Pokémon GO May 6–12 Mega Raid week

Pokémon GO raids are about to flip again, and this one matters if you’ve been waiting on Mega Camerupt energy or a cleaner week to farm Nihilego. The actual change hits on Tuesday, May 6, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. local time — not at the Wednesday Raid Hour, which is just the spotlight window later that day. Mega Camerupt enters Mega Raids for May 6–12, and Nihilego becomes the week’s five-star boss for the same stretch. That’s the real headline here. ### What changes on May 6? Two raid slots rotate at once. Mega Banette leaves Mega Raids and Mega Camerupt takes its place. Tapu Lele leaves five-star raids and Nihilego comes in. Both swaps are listed for May 6–12 in the current May schedule, and the weekly roundup pins the boss change to May 6 specifically. ### Why does the exact time matter? Because players often mix up “raid week starts” with “Raid Hour starts.” The boss pool changes at 10:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 6. Then, on Wednesday, May 6, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, Nihilego gets the usual Raid Hour spotlight. So if you want first-day Mega Camerupt raids, you do not need to wait until evening. ### Is this really a full May 6–12 window? Yes. The May event calendar shows Mega Camerupt from May 6 through May 12, with the next Mega boss — Mega Glalie — not arriving until May 13. Nihilego follows that same one-week pattern in five-star raids before the regional Ultra Beasts take over on May 13. Basically, this is a clean seven-day farm window. ### What about Shadow Raids? This is where the preliminary summary was off. Shadow Raids are not turning into a Mega Camerupt thing. Mega Camerupt is only the Mega Raid boss. For Shadow Raids, the live raid guide still shows Shadow Latios as the current five-star Shadow boss right now, while the May calendar says Shadow Cresselia-star Shadow Raids continue daily. ### So when does Shadow Cresselia start? The schedule says weekends from May 6 to June 2, which is a little awkward because May 6, 2026 is a Wednesday. The safe read is that the May 6 rotation begins the broader raid week, and Shadow Cresselia becomes the featured five-star Shadow boss on the weekends inside that span. If you care about exact live availability, the weekend is the part to watch. ### What else is happening that week? Lechonk Community Day lands on Saturday, May 9, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time. Dynamax Cottonee is also in Max Battles through May 10. So this is one of those stacked Pokémon GO weeks where raid planning competes with an event window that wants your weekend attention. ### Why should players care about Mega Camerupt? Because Mega weeks are really about resource timing. If you need Mega Energy, want the dex entry, or just prefer to focus one boss instead of chasing a mixed event pool, this is the window. And unlike some messy takeover weeks, the headline bosses here are strictly their own separate weekend thing. ### Bottom line The useful date is Tuesday, May 6, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. local time. That’s when Mega Camerupt and Nihilego actually arrive. Everything else this week — Raid Hour, Community Day, weekend Shadow Raids — stacks on top of that.