Pokemon Go Officially Confirms Return Of Armored Mewtwo, With One Catch

Pokemon Go Will Soon See The Return Of A Pokemon Not Seen In Six Years Published Aug 31, 2026, 3:41 AM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Pokemon Go is going to be heavily reliant on bringing back long-absent creatures to keep excitement high in the ten-year-old game. With only around 70 (of 1,025) Pokemon still to be released, big returns will be the lifeblood of the game. The latest, announced during the Pokemon World Championships closing celebration, is Armored Mewtwo, a creature that has been missing from the game since February 2020. It will be available in five-star raids soon, but there is one major caveat. Armored Mewtwo Is Making Its Long-Awaited Return To Pokemon Go This Week Armored Mewtwo last appeared in Pokemon Go in February 2020 as part of the Pokemon Day celebration. This was only its second appearance in the game, following its initial release in July 2019 as part of the marketing for the Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution movie. The Pokemon is one of the most powerful and most sought-after Pokemon in the mobile hit, and it will return for two days on September 5 and September 6. As part of the 2026 Mega Finale, the Pokemon will be available in five-star raids between 10 am and 6 pm on both days. It joins Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y, which both appeared in the game last month. There is a catch, however. Fans hoping to nab Shiny Armored Mewtwo will have to wait a little longer, as Scopely and The Pokemon Company have confirmed that its debut will be held back for another date, and it won't be appearing this time around. It's a solid pick for Pokemon Go's PVP Ultra League, but much of the excitement surrounding its return stems from the fact that players who joined the game over the last six years will be able to catch Armored Mewtwo for the first time. It's a massive boon for Pokemon's 30th anniversary, and the news has been received extremely well in Go's community. Because of its beefed-up defense stats, Armored Mewtwo is an absolute monster to take down in raids, and you'll need to get a strong party together. Barring specific conditions, it's nigh on impossible to beat with just two trainers, and with three, it's almost just as tricky. Ideally, you'll want to get a group of at least four players together, each with strong counters, if you plan to take it down. Armored Mewtwo's Pokemon Go return was just one of the major announcements made during the Pokemon World Championships closing ceremony. We also heard that a new Pokemon TCG-focused movie is releasing soon; Z Mega Evolutions will be joining Pokemon Champions; Morpeko, Toxtricity, Jolteon, and Flareon will be added to Unite; and new dual-type Pokemon will be released in Pocket in October. Systems Released July 6, 2016 ESRB e Developer(s) Niantic Publisher(s) Niantic Engine Unity Genre(s) Augmented Reality, RPG