Pokémon GO: Mega Camerupt & Shadow Raids
- Mega Camerupt enters Pokémon GO Mega Raids on May 6, while Nihilego takes over five-star raids and Shadow Cresselia becomes the weekend Shadow legendary. - The key timing is 10:00 a.m. local on May 6 for the raid swap, with Shadow Cresselia weekends running May 9 through June 2. - That matters because Shadow Entei Raid Day just ended, so the game shifts from a one-day fire sprint to a full week of steadier raid grinding.
Pokémon GO’s raid board flips again on Wednesday, May 6, and this one is pretty easy to miss if you only remember the weekend headline. Shadow Entei was the loud event — short window, boosted shiny odds, extra passes. But the bigger day-to-day change now is that Mega Camerupt arrives in Mega Raids, Nihilego replaces Tapu Lele in five-star raids, and Shadow Cresselia becomes the new weekend boss in Shadow Raids. ### What actually changes on May 6? At 10:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, May 6, the monthly raid rotation moves into its next block. Mega Banette leaves Mega Raids and Mega Camerupt takes its place through May 12. At the same reset, Nihilego becomes the featured five-star raid boss for the same dates. Raids are the only way to farm the Mega Energy you need for that species, and Mega Camerupt is only around for one week in this slot. If you want enough energy to Mega Evolve Camerupt now and then make future evolutions cheaper, this is the window. The catch is that Mega Camerupt is more of a collection-and-utility target than a must-have monster for every roster. ### What’s happening with Shadow Raids? May’s Shadow schedule is a separate track from normal raids. Shadow Cresselia is the five-star Shadow boss on weekends from May 6 to June 2, while one-star and three-star Shadow Raids keep appearing daily. The currently listed daily pool includes Shadow Dratini, Shadow Gligar, Shadow Cacnea, and Shadow Joltik at one star. ### Why does “weekends only” matter? Because five-star Shadow Raids do not behave like the standard legendary cycle. You do not get a full daily run with remote invites from anywhere. Shadow legendary raids are tied to weekends, they appear at Rocket-controlled gyms, and Shadow Raids still cannot be joined remotely. So planning matters more here than for a normal Raid Hour. ### What about Cupertino specifically? The user context says Cupertino, but Pokémon GO does not publish a city-by-city raid calendar in advance. Raids spawn at local gyms, and which gym gets which egg is determined in-game. So the useful local takeaway is simpler: if you’re in Cupertino, check gyms after 10:00 a.m. local on May 6 for Mega Camerupt and Nihilego, and watch local gyms on the weekend for Shadow Cresselia. ### Is this replacing Shadow Entei? Yes — basically. Shadow Entei had its own special Raid Day on Saturday, May 2, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time, with up to six free passes and boosted shiny odds. That event is over. The game is now back to its regular weekly rhythm, and Shadow Cresselia is the new Shadow legendary focus. what should players prioritize? If you only have time for a few raids, Mega Camerupt is the time-limited grind for this week, while Shadow Cresselia is the harder-to-schedule target because it is weekend-only and in-person only. Nihilego sits in the middle — easier to access during the week, especially during the May 6 Raid Hour from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. ### Bottom line? The flashy one-day event already happened. What starts now is the more practical part of May’s Pokémon GO schedule — Mega Camerupt for Mega Energy, Nihilego for standard legendary raiding, and Shadow Cresselia as the weekend in-person chase.
