A Rare Pokémon Is Being Distributed Again For The First Time In A Decade, But There’s A Catch

Pokémon has gotten pretty consistent about using its games’ Mystery Gift feature to distribute rare monsters that have been vaulted and unobtainable for years, and over a year after the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, it’s doing it once more with a rare event Vivillon. 

Though the butterfly critter has been in the game since launch, Vivillon is special in that it has 20 different wing patterns that are determined by the real-world location the player is based in when they catch it. Collecting them all was a challenge back in the day, but The Pokémon Company has represented each of them over the years, even manufacturing 20 different plushes in its Sitting Cuties line. One pattern in particular is based on the series’ iconic red-and-white Poké Balls, and it started out as a limited-time distribution in Pokémon X and Y back in 2014. To nab one in its first distribution, you had to be at a temporary Pokémon Center pop-up shop in Paris. Game Freak went on to re-up the special Vivillon again throughout 2014 in Japan, Germany, and through the Nintendo Network, then eventually gave the ‘mon out to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire players in Japan at the Hiroshima Pokémon Center in 2016.

Since then, the Poké Ball variant hasn’t been made available, but you’ll have your chance in Legends: Z-A, assuming enough players put in the work to unlock it. Game Freak has added a Spewpa to the game’s Mystery Gift feature, and if you evolve this ‘mon (and any other Spewpa you find in the Wild Areas) into a Vivillon, you’ll earn “Vivillon Points.” If the entire playerbase reaches a total of 660,000 points, everyone will receive a Poké Ball Pattern Vivillon to commemorate the whole thing. Notably the Mystery Gift Spewpa has an equal chance to evolve into any one of 16 available variants excluding the Poké Ball pattern or the three that are typically found in Legends: Z-A. So whatever happens, you’ll be able to get a new version of Vivillon you haven’t caught in the game yet.

I booted up my copy of Legends: Z-A to do my part, but as far as I can tell there’s no in-game indication about how many “points” I’ve contributed to the cause. Could it be that 660,000 Spewpas have to evolve into Vivillon before we’re getting the Poké Ball variant? Whatever the case, players’ current progress is being tracked through this official website. Get your Rare Candies ready, folks.