Pokémon Go’s new legendary Raid stars gen 3’s Regice

Although overshadowed by this week’s trading feature update, a new legendary Pokémon has arrived in Pokémon Go. The ice-type Regice, one of the more difficult Pokémon to obtain in the mainline games, will take part in Raid battles from now through July 19.

Niantic has yet to formally reveal Regice’s introduction, although push notifications and a livestream teardown confirm that the Pokémon is coming at some point today. It’s the latest and one of the last third-generation legendaries to join Pokémon Go, with its companions — Registeel and Regirock — still to be discovered.

But the announcement of Regice has thus far been met with a tepid, even disappointed response. For starters, making it exclusive to Raid battles feels like a disservice to the unique way in which it was originally found. In Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the only way to catch Regice is to complete a multi-step puzzle, with the final task requiring players to translate a passage in Braille. It’s an inspired, if convoluted, way to find a legendary Pokémon.

The closest way to translate that into Pokémon Go would be through Field Research, a relatively new feature built around a quest system. After finishing a certain number of quests over a set period of time, players are able to receive the legendary Pokémon Mew. That’s the only way to get Mew for now, and doing so is a feat comparable to enduring a weeklong mission.

Well-suited that may have been for Regice, but Niantic chose to go a different direction. Worse: Competitive players have already analyzed Regice’s likely stats, which suggest it’s not much of a battle-ready Pokémon. High defense and low offense mean Regice is more of a stalwart tank, not a titan.

The hope is that Niantic cycles in other legendary Pokémon, including Regirock and Registeel, throughout Regice’s monthlong tenure. Doing so will bring us that much closer to finishing the Hoenn region’s Pokédex, so that we can move onto generation four.