Overview
An EX Raid Pass (originally tested as the Exclusive Raid Pass) was a special invitation item that granted entry to a five-star EX Raid Battle at a specific Gym during a fixed date and time window. Unlike a daily free Raid Pass, Premium Battle Pass, or Remote Raid Pass, it could not be bought in the shop or saved for a different boss. The item expired and disappeared from the Bag as soon as its scheduled raid concluded.
Because the EX Raid system was suspended in March 2020 and never returned, this guide serves as a historical reference to explain older screenshots and mechanics.
How to get it
Historically distributed automatically in waves to selected Trainers who had recently won a raid at an eligible EX Raid Gym, or shared by an Ultra Friend or Best Friend who received one.
EX Raid Passes could never be purchased in the shop and have not been distributed since EX Raids were suspended in March 2020.
How to use it
Granted entry to a single five-star EX Raid at the exact Gym, date, and time window printed on the invitation, and expired automatically once that raid ended.
For current raids, use a standard free Raid Pass, Premium Battle Pass, or Remote Raid Pass as permitted by the raid format.
Worth knowing
An EX Raid Pass is not used for modern Elite Raids or Super Mega Raids; those formats use standard raid passes (or Remote Raid Passes when eligible).
Old guides about triggering EX Raid invitations at park or sponsored Gyms no longer apply; former EX Raid Bosses like Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Regigigas now appear through standard raids or events instead.
How the invitation system worked
Each EX Raid Pass named a specific Gym, date, and time window. Passes were sent out automatically in waves, typically at least a week before the scheduled battle, to selected Trainers who had recently won a raid at a qualifying location. Eligible Gyms were usually located in parks or at sponsored locations, and from September 2018 onward they displayed an EX Raid Gym tag in the upper-right corner of the Gym details screen.
Winning a raid at an eligible Gym only entered a Trainer into the selection pool; having a Silver or Gold Gym Badge and completing more total Raid Battles during the preceding week improved the chance of receiving an invitation. While passes were issued for an upcoming EX Raid, normal raids were blocked at that Gym until the EX Raid finished, and Trainers without a pass could not see the EX Raid Egg or Boss.
Following initial field tests in September 2017, the EX Raid system rotated through three featured Pokémon: Mewtwo (September 2017 to September 2018, and returning with Shadow Ball from September to November 2019), Deoxys across its Normal, Attack, Defense, and Speed Formes (September 2018 to September 2019), and Regigigas (November 2019 to March 2020). In mid-March 2020, EX Raids were indefinitely suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the planned next boss, Genesect, was moved to Special Research and standard five-star raids instead.
When a scheduled EX Raid had to be canceled due to a Gym removal or location closure, affected pass holders were typically compensated with 50,000 Stardust and 5 Premium Raid Passes (now called Premium Battle Passes).
An EX Raid Pass was tied strictly to its printed location and time window rather than acting as a general entry ticket for any boss. Modern special raid formats such as Elite Raids (introduced in October 2022 at former EX Raid Gyms) and Super Mega Raids do not use EX Raid Passes. Instead, Trainers enter those encounters using a standard Raid Pass, a Premium Battle Pass, or—when the event rules allow remote participation—a Remote Raid Pass.
Friend invitations and holding limits
Starting in September 2018 with the debut of Deoxys, Trainers who received an EX Raid Pass directly from an invitation wave could invite one Ultra Friend or Best Friend to join the same EX Raid. Sending an invitation generated a duplicate EX Raid Pass for that friend without consuming the sender's own pass.
Friend-shared passes had strict holding limits. Although a Trainer could hold multiple EX Raid Passes earned directly from distribution waves, they could only hold one friend-invited EX Raid Pass in their Bag at a time. Another friend could not send them an invitation until the existing shared pass was used, declined, or expired.
Additionally, if an invited friend declined the pass, the sender could not forward that invitation to a different player, and invitations could no longer be sent once the EX Raid Battle had begun.
