September opened Pokémon GO's new Twilight Trails season, and Scopely — which now operates Pokémon GO after acquiring the game from Niantic — kicked it off with a packed schedule: a Mega Finale, a wave of returning Legendaries in five-star raids, a Community Day Classic, and the usual rotation of Spotlight Hours and Raid Hours. Here's the roundup of what's running this month and how the raid tiers fit together if you're catching up.

Five-star raid bosses this month

The headline legendaries rotate on a roughly weekly cadence in September. Sword and Shield mascots Zacian and Zamazenta each got a turn in five-star raids following the departure of the Regi trio, and the back half of the month brings the Ultra Beast trio — Xurkitree, Pheromosa, and Buzzwole — before Xerneas closes things out. If a specific legendary you're after isn't currently up, it's worth checking a live tracker, since these rotate roughly weekly rather than staying up the whole month.

Mega Raids

Mega Raids are cycling through a handful of fan favorites this month, including Mega Beedrill, Mega Houndoom, and the more recently added Mega Malamar and Mega Victreebel. The season opened with a Mega Ascension stretch feeding into the Go Fest Mega Finale in early September, which is why the Mega roster has been especially deep the first week of the month.

Raid tiers, quickly

1-star and 3-star raids are soloable or small-group. 5-star raids are Legendary-tier and generally need a small team. Mega Raids sit similarly to 5-star in difficulty. Shadow Raids are separate — found at Gyms taken over by Team GO Rocket, and unavailable remotely.

Shadow Raids

The Shadow Raid rotation for September runs Shadow Thundurus (Incarnate Forme) as the headline five-star Shadow boss, active from Wednesday, September 9, 12:00 a.m. to Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 11:59 p.m. local time, following Shadow Giratina's run through early September. Below that tier, the rotating Shadow lineup has included Shadow Machop, Shadow Bellsprout, Shadow Torchic, Shadow Bagon, Shadow Alolan Sandslash, Shadow Quagsire, and Shadow Lampent. Shadow Raids can only be found in person at a Gym currently controlled by Team GO Rocket — they don't support remote passes.

Spotlight Hours and Raid Hours

Spotlight Hour runs Thursdays, 6–7 p.m. local time, with a featured catch-focused Pokémon and a bonus attached (extra Candy, XP, or similar, depending on the week). Raid Hour runs on Wednesdays, 6–7 p.m. local time, and boosts the current five-star raid boss's spawn rate at Gyms for that hour — useful for grouping up if a legendary you want is currently up. This month's Raid Hour lineup:

This month's Spotlight Hour lineup:

Community Day

September's Community Day Classic brings back Gible, the dragon-type fan favorite from Sinnoh, giving players another shot at a strong Shiny and a featured move for its final evolution during the event window.

Max Battles

Max Battles continue during the Forever Forward season track running alongside Twilight Trails. Power Spots — the Max Battle equivalent of Raid Gyms — flip over weekly and hold that week's Dynamax Pokémon until the next rotation. The rotation for the rest of the month:

Quick reference: where to check live updates

Raid bosses and event windows shift frequently — sometimes mid-week — so treat this roundup as a snapshot of the month rather than a fixed schedule. For the live, constantly-updated version, community trackers like Leek Duck and Pokémon GO Hub post rotation changes as soon as they go live in-game.

The bottom line

September's lineup is unusually dense thanks to the season transition — a Mega Finale, a full legendary rotation, a Community Day Classic, and the ongoing Shadow Raid and Max Battle tracks all overlapping in the same few weeks. If you only have time for one thing this month, the five-star legendary rotation and the Community Day Classic are the two most time-limited.

Sources

Pokémon and Pokémon GO are trademarks of Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokémon Company. Pokémon GO is operated by Scopely. Ledgerline is an independent, unofficial source and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of the above.