With Kyurem’s raid rotation ending on August 4, 2026, Niantic brought back the Lake Guardian trio — Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf — to 5-star raids for a one-week window running August 5 through August 11, 2026. Unlike most 5-star bosses, these three aren’t available everywhere at once: each one is tied to a specific region, so which Guardian you’re raiding depends entirely on where you’re playing.
Who appears where
The regional split for this rotation is:
- Uxie — Asia-Pacific region
- Mesprit — Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India
- Azelf — the Americas and Greenland
This means trainers in different parts of the world are raiding three completely different bosses this week, and none of the three can be caught outside their assigned region without traveling or trading with someone who did. If Pokédex completion for all three Lake Guardians matters to you, a trade with a friend overseas is the realistic path for the two you can’t personally encounter.
Raid Hour
A dedicated Raid Hour ran from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. local time on August 5, giving trainers an hour of significantly increased 5-star raid spawns featuring whichever Lake Guardian is regional to them. Raid Hour is consistently the most efficient single window in any raid rotation for stacking multiple attempts — and by extension, multiple shiny checks — in a short period, so it’s worth prioritizing if your schedule allows.
Shiny availability
All three Lake Guardians are shiny-eligible during this rotation. As pure Psychic-types with fairly muted shiny palettes compared to some Legendaries, the difference isn’t dramatic on the encounter screen, but it’s confirmed obtainable — so it’s worth checking each catch screen carefully rather than assuming from the raid lobby sprite alone.
Best counters
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf share the same typing (pure Psychic) and an almost identical move pool, which means the same counter list handles all three regardless of which one you’re facing. Being pure Psychic, they’re weak specifically to Dark, Ghost, and Bug-type attacks. Top picks include:
- Mega Gengar — Ghost/Poison with excellent DPS against all three
- Chandelure — high-damage Ghost/Fire attacker, no Mega required
- Darkrai — Dark-type Legendary with strong raid performance
- Hydreigon, Tyranitar, and Weavile as more accessible Dark-type alternatives
Because all three share weaknesses, you don’t need to build three separate counter teams if you’re traveling or trading raid invites across regions — one well-built Dark or Ghost team handles the whole trio.
Best moveset if you catch one
If you’re planning to use your Lake Guardian rather than just banking it for the Pokédex, equip Confusion as the Fast Move and Swift as the Charged Move — this combination performs best across all three, since their shared move pool doesn’t leave much room for meaningful moveset differentiation between them. Swift’s guaranteed accuracy makes it a reliable choice even though it isn’t the single highest-DPS Charged Move option on paper.
Is this trio worth raiding for PvP?
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf see occasional niche use in Great League as glass-cannon Psychic-type options, but none of them are top-tier picks in the current meta. If you’re raiding primarily for competitive value rather than Pokédex or shiny completion, this rotation is a lower priority than the concurrent Great League meta staples — treat catching one as worthwhile for collection purposes first.
What replaces them after August 11
Niantic hasn’t confirmed the exact raid boss stepping in once this window closes, but the August raid boss rotation has been changing roughly weekly this month, consistent with the pace set by Kyurem’s own departure. Check our Event Calendar regularly through the rest of August, since 5-star bosses this month haven’t been sticking around for more than about a week at a time.
Building your counters ahead of time
If your Dark or Ghost-type attackers aren’t fully built up, run them through our IV Calculator before committing Stardust — a well-rolled Chandelure or Hydreigon from this check is worth more across future raid rotations than a rushed power-up on a mediocre roll, since Psychic-type raid bosses show up often enough that a solid Dark/Ghost core pays for itself repeatedly.
Why the Lake Guardians are region-locked in the first place
Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf have been regionally exclusive since their original mainline debut in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, where each one was tied to a different in-game location across the Sinnoh region. Niantic’s raid rotation mirrors that original geographic split rather than making all three universally available, which is a deliberate callback rather than an oversight — it’s the same approach Niantic has taken with this trio in previous rotations too, so don’t expect a global-availability version of this event down the line.
Trading for the ones you missed
Since only one of the three is catchable in your home region, completing the set requires either travel or a Special Trade with someone who caught the other two. Special Trades have a daily limit and a Stardust cost that varies with friendship level, so if you’re coordinating a three-way trade with friends in different regions, it’s worth checking everyone’s friendship tier in advance — reaching Best Friend status significantly lowers the Stardust needed and raises the chance of the trade rolling favorable IVs.
Quick reference
Window: August 5-11, 2026. Bosses: Uxie (Asia-Pacific), Mesprit (Europe/Middle East/Africa/India), Azelf (Americas/Greenland). Raid Hour: August 5, 6-7 p.m. local time. Counters: Dark, Ghost, or Bug-type attackers — Mega Gengar, Chandelure, and Darkrai are the standouts.
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