Pokémon GO is putting Mega Chandelure at the center of its Halloween schedule with a Chandelure Super Mega Raid Day set for Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time. The event marks Mega Chandelure’s debut in Super Mega Raids, a battle format with a notable twist: the raid boss can become enraged and raise shields that players must break by bringing Mega-Evolved Pokémon of their own.
The three-hour local event is paired with a longer Global Challenge, expanded Remote Raid access, free Raid Pass opportunities and an optional paid ticket. The most consequential addition, however, is progression for Mega Chandelure itself. It becomes the first opportunity to raise this Pokémon’s Mega Level to Super Max Level, opening an extra Charged Attack while it is Mega Evolved.
For players eyeing a spooky centerpiece for their raid roster, the practical story is simple: this is not merely a debut encounter. It is an event built around securing Mega Chandelure, improving its Mega Level and participating in a community-wide push that can strengthen it further.
When Mega Chandelure will be available
Super Mega Raids featuring Mega Chandelure run during the local event window on October 31. Because the times are local, Trainers in different regions will encounter their three-hour raid period at different moments of the day.
The accompanying Global Challenge uses a separate Pacific Daylight Time schedule. It begins on Friday, October 30 at 5:00 p.m. PDT and ends on Saturday, October 31 at 8:00 p.m. PDT. Raid battles completed by Trainers around the world count toward challenge tiers. Completing more tiers produces stronger rewards for Mega Chandelure.
That distinction matters for planning. The raid-day window determines when Super Mega Raids appear locally, while the Global Challenge covers a broader span and determines the event-wide upgrade bonuses. Players who care about the potential enhancements should watch the challenge’s progress before and during their local raid period rather than treating it as a separate side activity.
What makes a Super Mega Raid different
Mega Chandelure’s arrival uses the Super Mega Raid format rather than a conventional raid setup. In these battles, the opposing Mega-Evolved Pokémon can become enraged and deploy shields. Those shields are an obstacle for the entire group, and the listed answer is cooperative Mega Evolution use: participants need their own Mega-Evolved Pokémon to take the shields down.
In plain terms, a shield is a temporary defensive layer on the raid boss. The event’s structure makes bringing a Mega-Evolved Pokémon more than an individual power choice; it is part of the group’s response to the boss mechanic. A lobby with several players may therefore benefit from coordination before the battle begins, particularly if some participants have not used Mega Evolution recently.
The stated mechanic also explains why local cooperation is emphasized. Players can use the in-game map to look for possible Super Mega Raid locations, filter that map, or examine nearby events to find community meetups in advance. For Trainers new to organized raid sessions, Halloween Raid Day offers a clear reason to join local groups: a coordinated lobby is directly relevant when the boss puts up shields.
Remote play is still supported, with the Remote Raid limit raised to 20 across the wider event period. That limit increase starts October 30 at 5:00 p.m. PDT and lasts until October 31 at 8:00 p.m. PDT. It gives players more latitude to support friends or fill distant lobbies, but it does not replace the event’s emphasis on assembling a capable team for the shield phase.
Super Max Level and Ominous Wind+
The key progression feature is Mega Chandelure’s access to Super Max Level. This is the first time players will be able to increase Mega Chandelure’s Mega Level to that tier. Super Max Level had previously appeared during Mega Finale, and eligible Pokémon at this level can learn an additional Charged Attack while Mega Evolved.
For Mega Chandelure, that extra move is Ominous Wind+. A Charged Attack is a battle move used after its required energy has been built up. The “+” naming identifies this as the attack associated with the Mega-Evolved state and the new progression system, not simply a separate ordinary move for every Chandelure.
Ominous Wind+ also scales with Mega Level. Its power rises as Mega Chandelure’s Mega Level increases, giving players a gameplay reason to pursue the new top tier beyond its name alone. The event does not provide a numeric attack-power table, so players should not assume a particular increase before the game shows the applicable values.
There is an important immediate reward for successful raiders: Chandelure caught from Super Mega Raids will already have Mega Level 1 unlocked. That removes the need to begin this event’s Mega progression from zero for Chandelure obtained through the featured raids. It does not mean every caught Chandelure is automatically Super Max Level; reaching that ceiling remains the longer-term objective enabled by the event.
How the Global Challenge affects Mega Chandelure
The Global Challenge rewards collective raid participation with bonuses tied specifically to Mega Chandelure. The exact outcome depends on how many challenge tiers the worldwide community completes.
- For Mega Chandelure at Mega Level 1 or higher, completed tiers can boost the base power of Ominous Wind+.
- For Mega Chandelure at Super Max Level, completed tiers can provide a CP boost.
Base power is the underlying power value used by an attack before battle calculations and other effects are applied. The important restriction is that the Ominous Wind+ base-power boost does not apply in the GO Battle League. Players focused on that competitive mode should therefore avoid assuming that a Global Challenge boost will carry into those battles.
CP, or Combat Power, is Pokémon GO’s broad measure of a Pokémon’s battle strength. The Super Max CP bonus is specifically presented as a benefit for Mega Chandelure that has reached Super Max Level. This makes the event’s two progression layers interdependent: participating in raids helps advance the global challenge, while building a Super Max Mega Chandelure is what unlocks the relevance of the CP reward.
The design leans heavily into a shared objective. Individual players can pursue encounters and passes, but the strongest listed potential bonuses rely on enough raid activity worldwide to clear tiers. It is a familiar live-event approach: personal rewards are immediate, while the ceiling of the featured Pokémon’s benefits depends on collective participation. For a wider view of how ongoing games create alternate paths through established worlds, see this look at World of Warcraft: Forever.
Free passes, Shiny chances and the paid ticket
All players can receive up to six free Raid Passes by spinning Gym Photo Discs during the event. The event also raises the chance of finding Shiny Chandelure from Super Mega Raids. An increased chance is not a guarantee, so players seeking a Shiny should treat every completed raid as another opportunity rather than expect a certain result within a set number of attempts.
An optional event ticket costs US$4.99, or the equivalent local pricing tier, and is sold through the web store and the in-game shop. Ticket holders receive a larger pool of up to 14 Raid Passes from Gym Photo Discs, plus several additional raid incentives:
- An increased chance of receiving Rare Candy XL from Raid Battles.
- +5,000 XP from Super Mega Raid Battles.
- +5,000 Stardust from Super Mega Raid Battles.
Rare Candy XL is a resource prize associated here with raid rewards, while XP and Stardust are two core forms of account and Pokémon-development progress. The ticket is therefore most directly aimed at Trainers intending to do a significant number of Super Mega Raids during the event. The supplied benefits are raid-centric, rather than an indication that the ticket guarantees a Shiny encounter or a completed Global Challenge tier.
Players who do not purchase the ticket are still part of the event’s main loop: Mega Chandelure raids, the chance at a Shiny, six free passes, Mega Level 1 on caught Chandelure, and participation in the Global Challenge all remain relevant.
Timed Research adds Tyranitar and a Premium Battle Pass
Timed Research will be available alongside the raid-day activities. Completing its tasks awards a Premium Battle Pass and an encounter with Tyranitar. The available details do not specify the individual research tasks, deadlines beyond the event framing, or Tyranitar encounter attributes, so players should check the in-game research panel for the active objectives and expiration information.
The Premium Battle Pass is a separate reward from the Gym Photo Disc Raid Pass totals. That makes the research worth checking even for players who have already planned around their free-pass allotment or who are limiting how many raids they complete.
What to prioritize on October 31
For a focused approach, the event’s facts point toward a straightforward order of operations:
- Locate a Super Mega Raid during the 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local window and prepare a Mega-Evolved Pokémon for the shield mechanic.
- Use Gym Photo Discs to claim available Raid Passes, keeping in mind the six-pass standard allocation and the 14-pass ticket-holder allocation.
- Complete Super Mega Raids to pursue Mega Chandelure, its Mega Level 1 unlock, and the increased Shiny opportunity.
- Follow the Global Challenge status, since its tier completion can enhance Ominous Wind+ outside the GO Battle League and boost CP for Super Max Mega Chandelure.
- Open and finish the Timed Research before it expires to claim the Premium Battle Pass and Tyranitar encounter.
Mega Chandelure’s Halloween debut combines a new raid mechanic with an unusually clear advancement track. Whether the goal is a first Mega Chandelure, a Shiny hunt, the extra Ominous Wind+ option, or a push toward Super Max Level, October 31 gives Pokémon GO players a concentrated window to build around the Ghostly chandelier Pokémon.
