A new month of Pokémon Go Max Battles is here, with Galar Pokémon making up most offerings in October.
Max Battles are a unique mechanic added in September 2024 in Pokémon Go, introducing Dynamax Pokémon in unique Power Spots. These spots are minor four-player raids in random places in the overworld. Power Spots only appear in a certain location for a few days before disappearing and reappearing somewhere else entirely.
You can take part in Max Battles using Max Particles, which you get by walking, interacting with Power Spots, or defeating Dynamax Pokémon. If you successfully defeat a Pokémon at these Power Spots, you can capture it. You can only use Dynamax Pokémon you’ve already caught to take on Pokémon at Power Spots, so it’s a good idea to capture a few for future big releases.
The Pokémon on offer in Max Battles changes monthly, with the current offerings including the following.
Pokémon Go Max Battles full schedule (October 2024)
| Max Battle boss | Raid schedule | Can it be Shiny? |
|---|---|---|
| Scorbunny | Start: Oct. 1 End: Nov. 1 | No |
| Grookey | Start: Oct. 1 End: Nov. 1 | No |
| Sobble | Start: Oct. 1 End: Nov. 1 | No |
| Falinks | Start: Oct. 1 End: Nov. 1 | Yes |
| ??? | ??? | ??? |
As part of Pokémon Go’s Max Battle October 2024 lineup, only five Pokémon are expected to appear in Max Battles. These include Scorbunny, Sobble, Grookey, Falinks, and one unannounced mystery Pokémon that’ll be revealed later in the month to tie in with an event.
These Pokémon replace Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Wooloo, Skwovet, and Beldum from September, so if you missed out on any of these Dynamax Pokémon, there might not be another chance to get one for a while now.
Of the Pokémon on offer in Max Battles in October, only Falinks can be found as a Shiny Pokémon. Equally, all the starter Galar Pokémon can only Dynamax, with the Gigantamax forms of these Pokémon likely being saved for later when Gigantamax finally makes its debut in the mobile game. So, don’t be discouraged if you miss out on these, or even the Kanto starters from last month, as chances are they’ll all reappear later, offering their Gigantamax counterparts in Max Raid dens.
Max Battles are the only way to get Dynamax Pokémon, so if you already have a shiny Falinks, you can’t Dynamax it and need to recapture another Shiny Falinks from a Max Battle to have a Dyanamax-available shiny form.
We don’t like this feature as it means you must recatch many of the Pokémon you might already own to take part in Max Battles, making the Dynamax mechanic feel slightly more tedious. But for now, all we can do is wait to see which other Pokémon join the Dynamax lineup over the next few months.
