Short answer: Max Battles hold up to 4 Trainers (100 for Six-star bosses, split into squads of 4), and friends can join in person or remotely with a Remote Raid Pass plus the local Max Particle cost. Remote and in-person invites share the same 10-Remote-Raid-Pass daily limit as normal raids. The one catch: Niantic's own help center says remote Max Battles skip the bonus rewards that in-person battles get.
Max Battles - the turn-based fights against Dynamax and Gigantamax bosses - piggyback on the same friend-list and raid-lobby system as regular raids, but with a few of its own rules worth knowing before you invite people.
Lobby size
- A standard Max Battle lobby holds up to 4 Trainers, each bringing up to 3 Dynamax Pokémon (you can join with just one).
- Six-star Max Battles (Eternamax Eternatus and similar bosses) scale way up: the lobby cap was raised from 40 to 100 Trainers in August 2025. You still fight in squads of 4 - a 100-Trainer lobby is really 25 separate 4-person battles happening at once, not one giant free-for-all.
Joining with friends - in person or remote
- In person: anyone nearby can join an open lobby directly, same as a normal raid.
- Remote: you need a Remote Raid Pass and the local Max Particle cost (particles cap at 800 collected per day, 1,500 stored). This is on top of the pass, not instead of it.
- From the lobby you can invite up to 5 friends at a time, then invite more after a short cooldown - the same batching rules as remote raid invites.
- Remote joins count against the same 10 Remote Raid Passes per day you use for ordinary raids - Max Battles don't get a separate allowance.
The reward catch
Niantic's help center is explicit about one asymmetry: remote Max Battle completions don't yield the bonus rewards that in-person battles do - those bonus rewards only show up on screen for Trainers who showed up physically. Regular raids dropped their remote-damage penalty back in 2023, but Max Battles still hold back this one reward perk for showing up in person.
Does the friendship attack bonus apply?
For normal raids and gyms, friendship level boosts your attack and Premier Balls. Niantic's support pages don't say whether that same bonus carries into Max Battles specifically - so until Niantic confirms it in writing, don't assume the numbers from the raid guide transfer over one-for-one.
FAQ
Do I need a Remote Raid Pass to join a Max Battle from home? Yes, plus the local Max Particle cost - both are required together.
Is the 10-a-day Remote Raid Pass limit separate for Max Battles? No - it's the same shared daily limit as regular remote raids.
Does a bigger, 100-Trainer Six-star lobby mean everyone fights together? No - you're still split into squads of 4; the 100-Trainer cap just means more squads can join the same event simultaneously.
Should I always join in person instead of remotely? If bonus rewards matter to you, yes - Niantic's help center confirms in-person Max Battles get bonus rewards that remote ones don't.
How does this interact with friendship levels? Beating a Max Battle with a friend still counts as that day's friendship interaction either way - it's only the raid-style attack/Premier Ball bonus that isn't confirmed for Max Battles specifically.
Need people to invite? Grab a fresh trainer code with one tap, or browse codes by country to build out a raid circle across time zones.