Pokemon: Sword and Shield adds uncatchable Magikarp raids for April Fool’s Day

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That’s a lot of fish, and a lot of frustration

Pokemon Sword and Shield April Fools Day Magikarp raid
(Image credit: Game Freak)

Pokemon Sword and Shield players got more than they bargained for today as they uncovered Game Freak's fishy April Fools joke. 

As noticed by Serebii, the Wild Area event in Pokemon Sword and Shield was replaced by a new Max Raid event which seems to only contain entirely-uncatchable Magikarp. If like us you weren’t sure if this was an April Fool’s joke from Serebii themselves, the site's staff replied to a tweet sharing the original article noting “yes this is clearly an April Fool's Joke, by TPC not me [...] No, I'm not fooling you.”

Upon checking the game out ourselves, it became clear that this actually is the case and that uncatchable Magikarp have begun appearing in raids in every part of the Pokemon Sword and Shield Wild Area. Although players are able to battle the Pokemon, it will run away before they have the chance to catch it, making the whole ordeal extremely frustrating. 

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According to Serebii, all of the Magikarp available in the max raid event have very similar stats. They all have a rarity of between 16% - 17%, all sit at a level 40, and all have similar item drop percentages which only vary between 25% - 35%. Here’s hoping that raids will return to normal tomorrow. 

Pokemon Sword and Shield were recently crowned the best-selling Pokemon games since Gold and Silver. This means they’ve sold more units - over 20 million as of February 2021 - than any other Pokemon game within the last 20 years. Which is pretty impressive considering the Pokemon series is only just celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

If you’re thinking of venturing back to Galar - once all the Magikarp have calmed down, that is - take a look at our best Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield list. Plus, you need to read why the most useless Pokemon hides an awesome secret

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.