Pokémon Go’s annual Go Fest event will go out with a bang in August, with the addition of Eternatus — you know, the “Gigantic Pokémon” — as part of the game’s Pokémon Go Fest 2025 finale, developer Niantic announced Tuesday during July’s Pokémon Presents.
Eternatus’ arrival will come as part of the weeklong Dark Skies and Max Finale events in Pokémon Go, which run Aug. 18-24. From Aug. 18-23, players level 13 and above will face a challenging week of raids (including the return of Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta) and Max Battles as part of Dark Skies — every existing Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon that has appeared in Pokémon Go to date, as well as the dual-type Poison/Dragon Legendary Pokémon Eternatus, will be appearing in raids.
A new Go Pass will be available during the Go Fest finale, which will be available to players at the start of the Dark Skies event. The Go Pass: Max Finale will offer players the opportunity to catch Eternatus as part of the pass’ track. Niantic says that the free Go Pass: Max Finale and paid Go Pass Deluxe: Max Finale will provide “significant amounts of Eternatus Candy and Candy XL.”
Eternatus is described as “the biggest challenge in Max Battles yet,” and players will likely want to score as much Eternatus candy as they can. “Eternatus can only be caught once during this event, and it requires much more Candy and Candy XL to power up due to its massive power,” the developer said.
During the event, players will also see more active Power Spots, which will refresh daily. The Max Particle collection limit will be increased temporarily during Dark Skies.
Pokémon Go’s Max Finale event, which caps off Go Fest 2025, will conclude with two days of Eternatus battles. On Saturday, Aug. 23 and Sunday, Aug. 24, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time each day, trainers will be able to find Eternatus just about everywhere.
Eternatus was first introduced as part of Generation 8, appearing in 2019’s Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. In Pokémon lore, Eternatus is a draconic alien Pokémon that crash-landed in the Galar region some 20,000 years ago. It awakened from its slumber some 3,000 years ago, unleashing the Darkest Day that caused Pokémon to become Dynamax-huge and wreak havoc. It was put down, temporarily, by Zacian and Zamazenta and a pair of Pokémon trainers, but its impact in creating Max Energy and Dynamax Pokémon ultimately had game-changing effects.