Pokémon GO has always involved luck. Every Pokémon can have different stats, Shiny Pokémon are intentionally rare, Eggs contain randomized Pokémon, and raids can require numerous attempts before players get what they are looking for. Randomness itself isn’t necessarily a problem. However, it becomes much harder to ignore when real money enters the equation.
The latest PokémonXP & 2026 Worlds GO Pass provides a particularly frustrating example. Players who purchase the Deluxe version can unlock an encounter with Zapdos as part of the premium rewards. Unlike many traditional reward encounters, however, this Zapdos can have a much wider range of IVs.
That means someone can pay for the premium pass, progress far enough to unlock the encounter and receive a Zapdos with absolutely terrible stats.
That’s exactly what happened to me.
My paid reward was a 0-star Zapdos.
Technically, Pokémon GO delivered what was advertised. I received the Zapdos encounter. But when a desirable Pokémon is locked behind a premium reward track while the quality of that Pokémon is determined by chance, it raises a much bigger question about Pokémon GO’s monetization.
Are players increasingly paying for rewards, or are they paying for chances?
Pokémon GO Already Has Plenty of Gacha-Like Mechanics
The Zapdos situation isn’t the only reason that comparison can be made. Once you look at Pokémon GO’s wider monetization, randomized outcomes appear almost everywhere.
Raids are one of the easiest examples. Players can purchase Raid Passes and Remote Raid Passes to participate in additional raids, particularly when hunting Legendary Pokémon. Winning the raid gives you an encounter, but several important parts of that encounter remain outside your control.
The Pokémon might have disappointing IVs. It might have excellent IVs. It could potentially be Shiny, depending on the Pokémon and event.
Didn’t get what you wanted? Buy or use another pass and try again.
Eggs follow a similar principle. Players obtain Eggs containing Pokémon from different pools, while Incubators determine how quickly and how many of those Eggs they can hatch. Additional Incubators can be purchased from the shop.
Again, you’re not necessarily purchasing the Pokémon you want. You’re purchasing more opportunities to roll the dice on what comes out of the Egg.
Shiny hunting pushes the same concept even further. Events regularly encourage players to hunt specific Pokémon with the possibility of encountering a Shiny version. Players can spend money on raid passes, tickets, Incubators and other items that provide additional opportunities, but spending money generally doesn’t guarantee the desired Shiny.
That distinction is important.
Pokémon GO isn’t always selling you the desired result. In many cases, it’s selling you more chances to obtain that result.
The Paid Zapdos Makes That Problem Harder to Ignore
This is where the current Zapdos reward becomes particularly interesting.
Many Pokémon obtained from raids, Eggs and certain Research encounters traditionally have IV floors that prevent them from having extremely poor stats. Players have therefore become accustomed to important reward encounters having at least some protection against terrible IV combinations.
The PokémonXP & 2026 Worlds Zapdos works differently. Its stats have a wider possible variance, meaning the premium encounter can produce a surprisingly weak Zapdos.
A 0-star Zapdos might be an interesting novelty if you found one randomly in the wild. Receiving one after purchasing a premium pass feels considerably different.
I didn’t purchase a guaranteed perfect Zapdos, and I wouldn’t expect one. I didn’t purchase a guaranteed Shiny either.
But when a Legendary Pokémon is specifically presented as part of the additional value of a premium reward track, there should arguably be some minimum standard attached to that reward.
Instead, two people can purchase exactly the same pass, complete exactly the same progression and receive dramatically different results purely because one person got luckier.
One player could walk away with an excellent Zapdos.
Another could receive a 0-star.
Both paid the same price.
When Does Randomness Become Gacha?
Calling Pokémon GO legally a gambling game would require a much more complicated discussion. Gambling laws differ between countries, and legal definitions can depend on factors such as monetary value, tradability and whether digital rewards can officially be converted back into real-world money.
But something doesn’t need to meet the legal definition of gambling before players can criticize the mechanics behind it.
Gacha games generally revolve around players spending currency for randomized rewards, often with rare or desirable outcomes encouraging repeated attempts. Loot boxes operate on a similar psychological principle.
Pokémon GO doesn’t perfectly fit either definition across the entire game, but several of its monetized systems share obvious similarities.
Raid Passes provide more attempts at randomized encounters. Incubators provide more attempts at randomized Egg hatches. Paid events can provide additional opportunities for rare Pokémon and Shinies. IVs add another layer of randomness even after players finally obtain the Pokémon they were chasing.
The individual mechanics might appear harmless when examined separately. Put them together, however, and Pokémon GO starts looking remarkably familiar to anyone who has played a traditional gacha game.
Paying for a Chance Instead of a Reward
There is a major difference between Pokémon GO’s straightforward purchases and its randomized systems.
If I purchase Pokémon storage, I know exactly what I’m receiving. If I purchase additional Item Bag space, I know exactly how much additional capacity I’m getting. If I purchase an avatar item, I can see the item before spending anything.
Those transactions are transparent.
The moment money becomes attached to randomized rewards, that transparency starts disappearing.
You aren’t necessarily purchasing the outcome you want. You’re purchasing access, attempts or opportunities, while Pokémon GO decides the final result through RNG.
That’s why receiving a 0-star Zapdos from a premium pass feels so bad.
The game technically gave me the promised Pokémon, but the quality of that premium reward was determined almost entirely by luck.
Paid Pokémon Should Have Better Protection
Pokémon GO doesn’t need to eliminate randomness. Random encounters and unpredictable stats are fundamental parts of the game, and finding an unexpectedly powerful Pokémon can be genuinely exciting.
However, premium rewards deserve stronger protections.
A Pokémon locked behind a paid reward track doesn’t need guaranteed perfect IVs. That would remove much of the excitement and potentially undermine other parts of the game. A Shiny shouldn’t automatically be guaranteed either unless explicitly advertised.
A reasonable minimum IV floor would be enough.
Players purchasing a premium pass should at least know that its headline Pokémon reward won’t potentially arrive with bottom-of-the-barrel stats.
Because there’s something deeply unsatisfying about opening your wallet, completing a premium progression track, finally reaching the Legendary Pokémon waiting at the end and discovering that RNG has handed you a 0-star Zapdos.
Pokémon GO can call that a premium reward.
From the player’s perspective, however, it increasingly feels like we paid for another roll of the dice.
