Pokemon Go players bewildered by “impossible” Medal that takes 12 years to complete

Kurt Perry
Pokemon Go boss Giovanni and Ultra Hero medal.

Pokemon Go players have been left confused by one of the game’s Platinum Medals which is currently impossible to get and can take up to 12 years to obtain.

Medals, sometimes called Badges, are feats in Pokemon Go that its most dedicated players often pursue. These vary from simple tasks anyone can do to brutal grinds limited to the very best.

Some of the AR game’s most difficult Medals require strategy while others challenge a trainer’s willpower with long-term tasks that take time. Either way, they are an important part of Pokemon Go that is highly valued by the community.

However, not all of its Medals make sense with one being called out by the playerbase for just how long it would theoretically take to complete.

Pokemon Go players criticize Ultra Hero Medal

Questioning why the Ultra Hero Badge is in the game, one trainer asked on Reddit, “Doesn’t he only come around like once every 3 months?”

This Platinum Medal requires players to defeat Giovanni 50 times. However, the Team Rocket boss can only be fought once every three months using a Super Rocket Radar, available via Special Research. As the post highlights, this means it would currently take 12 years to complete from start to finish.

Many others agreed with the post responding, “Jup. Impossible badge,” and “Yeah it is around once per season, and before that, it was even rarer than that.”

Looking to explain why this Medal exists, the thread’s most upvoted comment states, “I think originally they had planned to use him more in events as there was a Go Rocket portion of a Global Go Fest one year. I think they just decided to change focus and direction without changing the medal…”

The same reply theorized that nobody had even reached the halfway point yet, with another trainer following up, “‘Im at 21 and have beaten him every time I have seen Giovanni since launch.”

Assuming 21 is the current possible limit and Niantic doesn’t make adjustments to the Medal, the earliest Pokemon Go players will be able to finish Ultra Hero is early 2031.