Thousands of Pokémon Go players swarm Times Square to defeat Mewtwo

Thousands of Pokémon Go players packed Times Square and helped bring down Mega Mewtwo Y in a live anniversary raid that echoed the game’s original reveal trailer. More than 1,000 trainers joined the battle, and some accounts put the crowd near 2,000. Players who took part received a special Times Square-only Mewtwo when the raid ended in defeat.

The stunt was built to recreate the final shots of the original Pokémon Go announcement trailer, with The Pokémon Company using the district’s billboards and screens to restage the Mewtwo imagery that helped sell the game a decade ago. The celebration also introduced Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y through Super Mega Raids, which require eight or more trainers.

The event landed on the 10th anniversary of Pokémon GO’s July 6, 2016 launch in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. At launch, The Pokémon Company said the game was available at no cost on the App Store and Google Play, a free-to-play model that helped turn a mobile app into a mass public gathering on one of New York City’s busiest stages.

The Times Square spectacle also came as Scopely said the Niantic games team behind Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, Campfire and Wayfarer would be called Scopely Explore. That change framed the anniversary as both a nostalgia play and a shift in stewardship, with a live broadcast and brief teasers for Pokémon GO’s future folded into the event.

The franchise’s anniversary calendar is not limited to New York. Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Global is scheduled for July 11-12, 2026, and the official festival dates listed earlier in the year included Tokyo from May 29 to June 1, Chicago from June 5 to June 7 and Copenhagen from June 12 to June 14. The wider Pokémon 30th-anniversary campaign, launched in February 2026 with a global #Pokemon30 invitation in Pokémon GO, has kept the series in public view as a live urban spectacle as much as a game.