Important takeaways
- The Galar region is finally getting attention in Pokemon GO with new timed research tasks.
- The Legendary Heroes event offers sword and shield paths, each with different rewards for players.
- Solo players are outraged by trade challenges in Timed Research, but completing it is optional.
Pokémon GO finally giving the Galar region some much needed attention. Although some Galaric forms were added as early as 2019 to celebrate the start of Gen 8, prominent creatures from that generation were skipped over in favor of Alola, Hisui and even Gen 9's Paldea long before Scorbunny, Sobble and Grookey even had a chance to debut in the AR adventure game. After a long wait, Galar is getting its due in the latest season, giving fans some interesting timed quests to complete.
Currently in Pokémon GOan event called Legendary Heroes is available now until October 1st at 8pm local time. As the title suggests, it's a grouping of tasks designed to celebrate the fact that the Warrior Pokemon Zacian can now be fought in raids, with Zamazenta coming in the Galarian Expedition event on October 4th. To match these dog legendaries, players can go through Timed Research and have two paths to follow to get different rewards: the path of the sword and the path of the shield.
How Pokémon GO's legendary heroes Sword Path and Shield Path work
Due to Zamazenta and Zacian being available in raids, despite the Time Research title, neither dog is available as a reward for completing the research tasks. Choosing the sword path or shield path instead changes what Pokemon players will get when they encounter through incense and the research itself. This means players can choose the sword or shield path based on what they may need for their Pokedex with ease.
Players will still earn the usual stardust, XP, and items as they progress through the Time Research, but there are no Galar Pokémon offered as rewards for one path over the other. As part of the Legendary Heroes event, Galarian Ponyta, Galarian Darumaka, Grookey, Koffing, Scorbunny, Skwovet and Sobble will be found more often in the wild for those who missed it when the Max Out season started. What critters players can expect from their Incense and Timed Research tasks are below.
Path of the Sword
- Seedot
- Lean
- Gothita
- Deino
- Swirlix
- Passimian
- Rufflet – Timed research end task reward.
Thyroid way
- Larvitae
- Lottery
- Croagunk
- Solosis
- Spritzee
- Orangutan
- Vullaby – Timed research final task reward.
The choice of path will also affect the bonus Catch Challenge and Trade Challenge players will receive. The Catch Challenge will feature Pokemon found on the appropriate list above, such as a Sword player getting Gothita, Seedot, and Scraggy as needed, while the Trade Challenge will ask for critters from the Shield list. This was likely decided so that fans would interact with other players who chose a different path than them.
However, the Trade Challenge has teased many solos Pokémon GO players who have no one nearby they can complete this challenge with. Many of these fans are asking Niantic to stop offering timed trading challenges, so no rewards are missed out because people don't have friends who like Pokémon to play with.
Should players complete the legendary heroes timed research?
Ultimately, it's up to the player whether they complete the research or not, but unless these particular animals are needed for their Pokedex, want to get credit for their Elite Collector Medal, or they want to level up faster, there's no major reason if why they should go out of their way to complete the timed research. The timed research is quite simple, consisting of only two parts, but there are other methods of using the necessary resources in Pokémon GO.
Although the concept of branching Timed Research into Pokémon GO is quite interesting, the rewards can waste players' time if they expected some unique encounters from their efforts. In any case, players have until October 1st to complete the seven tasks that the entire journey requires, which can easily be completed within a day if they decide to jump in at the last minute.
