Pokémon Go Offers 2 Meteorites in Ozone Ascent to Unlock Mega Rayquaza

Q: What happens to your hard-earned Meteorite if you miss the strict Sunday night deadline this weekend?

If you miss the 8 p.m. local time deadline on Sunday, your unclaimed Ozone Ascent Timed Research rewards disappear — including the Meteorite. Niantic’s event notes are explicit that both the free and paid Timed Research must be completed and their rewards claimed by Sunday, July 26, at 8 p.m. local time. If you have not finished the tasks, or if you finished them but failed to tap through and claim the rewards before the cutoff, the Meteorite tied to that research becomes inaccessible. What does not expire is a Meteorite you already claimed. Once it is in your item bag, it stays there until you use it. It remains a single-use item that can teach Dragon Ascent to one Rayquaza, with Mega Evolution still requiring 400 Mega Rayquaza Energy. So the practical distinction is simple: unclaimed research Meteorites are lost after 8 p.m. Sunday, but claimed Meteorites remain in your inventory with no event-end deletion indicated. If you are relying on the paid path, missing the deadline also means forfeiting a purchased reward, as that ticket is described as non-refundable.

Q: Is the paid research truly enough to Mega Evolve Rayquaza, or does the dual-requirement hide a costly weekend grind?

No. The paid research alone is not clearly enough to Mega Evolve Rayquaza unless its reward includes the full 400 Mega Rayquaza Energy, and Niantic’s event details do not say that it does. What the paid ticket reliably gives is one Meteorite, some amount of Mega Rayquaza Energy, and a Rayquaza encounter. But Mega Rayquaza has a dual gate: Rayquaza must know Dragon Ascent, which requires a single-use Meteorite, and it must also have 400 Mega Energy available to Mega Evolve. The paid path only guarantees the Meteorite side of that requirement. The energy side remains uncertain from the published wording. That means many players will still need raids, or possibly prior stored energy and buddy walking, to reach the 400-energy threshold. Mega Rayquaza raids are the main dependable source of large energy gains during the weekend, while Meteorite drops from raids are only a bonus and not guaranteed. In practical terms, the $4.99 ticket looks more like a head start than a full unlock. It reduces friction by guaranteeing a Meteorite and adding energy, but for a player starting from zero Mega Energy, it likely does not remove the need to raid during Ozone Ascent. So the concern is valid: the paid research is not obviously a complete Mega Evolution package. Unless a player already has enough Mega Energy saved, the weekend can still turn into a raid grind.

3 articles · Updated · Eurogamer.net · Jul 24

Ozone Ascent gives Pokémon Go players two Meteorite paths this weekend: one free Timed Research and one paid Timed Research, available from 10am to 8pm local time on July 25 or 26.
Meteorite is the one-use item needed to teach Rayquaza Dragon Ascent, the Charged Attack required before it can Mega Evolve.
Mega Rayquaza raids can also drop Meteorite, though not guaranteed, and they remain essential because players still need 400 Mega Rayquaza Energy for the evolution.
That energy comes from raids, some research rewards and walking Rayquaza as a buddy; once active, Mega Rayquaza boosts Dragon, Flying and Psychic attacks and increases XP, Candy and Candy XL gains for those types.
Meteorites first appeared at Go Fest 2023 in London, Osaka and New York, then rolled out globally during Go Fest 2024, making this event the latest chance to unlock Mega Rayquaza.