Pokemon Sword And Shield's Latest Raid Event Focuses On Fire And Ice Pokemon

December is underway, and a new Max Raid event is happening right now in Pokemon Sword and Shield. All month long, certain Ice- and Fire-type Pokemon will appear in Max Raid dens more frequently than usual across the Wild Area, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra, including the Gigantamax forms of Lapras and Centiskorch.

From now until December 31, players will be more likely to encounter Weavile, Avalugg, Lapras, Turtonator, and their pre-evolved forms in Max Raid battles in both Sword and Shield. Kantonian Ponyta and Rapidash will be appearing in Raids during the event as well. These forms are rare in the Gen 8 games, making this a good chance to add them to your collection if you haven't already.

As previously mentioned, Gigantamax Lapras and Centiskorch will also be appearing more frequently during this month's Max Raid event. Gigantamax Pokemon are normally incredibly hard to find outside of these events (although you can teach compatible Pokemon how to Gigantamax in the Isle of Armor), so you'll want to take advantage of their increased spawn rate if you haven't already caught them.

In order for the event Pokemon to begin appearing in your game, you'll first need to refresh your Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting the Y-Comm online or by going into Mystery Gift from the menu screen and selecting Get the Wild Area News. The Max Raid event runs until 3:59 PM PT / 6:59 PM ET / 11:59 PM UTC on December 31.

In other Pokemon news, Pokemon Go support was recently added to Pokemon Home, meaning you can now transfer Pokemon directly from the mobile game to the storage service. Everyone who brings a monster over will receive a special Pokemon as a gift: a Gigantamax-capable Melmetal. The Pokemon Company has also begun emailing out its December Pokemon Trainer Club newsletter, which contains a download code for the Mythical Pokemon Zarude if you signed up in time.