One of the great joys of the original Pokémon games, long before Pokémon Go and back when the Internet was young, was its sense of mystery. What Pokémon evolved into what? Where did you catch an Abra or a Mr. Mime? How did you get Mewtwo and the Legendary Birds? And, most of all—could you catch Mew? This was the early days, when the answers to these questions weren’t immediately accessible. You had to actually talk about it. And Pokémon Go manages to recreate this same magic—especially in the way it deals with legendary Pokémon.

’Pokémon Go’ Legendaries: It’s All About The Mystery

Are there legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go? Technically speaking, nobody knows right now. They’re in the code for the game; that much is confirmed. Nobody has actually caught one, yet, and Niantic has hinted—unsurprisingly—that Legendary Pokémon will only show up at events. But that hasn’t stopped the rumor treadmill. In fact, it’s added fuel to it. Just look at what happened at Comic-Con, where flash mobs swarmed the convention because of rumors of a Legendary appearance. Like Mew and that truck by the S.S. Anne, it wasn’t true. The people came anyway.

And that’s the way it should be. Now, if you play a regular Pokémon game, you know exactly how to get Legendary and Mythical Pokémon: For the former, look up a walkthrough, but chances are you’ll get them after you finish the game proper. For the latter, go to an event in the real world that will be announced weeks or months in advance. It’s still pretty exciting and cool, but there’s no spontaneity or mystery to it.

With Pokémon Go, there is. We have no idea when you’ll be able to catch Mewtwo, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres or even lowly Ditto—let alone Mew. And that means, as in days of yore, theories and hypotheses will proliferate. Crowds will gather based around rumors. The quest for the Pokémon becomes as important as the Pokémon themselves. In short—the legendary Pokémon will become truly legendary. Sought, but not easily found. And when they finally are, it will be sweet indeed… and we’ll be left wondering when the next one will appear, whether it will happen the same way again. There is no pattern, only mystery, and that’s one of the great joys of Pokémon Go.