Pokemon Go's Times Square Mewtwo Controversy Explained

The raid was timed to Pokemon Go’s July 6 anniversary and framed as a full-circle moment: the game’s very first trailer back in 2016 imagined a crowd of trainers taking down a Mewtwo in Times Square, and this event restaged that scene in real life.

Coverage of the official Pokemon Go site confirmed the celebration but didn’t publish a hard attendee count, and outlets have reported figures ranging from roughly 1,000 to nearly 2,000 invited trainers, mostly Community Ambassadors, their guests, and select content creators.

Everyone who attended received a Mewtwo with a Times Square-themed background baked into its in-game profile, plus guaranteed perfect IVs, the “hundo” stat roll collectors specifically hunt for. It’s a cosmetic and statistical flex that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else in the game, which is exactly what made it controversial the moment word got out.

This event lands in the middle of a bigger shakeup for the franchise. Niantic sold its games division to Scopely for a reported $3.5 billion back in March 2025, and the rebrand to Scopely Explore was only announced days before this very anniversary celebration. Pokemon Go has leaned hard into exclusive, high-profile moments this year to mark the milestone, and this raid was the biggest one yet, but it also reopened an old debate about the game rewarding a small, curated group of players over its broader base.

The backlash was immediate. Players who didn’t make the invite list criticized the event for creating a two-tier experience, and that frustration only intensified once attendees started listing their exclusive Mewtwo for sale.

Pokemon Go has handed out limited-time and location-exclusive Pokemon before, but rarely anything this tightly controlled or this tied to the game’s own origin story.

That combination of scarcity, nostalgia, and controversy is a big part of why this particular item has generated so much attention beyond the game’s usual fanbase. It also raises questions about how Scopely Explore handles future milestone events, since a repeat of this backlash isn’t something the studio likely wants heading into its next decade.

The secondary market here formed almost immediately, and it’s worth understanding both the numbers and the risk. Trainers began listing their Times Square Mewtwos within minutes of the raid’s ending, and we’ve seen more than a few sales for over $1,000 at a time.

Keep in mind that even smaller portion of attendees were able to obtain a rare “shiny” variant of Mewtwo. Shinies have been a staple of the franchise for decades, and they routinely draw the most interest and highest sale prices whether they’re printed on cardboard or coded in a game. Shiny Times Square Mewtwos have resold on eBay for up to $5,000.

There’s a catch that matters more than the price tag. Selling in-game Pokemon violates Pokemon Go’s terms of service, and completing the trade reportedly requires location spoofing, which is its own bannable offense. Trading also resets a Pokemon’s IVs, so a buyer never actually receives the perfect stats, only the background

Most sellers elect to sell the account on its own and leaving the buyer to manage the risk. Either way, we’re looking at a historic moment for the game, and one that will likely continue to stoke controversy in coming months.