It looks like Mega Venusaur is the first casualty of the Mega Pokemon era in Pokemon GO. Niantic revealed earlier today that the Mega version of the Grass/Poison-type Kanto starter will be leaving Mega Raids starting at the end of the week.
Starting on Oct. 23 at 6 PM PT, Mega Venusaur will be replaced as soon as the Pokemon GO Halloween event begins to make way for Mega Gengar. Pokemon at all raid difficulties filter in and out of the rotation, so this was bound to happen with Megas as well.
But now that Mega Venusaur is going to leave the lineup of potential Mega Raid Pokemon, you’ll be able to find them more often up until the end of the week. And after that, Niantic will add new ways to obtain Mega Venusaur Energy without needing to complete a raid like Timed Research and Field Research.
However, the changes will reach much wider than just some extra research to get Mega Venusaur Energy. In early November, an update will let you get Mega Energy for a Pokemon by walking with it as your Buddy. The only catch is that you’ll need to Mega Evolve a Pokemon in that evolutionary line in order to earn Mega Energy.
Also, having a Mega Evolved Pokemon will start to increase your candy earnings. If you catch a Pokemon that has the same type as your current Mega, then you’ll get some kind of candy bonus. Better yet, any raid boss will give you extra catch candy if you have an active Mega mon.
You’ll also be able to see which of your friends currently have a Mega Pokemon, which will be helpful when deciding who to invite to raids. If you want to read the official release about Mega Venusaur leaving Mega raids in Pokemon GO, you can find it right here.
