Rifts lead to a separate legendary arena. The game defines 18 arena types and a roster of 87 legendary or mythical opponents. Winning a rift awards a ×10 gacha ticket; losing sends you back to the map without that victory reward. In co-op the group enters together.
Evidence scope: I have not entered a rift or reached the 30-minute Judgment during the five short hands-on runs. The arena and Arceus rules below are based on the cited official pages and checked source snapshot, not personal encounter testing.
Before you enter a rift
Check your health, current item and active move. A damage item that prevents switching can be awkward against a resistant opponent. Ground markers still matter in an arena: leave the attack area before the telegraph completes instead of trying to trade hits with the boss.
The official October 12 update says rifts appear at least every 2.5 minutes and missing legendaries receive increased selection weight. This supersedes older descriptions of rifts as extremely rare. A weighted preference is not a guarantee of your next missing opponent.
The 18 arena themes
| Type | Arena | Type | Arena |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | Eternal Meadow | Fire | Igneous Volcano |
| Water | Sea Grotto | Grass | Emerald Jungle |
| Electric | Volt Plant | Ice | Eternal Glacier |
| Fighting | Ancient Dojo | Poison | Toxic Swamp |
| Ground | Red Desert | Flying | Sky Peak |
| Psychic | Mind Temple | Bug | Hive Forest |
| Rock | Ancient Quarry | Ghost | Gloomy Graveyard |
| Dragon | Dragon Sanctuary | Dark | Dark Alley |
| Steel | Steel Fortress | Fairy | Enchanted Forest |
A dual-type legendary can use either of its types for the arena. Terrain can add another constraint: lava burns, water slows and ice changes movement. Use the type chart as preparation, then adapt to the actual arena.
Defeat legendaries to unlock bonds
The October 11 update introduced bonds. A legendary victory offers the ability to link moves so they fire together from one slot; further legendary wins let a group reach up to four moves. This frees move slots for more choices. Evolution and bonding are separate: check evolution recipes to improve an individual linked move.
What happens at 30 minutes?
The October 13 update added the Judgment of Arceus. At minute 30, Arceus takes you to the Ruins of Judgment. The event’s Arceus is invincible and pursues you increasingly quickly. Another legendary joins every five seconds, with each new arrival having twice the HP and damage of the previous one.
The goal is to survive the escalating event, not to deplete this Arceus’s health bar. Do not confuse the event with an ordinary legendary rift entry for Arceus. Preserve movement space and use your build against the additional threats.
Achievements and leaderboard changes
Three achievements arrived with the event: reach the Judgment, last one minute against Arceus, and defeat three legendaries during a single Judgment run. This raised the published achievement count to 130. The same official update reset the all-time leaderboard, so older records should not be compared as if the rules were unchanged.
See October update notes for the dated sources and free ticket sources for rewards outside rifts.