The developer of Pokémon GO Niantic shared a lot – and we want to say many – with details about the upcoming events of the game for the New Year and January holidays, including the star of Community Day that month.
Let’s jump straight to the New Year’s holiday, which starts on December 31 at 22:00 local time and lasts until January 4 at 22:00 local time:
New Year’s Pokémon GO event
Characteristics
- Some Pokémon will wear festive costumes to celebrate the new year with us!
- Slowpoke wearing glasses 2020 will appear in the wild, will appear after completing field research tasks, will appear in raids and will hatch from 2 km Eggs.
- Evolve Slowpoke wearing glasses 2020 to get a Slowbro wearing glasses 2021!
- Pichu wearing a New Year’s hat will come out of 2 km Eggs
- Pikachu wearing a New Year’s hat will appear in the wild after completing field research tasks. You can also get one by evolving a Pichu wearing a New Year’s hat.
- Evolve Pikachu wearing a New Year’s hat to get a Raichu wearing a New Year’s hat!
- Wynaut will hatch from 2 km Eggs. If you’re lucky, you might find a Shiny Wynaut!
- Rats, Wobbuffet and Wurmple wearing party hats will appear in one-star raids. Klink and Espurr will join them.
- Eevee wearing a party hat will be available as a reward meeting on the research field.
- Get dressed for 2021! Starting Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at 13:00 PST (GMT −8), avatar items for the 2021 glasses and New Year’s Party Hat will be available in the in-app store.
- The boxes will contain various items during the event! See the store for more details.
Bonuses
- 2 × Hatch Candy
- 2 × Hatch Stardust
- 1/2 Hatch distance when the eggs are placed in an incubator during this time
Next, let’s take a look at everything you can expect to see and do throughout January.
Community Day will take place on Saturday 16 between 11:00 and 17:00, local time, and will feature Machop. If you’re lucky, you might find a Shiny Machop and if you evolve a Machoke during the event, you’ll get a Machamp who knows Payback.
There will be other Machop-based holidays, including a special Machop Community Day Box and an exclusive paid research story for Community Day, called “Right at the Top, Machop!”
What about anything else that happens in January? Well, we hope you’re comfortable:
Discovery discovery discovery January
From Friday, January 1, 2021, at 13:00 until Monday, February 1, 2021, at 13:00 PST (GMT −8), you will meet Chansey in research findings.
He presented Pokémon in five-star raids and Mega Raids
Things are heating up in raids in January! The next legendary and mythical Pokémon will appear in five-star raids throughout January – one of which appears for the first time!
- Ho-Oh will appear in raids from Friday, January 1, 2021, at 13:00 PST (GMT -8) until Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Ho-Oh!
- Genesect, which owns a Burn Drive, will appear in raids on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
- Heatran will appear in raids from Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. until Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might come across a Shiny Heatran!
- Kyogre and Groudon will appear in raids on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might come across a Shiny Kyogre or Shoud Groudon!
- A Pokémon surprise will appear in raids starting Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 local time.
In addition, the next Mega-Evolved Pokémon will appear in Mega Raids.
- Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise and Mega Abomasnow will appear in Mega Raids, Mega Charizard Y becoming even stronger from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 to Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 10:00 local time. Mega Blastoise is also a great choice to use in five-star raids this month, so make sure you stock up on Blastoise Mega Energy!
- On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, a certain Mega-Evolved Pokémon will debut its Pokémon GO in Mega Raids! More details will come out as we get closer. Mega Venusaur and Mega Houndoom will also appear in Mega Raids starting January 19, Mega Houndoom being even stronger from Tuesday, January 26, 2021, until Monday, February 8, 2021.
Ore Spotlight Pokémon
In January, Pokémon Spotlight Hour will take place every Tuesday at 18:00, local time, and each hour will feature a different Pokémon and a special bonus!
- Tuesday, January 5, 2021: Lillipup will be the center of attention and you will twice earn star dust for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 12, 2021: Drifloon will be the center of attention and you will gain twice XP for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2021: Shroomish will be the center of attention and you will win Candy twice for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 26, 2021: Phanpy will be the center of attention and you will win Candy for the Pokémon transfer twice.
Celebrate the year 2021 with our New Year’s Eve event
Happy 2020! Wait, no – it will be 2021 in just a few days. It seems that Slowpoke always delays the game. Silly Slowpoke!
For this year’s New Year’s event, you can expect new costume Pokémon (such as a stupid Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses) and new avatar items, as well as the return of some well-known Pokémon wearing party hats. This event will take place from Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 22:00 until Monday, January 4, 2021, at 22:00 local time.
Celebrate the different regions of the Pokémon world in January!
As we count back the days to the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto, we will be celebrating during the holiday season with themed events in different regions of the Pokémon world! Different weeks will highlight Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn and Johto, because Pokémon originally discovered in these regions will appear more often in the wild.
Stay tuned for more details this week regarding the Unova Celebration event, which begins on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 local time.
Collection challenges coming soon
Whether you are new to Pokémon GO or an experienced trainer, the collection challenges provide a handy guide to catching Pokémon featured during certain events. Watch out for the launch of the Collection Challenges in early January 2021.
Phew! That’s the list …
Will you play Pokémon GO during the holidays? Are you excited about a new year of captivating kindness? Tell us in the comments below.