Free Shiny Zeraora Giveaway Ends Today [Last Chance]

Pokemon Sword and Shield players can grab another free Pokemon for a limited time. Because more than one million trainers defeated the Mythical Pokemon Zeraora in Max Raids last month, all players will be able to receive a free Shiny Zeraora right now via the mobile version of Pokemon Home, but time is running out to get it. Here's how to claim it.

Everyone who has transferred a Pokemon from Sword or Shield into Home, or vice versa, between June 17 and July 6 will be able to claim the free Mythical Pokemon, even if you haven't participated in a Zeraora Raid. Once you've met that requirement, follow these steps to receive your Shiny Zeraora:

• Select the Menu button at the bottom of the screen
• Select Mystery Gift
• Select Gift Box
• Tap on the Pokemon in the Gift Box and select Receive

Alongside Zeraora, you'll also get a download code to redeem in Sword or Shield for a handful of Armorite Ore. These are new items introduced in Sword and Shield's Isle of Armor expansion, and they have several uses. You can pay Ore to an NPC inside the Master Dojo to teach a Pokemon brand-new moves, or you can give some to Digging Pa to dig up more Watts, which are necessary to upgrade the dojo with additional amenities.

The Shiny Zeraora distribution ends at 4:59 PM PT on July 6, so you'll only have until then to claim the Pokemon. You can read more details about the distribution on the official Pokemon website.

Shiny Zeraora isn't the only free Pokemon you can claim in Pokemon Home. After transferring a Pokemon to the cloud service, you'll also receive all three Galar starters: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. You'll likewise find these monsters waiting inside your Gift Box, and each one has its Hidden Ability, which weren't previously available in Sword and Shield.

We gave Sword and Shield's first expansion an 8/10 in our Isle of Armor review. Critic Kallie Plagge wrote, "DLC is new to the main-series Pokemon games, and it's certainly a great alternative to replaying the same game a year or two later when the souped-up rerelease comes out. But like the traditional third or 'Ultra' version, The Isle of Armor does refine much of the experience we had in vanilla Sword and Shield, with a more interesting Wild Area to explore and some small quality-of-life tweaks that further the progress Gen 8 has made in that regard."