Pokémon Go has only featured a small handful of mythical Pokémon in its roster — namely Mew, Celebi, Deoxys, and Meltan — but it’s about to get another. Jirachi, the steel/psychic type first introduced in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, is likely coming to Pokémon Go next week, as indicated by a recent datamine. Unfortunately, Jirachi will only be available for attendees of the Chicago-based Go Fest on June 13–16.
The datamine, revealed by reliable Pokémon Go source @Chrales, details the quest Go Fest attendees will need to complete to discover Jirachi in the game. This lines up with last year’s release of Celebi, who was also exclusive to Go Fest attendees initially. Two other Go Fest events in 2019, one in Dortmund, Germany, and one in Yokohama, Japan, will likely also feature Jirachi quests. The public version of the quest will probably be made available sometime after Yokohama’s event in early August. We’d wager a September release, which is when Celebi was first catchable by the general public.
The exact steps of the Jirachi quest are still unknown, but it should be pretty attainable over the course of a day or two of steady play, if the Celebi quest from last year is any indication. Hatching eggs, making new friends and evolving certain types of Pokémon are usually on the docket. The Go Fest quest is usually far easier and shorter than the public versions of these quests.
If you’re wondering whether Jirachi will be worth the effort beyond just filling a slot in your Pokédex, well, probably not. With extremely balanced stats, Jirachi will struggle to compete against the high-damage beasts in its class. It will also be exceptionally difficult to get candies for, mostly requiring Rare Candies to level up. And given its lack of impact on the meta, there are probably better places to spend those.
We’ll have more from Go Fest next week, including the full quest line players on the ground will need to complete.