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How to catch Galarian Zapdos in Pokémon Go

No more flying, time to run.

Zapdos is one of the first legendary elemental bird Pokémon, very well-loved following its debut in the first generation games of Red, Blue, and Yellow. Since then, the Pokémon’s popularity has been so high that it received a new regional form in Galar within the Pokémon Sword and Shield games. This version of the normally Electric-type switches to Fighting. Here is how you can get your own Galarian Zapdos in Pokémon Go.

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How to get Galarian Zapdos in Pokémon Go

The only known way to catch a Galarian Zapdos as of this writing is to get very lucky while using your daily allowance of the Adventure Incense. This is an item that is given to you once a day that you can activate at any time you choose. When you do this, Galarian Zapdos, along with the other two first-generation legendary birds, have a very small chance to appear around you while moving. To our knowledge, it will not appear if you are standing still in the game.

Related: Can you catch a shiny Galarian Zapdos in Pokémon Go?

If you see it appear, interact with it to try and catch it right away. Before throwing anything at it, be sure to feed it a Golden Razz Berry and throw an Ultra Ball at it for a chance to catch it. It has a low catch chance and a high probability of fleeing after a failed catch, so take advantage of your throws when you have them.

As of this writing, this is the only known way to catch a Galarian Zapdos. There is potential at some point in the future for all three of these Pokémon to become available in five-star Raids, but during the introduction of Daily Adventure Incenses, they can only be found this way. They are very rare, and you can only use one of these items a day, so be sure to do some walking around for a better chance to encounter Galarian Zapdos.


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John Hansen
John Hansen is a Full-time Staff Writer for Gamepur as well as a host for the YouTube channel Pixel Street Videos where he co-hosts a weekly gaming podcast and more. His favorite games include Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Breath of the Wild, Left 4 Dead 2, and Overwatch. He covers Overwatch 2 and other FPS titles, Minecraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, Legend of Zelda, and whatever zombie games are placed in front of him.