Pokémon GO Raid Hour — May 13

Pokémon GO’s May 13 Raid Hour is pretty simple on paper, but the catch matters more than usual. Three Ultra Beasts are taking over five-star raids for the hour — Buzzwole, Pheromosa, and Xurkitree — and the event runs from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, May 13. But players are not getting all three everywhere. In the United States, the featured boss is Buzzwole, because these Ultra Beasts are split by region rather than pooled globally. ### Which boss do U.S. players actually get? Buzzwole is the one that matters for most U.S. players. The regional split puts Buzzwole in the Americas and Greenland, Pheromosa in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, and Xurkitree in the Asia-Pacific region. So if you play locally in the U.S., Raid Hour is effectively a Buzzwole hour, not a three-boss roulette. (leekduck.com) ### When does it start? The timing is the standard Raid Hour window — Wednesday, May 13, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. local time. That local-time part matters because the event rolls across time zones. The five-star rotation itself starts earlier that day, at 6:00 a.m. local time, and runs until May 19 at 10:00 p.m. local time, so Raid Hour is the concentrated version of a weeklong boss change. (leekduck.com) ### What changed this week? Up to now, the current five-star boss has been Nihilego. On May 13, that changes over to this Ultra Beast trio, with Mega Glalie also entering the Mega Raid slot the same day. Basically, Raid Hour is the first high-density shot at the new rotation the moment it lands. ### Can these be shiny? Yes — if you’re lucky, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, and Xurkitree can all appear shiny during this rotation. (leekduck.com) That gives the hour extra value even for players who already have the species registered, because Raid Hour is really about volume: more gyms flipping into the featured boss, more fast lobbies, more chances to reroll IVs and shinies in one tight window. (pokemongohub.net) ### So what’s the real strategy? For U.S. players, the practical plan is to treat this as a Buzzwole grind. Line up a route with multiple gyms, have premium or remote passes ready if you use them, and start moving right at 6:00 p.m. because the whole point is chaining raids fast. If you were hoping to pick between all three Ultra Beasts, turns out that’s not how this one works unless you’re raiding through friends in other regions where access rules allow it. (leekduck.com) ### Why does the regional split matter so much? Because it changes the value of the event depending on where you live. A normal Raid Hour asks, “Do I want this boss?” This one also asks, “Is this even the boss my region gets?” For collectors, that makes remote coordination and trading more important than usual. For local U.S. groups, it makes the decision easier — you’re optimizing for Buzzwole, full stop. (leekduck.com) ### What’s the bottom line? If you’re in the United States, mark May 13, 2026, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. local time as Buzzwole hour. The broader headline says three Ultra Beasts, but the useful version is narrower: this is the first hour of a new regional five-star rotation, and in the Americas that means one thing. (leekduck.com)