Pokémon GO developer Niantic has shared lots – and we mean lots – of details surrounding the game’s upcoming events for its new year celebrations and January, including that month’s Community Day star.
Let’s jump right in with the New Year’s celebration, which starts on 31st December at 10pm local time and lasts up until 4th January 10pm local time:
Pokémon GO New Year’s event
Features
Some Pokémon will be wearing festive costumes to celebrate the new year with us!
Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses will be appearing in the wild, appearing after you complete Field Research tasks, appearing in raids, and hatching from 2 km Eggs.
Evolve Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses to get a Slowbro wearing 2021 glasses!
Pichu wearing a New Year’s hat will be hatching from 2 km Eggs
Pikachu wearing a New Year’s hat will be appearing in the wild and after you complete 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 be hatching from 2 km Eggs. If you’re lucky, you might find a Shiny Wynaut!
Raticate, Wobbuffet, and Wurmple wearing party hats will be appearing in one-star raids. Klink and Espurr will be joining them as well.
Eevee wearing a party hat will be available as a Field Research reward encounter.
Dress up for 2021! Beginning on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8), the 2021 Glasses and the New Year’s Party Hat avatar items will be available in the in-app shop.
Boxes will contain different items during the event! Check out the shop for more details.
Bonuses
2× Hatch Candy
2× Hatch Stardust
1/2 Hatch Distance when Eggs are placed in an Incubator during this time
Next up, let’s take a look at everything you can expect to see and do throughout January.
The Community Day will be taking place on Saturday 16th from 11am to 5pm 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 that knows Payback.
There’ll be other Machop-based celebrations, too, including a special one-time-purchase Machop Community Day Box and a paid-for Community Day-exclusive Special Research story called ‘Straight to the Top, Machop!’
As for everything else taking place in January? Well, we hope you’re comfy:
January Research Breakthrough encounter
From Friday, January 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, February 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8), you’ll encounter Chansey in Research Breakthroughs.
Featured Pokémon in five-star raids and Mega Raids
Things are heating up in raids this January! The following Legendary and Mythical Pokémon will be appearing in five-star raids throughout January—one of which is appearing for the first time!
Ho-Oh will be appearing in raids from Friday, January 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8) to Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Ho-Oh!
Genesect holding a Burn Drive will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Heatran will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Heatran!
Kyogre and Groudon will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Kyogre or Shiny Groudon!
A surprise Pokémon will be appearing in raids beginning on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
In addition, the following Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids.
Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Abomasnow will be appearing in Mega Raids, with Mega Charizard Y becoming even more powerful from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. through Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 10:00am local time. Mega Blastoise is also a prime pick to use in five-star raids this month, so make sure to stock up on Blastoise Mega Energy!
On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, a certain Mega-Evolved Pokémon will make its Pokémon GO debut in Mega Raids! More details will come to light as we get closer to the date. Mega Venusaur and Mega Houndoom will also be appearing in Mega Raids beginning on January 19, with Mega Houndoom being even more powerful from Tuesday, January 26, 2021, through Monday, February 8, 2021.
Pokémon Spotlight Hours
In the month of January, Pokémon Spotlight Hour will take place every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time, and each hour will spotlight a different Pokémon and special bonus!
Tuesday, January 5, 2021: Lillipup will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021: Drifloon will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021: Shroomish will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021: Phanpy will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for transferring Pokémon.
Celebrate 2021 with our New Year’s–themed event
Happy 2020! Wait, no—it’ll be 2021 in just a few days. Turns out Slowpoke is just late to the game as always. Silly Slowpoke!
For this year’s New Year’s event, you can expect new costumed Pokémon (like a silly Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses) and new avatar items, as well as the return of some familiar Pokémon wearing party hats. This event will run from Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. to Monday, January 4, 2021, at 10:00 p.m. local time.
Celebrate the different regions of the Pokémon world in January!
As we count down the days to Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto, we’ll be celebrating during the Season of Celebration with events themed around different regions of the Pokémon world! Different weeks will highlight Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto, as Pokémon originally discovered in these regions will be appearing more often in the wild.
Stay tuned for more details this week on the Unova Celebration event, which begins on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Collection Challenges coming soon
Whether you’re new to Pokémon GO or a seasoned Trainer, Collection Challenges provide a handy guide to catching Pokémon featured during certain events. Look out for the launch of Collection Challenges in early January 2021.
Phew! That’s quite the list…
Will you be playing Pokémon GO over the holidays? Excited for a new year of monster-catching goodness? Let us know in the comments below.
