Pokémon Go Fest 2025 is set to transform the gameplay experience, not least with the grand arrival of the powerful crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta. These Legendary Galarian heroes debut during the event with unique abilities known as adventure effects. Unlike typical in-battle moves, these special effects can dramatically influence your performance in challenging encounters like raids. Mastering how to unlock and strategically use these potent boosts will be key to maximizing your success during Go Fest and beyond.
What Exactly Are Adventure Effects in Pokémon Go?
Adventure Effects are temporary bonuses activated by specific, usually Legendary, Pokémon. These abilities provide benefits that extend beyond standard Pokémon battles, impacting various aspects of the overworld or gameplay mechanics. Niantic first introduced this feature with Origin Forme Dialga’s Roar of Time, which could pause item timers, and Origin Forme Palkia’s Spacial Rend, which increased encounter distance for wild Pokémon. More recently, effects tied to Pokémon like Kyurem and Necrozma have influenced mechanics like catch rates or evolution requirements.
Historically, Adventure Effects have focused on utility outside of direct combat. However, the introduction of Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta marks a significant shift. Their unique Adventure Effects are the first of their kind, designed purely to enhance your Pokémon’s performance during Raid Battles. This new focus brings a strategic layer directly into the most challenging cooperative battles in the game.
Crowned Forms Take the Stage at Go Fest 2025
Pokémon Go Fest 2025, running globally from June 28th to June 29th, is the stage for the highly anticipated debut of Crowned Sword Zacian and Crowned Shield Zamazenta. Previously available in their Hero of Many Battles forms, these Legendary Pokémon unlock even greater potential in their Crowned states. Acquiring these forms is the essential first step toward accessing their powerful Adventure Effects.
Obtaining the Crowned form requires transforming your existing Hero of Many Battles Zacian or Zamazenta. This isn’t a simple switch; it involves specific steps and resources tied into the Go Fest event. Once transformed, these forms are not only stronger in battle but also gain access to their signature moves: Behemoth Blade for Zacian and Behemoth Bash for Zamazenta. These powerful Charged Attacks are also the key to activating their respective Adventure Effects.
Unlocking Crowned Zacian and Zamazenta
Transforming a Hero of Many Battles form into its Crowned counterpart requires specific ingredients. You’ll need the Hero form of the Pokémon (Zacian or Zamazenta) that already knows the Charged Attack Iron Head. Crucially, you’ll also need 1,000 specific Crowned Energy (Crowned Sword Energy for Zacian, Crowned Shield Energy for Zamazenta) and 30 Candy for that Pokémon.
The primary ways to obtain this crucial Crowned Energy are linked directly to Pokémon Go Fest 2025 activities. Participating in 5-star raids featuring Crowned Shield Zamazenta on Saturday, June 28th, or Crowned Sword Zacian on Sunday, June 29th, will reward you with the corresponding energy upon successful completion. Additionally, completing the event’s ticketed “Hero’s Journey” Special Research line provides enough energy to transform one Pokémon of your chosen path (Sword or Shield). While the initial transformation has a cost, Niantic has confirmed that subsequent transformations back and forth between the Hero and Crowned forms for that specific Pokémon are free.
Crowned Zacian’s Behemoth Blade Adventure Effect
Should you obtain a Crowned Sword Zacian that knows its signature move Behemoth Blade (which replaces Iron Head upon transformation), you gain access to a potent offensive buff. This Adventure Effect is activated from the Pokémon’s summary page, outside of battle.
When activated, Crowned Sword Zacian uses Behemoth Blade to grant a significant attack bonus to all of your Pokémon currently participating in a Raid or Max Raid Battle. Activating this powerful effect costs 5,000 Stardust and 5 Zacian Candy per use. The base duration for a single activation is six minutes. Analysis confirms this boost translates to a roughly 10 percent increase in attack stats during regular Raid Battles and a 5 percent increase during the tougher Max Raid Battles.
Crowned Zamazenta’s Behemoth Bash Adventure Effect
Mirroring its counterpart, Crowned Shield Zamazenta offers a defensive advantage through its Behemoth Bash Adventure Effect. This effect requires a Crowned Shield Zamazenta that knows the Charged Attack Behemoth Bash (replacing Iron Head after transformation).
Activating the Behemoth Bash effect works identically to Zacian’s: you initiate it from the Pokémon’s summary page. This ability provides a substantial defense bonus to all of your Pokémon engaged in a Raid or Max Raid Battle. The activation cost is the same as Zacian’s: 5,000 Stardust and 5 Zamazenta Candy per use. The standard duration is also six minutes. This defensive boost translates to approximately a 10 percent increase in defense stats during regular Raid Battles and a 5 percent increase during Max Raid Battles.
Activating and Extending Adventure Effects
Once you possess a Crowned Zacian or Zamazenta with the correct signature move, unlocking their Adventure Effect is straightforward. Navigate to the Pokémon’s summary page. Scroll down past their moves and form change option. Here, you’ll find the dedicated “Adventure Effects” section detailing the ability and its activation cost (5,000 Stardust and 5 Candy). Simply tap to activate the effect.
A key feature of these Adventure Effects is the ability to extend their duration by using additional resources. The base cost grants six minutes of the buff. By spending double the cost (10,000 Stardust, 10 Candy), you’ll get 12 minutes, and so on. The duration can be stacked up to a maximum of 24 hours with repeated resource expenditure. Given that Legendary Pokémon Candy can be scarce, strategically using and potentially extending these effects for critical raids becomes a crucial resource management decision. Remember, only one Adventure Effect can be active for your account at any given time, meaning you can’t stack Zacian’s and Zamazenta’s boosts concurrently, nor can you use them alongside effects from other Pokémon like Origin Forme Dialga or Palkia.
Strategic Advantages in Raid Battles
The introduction of party-wide stat boosts via Adventure Effects represents a significant shift for Raid Battles in Pokémon Go. For the first time, players can utilize an ability outside of the battle timer to directly enhance the performance of their entire raid team.
This capability is particularly valuable for challenging content, especially Max Raids, which feature bosses with immense HP and defense. Small raid groups, or players attempting difficult raids with limited participants, can leverage these boosts to make battles more manageable. A 10% defense increase might be the difference between a Pokémon surviving an extra Charged Attack, allowing it to deal more damage. Similarly, a 10% attack increase can significantly speed up clear times, making it easier to finish raids before time runs out or simply farm encounters more efficiently. Strategizing when to activate these effects – perhaps right before a powerful boss Charged Attack or during a damage phase – adds a new layer of depth to raid planning.
Why These Effects Won’t Impact PvP
While the Crowned forms of Zacian and Zamazenta are incredibly powerful in their own right and highly ranked in formats like the Master League (according to PvPoke analysis), their specific Adventure Effects do not function in the Go Battle League or any player-versus-player battles.
This exclusion is consistent with Niantic’s approach to competitive balancing. Introducing abilities that require specific Pokémon ownership and ongoing resource consumption (like Stardust and rare Legendary Candy) to gain a pre-battle stat advantage would fundamentally alter the competitive landscape in a way that prioritizes resource hoarding over skill and team building from readily available Pokémon. Pokémon Go’s focus for competitive improvements has recently included features like Hyper Training and Gold Bottle Caps, which allow post-catch stat optimization without battle-altering external buffs during matches.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the steps to activate Crowned Zacian/Zamazenta Adventure Effects?
To activate either the Behemoth Blade (Zacian) or Behemoth Bash (Zamazenta) Adventure Effect, you must first have the Pokémon in its Crowned form and ensure it knows its signature Charged Attack. Then, go to the Pokémon’s summary page, scroll down to the Adventure Effects section, and tap to activate it. Activation costs 5,000 Stardust and 5 specific Candy (Zacian or Zamazenta) for a base duration of six minutes.
How do I get Crowned Energy or the Crowned forms for Zacian and Zamazenta?
The Crowned forms are achieved by transforming a Hero of Many Battles form using 1,000 specific Crowned Energy and 30 Candy. Crowned Energy is primarily obtained by defeating Crowned Zacian or Zamazenta in 5-star raids during Pokémon Go Fest 2025 (Zamazenta on Saturday, Zacian on Sunday). The ticketed “Hero’s Journey” Special Research during Go Fest also provides enough energy for one transformation based on your chosen path.
Are the Behemoth Blade and Behemoth Bash Adventure Effects worth the cost?
Whether the Adventure Effects are “worth it” depends on your goals and resources. Each activation costs 5,000 Stardust and 5 Legendary Candy, which can be significant expenses. However, the ability to provide a 10% party-wide attack or defense boost in regular raids (5% in Max Raids) for six minutes can be invaluable for completing difficult raids, especially with fewer players, or for speeding up raid farming. Strategic use on challenging bosses or during Max Raids where the boost is most impactful can absolutely make them worthwhile, provided you have the necessary resources.
Prepare for Go Fest Raids
The arrival of Crowned Zacian and Crowned Zamazenta at Pokémon Go Fest 2025 brings an exciting new dimension to Raid Battles. Their unique Adventure Effects offer players unprecedented control over their team’s performance, allowing for strategic boosts to overcome tough opponents. By understanding how to acquire these powerful forms, unlock their abilities, and utilize the Stardust and Candy resources wisely, you can significantly enhance your raiding success during the event and into the future. Get ready to harness the power of Behemoth Blade and Behemoth Bash and conquer challenging raids!
Word Count Check: 1120
