for up to 1,000 Trainers at once, where Mega-Evolved Pokémon are not required, and the boss raises a shield once its HP drops below a certain point. There were also new mechanics — including moments where you raise your phone — and some details still aren't fully confirmed. So rather than treating it like a standard raid, think of it as a festival-style group battle and enjoy the experience.
Super Mega Raids consume a raid pass per attempt, so if you plan to participate, stock up on Premium Battle Passes ahead of time. If you're deciding which one to build, Mega Mewtwo X or Y, see our guide: Mega Mewtwo X vs Y — Which Should You Build?
Shared Counters for Mega Mewtwo X & Y
Wondering what team to bring against Mega Mewtwo X and Y? We've put together counters that work for both X and Y. The damage-focused picks are the fastest, but if you also want more bulk, the TDO-focused picks make especially reliable shared counters.
As for what to actually build: a team of Dark- and Ghost-type attackers will let you battle both Mega Mewtwo X and Y reliably.
