Pokémon Go legendaries Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie appear in regional raids, only two days after shock wild release

A few days ago, Pokémon Go fans around the world were surprised when Niantic announced the latest legendaries would be given a wild release for the first time ever. Almost as surprising is the news these legendaries are now catchable in tier five raids - only two days after debuting in the wild.

In an official update post, Niantic explained that legendaries Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf will be now be available to challenge in regional raids until 27th May (9pm GMT). As before, Mesprit will appear in Europe, Azelf in the Americas, and Uxie in Asia-Pacific.

It's not yet clear whether the legendaries will rotate between regions, and one YouTuber claims Niantic has told him they will stay fixed. Eurogamer has contacted Niantic to ask for confirmation.

While the speed at which Niantic has made these available in raids is startling, it's not the last time players will be able to catch these critters in the wild. Even when the event is over, the lake trio will continue to spawn around bodies of water - but each legendary will still be contained to its assigned region, and the low spawn rate will make them extremely hard to find. You can read our full guide to catching Azelf, Mesprit and Uxie over here.

It does seem like a shame to make these legendaries available in raids so soon, as the wild release was an unusual and exciting way to introduce the Pokémon. While the raids make them somewhat easier to catch, limiting them to regions means they'll still be hard to collect, especially if there are no plans to rotate. Time to start making friends abroad.