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Pokémon GO

April events announced.
  • Shadow Zapdos from Team GO Rocket Special Research
  • Male Frillish from Research Breakthrough
  • ★5 Raids
    • Therian Forme Tornadus from March 30th, 10am to April 13th, 10am local time
    • Therian Forme Landorus from April 13th, 10am to April 27th, 10am local time
    • Incarnate Forme Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus including their shiny forms starting April 27th, 10am local time
  • Mega Raids
    • Mega Houndoom, Mega Manectric, and Mega Abomasnow until April 4th, 10am local time
    • Surprise Mega Pokémon starting April 4th, 10am local time for the rest of April
    • Mega Gengar and Mega Manectric from April 5th, 10am to April 20th, 10am local time
    • Mega Venusaur and Mega Abomasnow starting April 20th, 10am local time
  • Weekly Raid Hour on Wednesday 6pm to 7pm local time featuring the ★5 Pokémon above
  • Spotlight Hours (6pm to 7pm local time)
    • April 6th: Buneary; double transfer Candy bonus
    • April 13th: Mankey; double evolution XP bonus
    • April 20th: Grimer; double catch Stardust bonus
    • April 27th: Finneon; double catch XP bonus
  • April Community Day on April 11th featuring Snivy
  • Other events
    • Team GO Rocket Timed Research: April 1st, 12am to April 8th, 11:59pm local time; rewards Super Rocket Radar
    • Spring into Spring: April 4th to April 8th; flower crown Chansey, Blissey, and Happiny among other spring-and Egg-themed surprises
    • Rivals' Week: April 13th to April 18th; debut of certain Pokémon
    • Sustainability Week: April 20th to April 25th; Grimer, Trubbish, and more to become more common
    • Friendship Day: April 24th; new event
    • "Snappy Event that will continue into May"; details TBA
  • Weekly free bundles for Remote Raid Pass and more

Learn all about April’s events here!

Trainers,

We hope you’re prepared for a month of exciting Pokémon encounters and bonuses!

Save Shadow Zapdos from Giovanni

This month, Giovanni will have Shadow Zapdos in his grasp! If you haven’t already, complete the latest Team GO Rocket Special Research, The Higher They Fly..., to earn a Super Rocket Radar. This will help you track down the Team GO Rocket Boss and save Shadow Zapdos! You can also receive a Super Rocket Radar from Timed Research that’ll be available during the first week of April.

Team GO Rocket never rests, Trainers, and neither can we! For more information, please see this help center article.

April Research Breakthrough encounters

From Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Saturday, May 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7), you’ll encounter male Frillish in Research Breakthrough encounters.

Featured Pokémon in five-star raids and Mega Raids

The following Legendary Pokémon will be appearing in five-star raids throughout April.
  • Therian Forme Tornadus will make its Pokémon GO debut in five-star raids on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time and will depart on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
  • Therian Forme Landorus will make its Pokémon GO debut in five-star raids on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time and will depart on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
  • Incarnate Forme Tornadus, Incarnate Forme Thundurus, and Incarnate Forme Landorus will be appearing in five-star raids starting on Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might even encounter a Shiny Tornadus, Thundurus, or Landorus!
In addition, the following Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids.
  • Mega Houndoom, Mega Manectric, and Mega Abomasnow will appear in Mega Raids until Sunday, April 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
  • On Sunday, April 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time, a surprise Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids. It will continue to appear in Mega Raids for the rest of the month. Stay tuned for more details!
  • Mega Gengar and Mega Manectric will appear in Mega Raids from Monday, April 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
  • Mega Venusaur and Mega Abomasnow will appear in Mega Raids beginning on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
Every Wednesday in April will feature a Raid Hour event from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time. Raid Hours will feature the Pokémon appearing in five-star raids that week. As a reminder, you’ll gain extra XP for completing five-star raids throughout the Season of Legends!

Stay tuned for the May events blog for more details on the excellent Pokémon that’ll be featured in raids after April concludes!

Pokémon Spotlight Hours

In the month of April, Pokémon Spotlight Hour will take place every Tuesday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, and each of these hours will spotlight a different Pokémon and special bonus!
  • Tuesday, April 6, 2021: Buneary will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for transferring Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, April 13, 2021: Mankey will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, April 20, 2021: Grimer will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, April 27, 2021: Finneon will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.
April Community Day featuring Snivy

Join us on Sunday, April 11, 2021, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time for a Community Day event featuring Snivy. Evolve Servine (the Evolution of Snivy) during the event or up to two hours afterward to get a Serperior that knows Frenzy Plant. For more information, be sure to check out the blog here.

Upcoming new events

Stay tuned for details about these upcoming events.
  • Team GO Rocket Timed Research: From Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 12:00 a.m. to Thursday, April 8, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. local time, be sure to complete Timed Research to get a Super Rocket Radar, which you can use to battle Giovanni!
  • Spring into Spring: From Sunday, April 4, 2021, to Thursday, April 8, 2021, you can look forward to a spring-themed event! Look out for Chansey, Blissey, and Happiny wearing flower crowns, as well as other spring- and Egg-themed surprises!
  • Rivals’ Week: From Tuesday, April 13, 2021, to Sunday, April 18, 2021, Pokémon that are rivals will be featured, including some Pokémon making their Pokémon GO debut!
  • Sustainability Week: From Tuesday, April 20, 2021 to Sunday, April 25, 2021, you can look forward to a sustainability-themed event! Pokémon like Grimer, Trubbish, and more will be appearing more often in the wild, and it’s up to all of us to catch them!
  • Friendship Day: On Saturday, April 24, 2021, celebrate friendship with a brand-new event!
  • April will end with a snappy event that will continue into May, so keep a lookout for more details later in April!
Weekly free bundles

Every Monday in April, a free one-time bundle containing a Remote Raid Pass and other items will be available in the shop.

Please be aware of your surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt in to receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.

—The Pokémon GO team
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Lots of bugs currently in Pokemon GO once again. The other day I noticed the game froze when trying to start a team rocket battle hence the next day all things associated with team rocket just disappeared, so if you're trying to rush through level 44 then that's going to be on hold. Also friendship bonuses for becoming a best friend or even an ultra friend don't seem to show popup notifications anymore nor is there any noticeable gain in XP upon accomplishment anymore. One of my alternate accounts lost a potential 700,000 xp from this glitch and I doubt I can ever get any of it back one way or another.
 
Collection Challenge is only available during Friendship Day hours (11am to 2pm local time), that is to say you can only complete and collect rewards before 2pm. I greedily wanted to wait for another two days so I can save one Lucky Egg and get a Best Friend for an extra 100k XP lol.
 
40034525-C19D-4703-A7EA-7579ABC05227.jpeg


It was so unbelievably painful to run into practically everything (including two CACTURNE) except the last Cacnea I needed to complete this.
 
girazard said:
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It was so unbelievably painful to run into practically everything (including two CACTURNE) except the last Cacnea I needed to complete this.
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I had the complete opposite experience, took me under 20 minutes. Tangela was the only elusive one (and the first ran away) but with incense it was the quickest collection challenge I've done by far.

The lucky rate was abysmal (for me at least) though. Did a full 100 trades and got only 8 lucky Pokemon - and most of those were achieved by trading old mons from 2017. Finally got myself a 98 lucky Froakie, though, so can't complain!
 
While I was satisfied that lucky egg with friendship bonus now worked, My biggest complaint was getting nothing lucky when attempted to trade with my alt over 30 times mostly with stuff I had tagged for this purpose. I'm hopeful they keep the 40 kilometer trade distance active for awhile since I have a ton of lucky friends still that I can never seem to get around to if ever.

Edit: according to leekduck's tweet, distance trading ends at 11am Pacific time today so am scrambling to get in some last minute local lucky trades while it last for another 2 hours from this edit.
 
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Expert Evan said:
While I was satisfied that lucky egg with friendship bonus now worked, My biggest complaint was getting nothing lucky when attempted to trade with my alt over 30 times mostly with stuff I had tagged for this purpose. I'm hopeful they keep the 40 kilometer trade distance active for awhile since I have a ton of lucky friends still that I can never seem to get around to if ever.

Edit: according to leekduck's tweet, distance trading ends at 11am Pacific time today so am scrambling to get in some last minute local lucky trades while it last for another 2 hours from this edit.
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I've got a limited number of Pokemon from 2016 and 2017 (I stopped playing until late '19) and I've fruitlessly traded several of them away in the last couple of days hoping the increased chance would pay off. No joy.

Part of me wonders if I should just keep them - very few are mons which I actually use, but it's such a shame to trade them away for effectively nothing. Maybe they'll tweak the system so that by the year 2025 every single Pokemon caught in 2016 will be guaranteed to turn lucky...
 
girazard said:
It was so unbelievably painful to run into practically everything (including two CACTURNE) except the last Cacnea I needed to complete this.
Click to expand...
I remembered the challenge only 20 minutes before it ended. Managed to get every single Pokémon relatively quickly, except Sunkern. Literally a minute after it ended, I encountered a Sunkern.

Niantic can go take a long swim in a leaky pool full of tropical jellyfish.
 
Well, Smeargle is definitely boosted. I got a shiny before I'd completed all 15 Photobombs, and several people in my local group got more than one. Nice to have a shiny with an increased rate. Is there a list of all such species that's up to date? I know Lapras, Aerodactyl, Onix, Scyther, Sneasel, Pineco, Absol, Clamperl, Sableye, Mawile, Feebas, and Bronzor all do but not sure which others that applies to.
 
Very fascinating that lot of the new pokemon require it to be a buddy with special instructions to evolve including the following:

Spritzee - use an incense. I did mine during the recent special research quest
Swirlix - feed it 25 berries, can do all at once so not to be stuck with it as a buddy
Pancham - catch 32 Dark-type Pokémon, I suggest to wait until May 18 (Tuesday) at 6pm for spotlight hour to make it a buddy, catch 32 alolan rattatas then evolve during the hour as you'll get double XP for evolving it as well.
 
Too bad they don't seem to be giving Ho-Oh a custom texture like Shadow Lugia had in XD. From the looks of things, it will be a regular Ho-Oh with red eyes and purple smoke and that's it.

Bet they would love to do it, however. It's like making more Megas: a custom design unique to Pokémon Go would be one heck of a selling point, but TPC is protective of their IP and don't want no lousy third-party devs to change or add to the work of the Only Approved Creators or something like that.
 
jordanthejq12 said:
View attachment 349718

It's been done. That's all I'm saying.
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But Niantic didn't design Mecha Mewtwo, it was designed for the remake of the1st Movie no doubt with a lot of back-and-forth changes & approvals with at least The Pokemon Company (not sure if with GF specifically).

Now no matter what they do Niantic would need approval from TPC, they likely needed approval from Ho-Oh to even do as much as they did even though it's just a recolor. The same probably also with all the Hat Pikachu & Raichu. I imagine the same thing is going on with Tencent & them putting in the costumes for Pokemon Unite.

That all said, while it is a shame in this instance Niantic couldn't make a Shadow Ho-Oh on part with Shadow Lugia, not sure what else they would do with creative license to slightly alter Pokemon designs; or, at least in a way that if they tried pushing it they may be able to convince TPC to give them the okay as long as it's justifiable. Because they couldn't be too extreme with a design change as then it may not be recognizable as that Pokemon. Like the most right now I can think of is maybe adding in the various Magikarp patterns from Magikarp Jump and expand from there.

BTW, posting for another reason, though distribution is yet-to-be revealed they have shown the Professor Willow TCG card:
willowcard.jpg

It's nothing too special useage wise, it's just a Willow version of the "Professor's Research" which is essentially a hand reset (discard hand, draw 7 cards). Now, as you see above, it does come with a code that accesses a special research for Meltan. Still, for a Pokemon GO fan and/or TCG collector this would still be a nice memento to have. Who knows, maybe they'll do this again and this time do the three Leaders (which you'd think would have more unique effects, or at the very least re-use effects from the typical Professor's Research card).
 
GO FEST 2021

gofestpsd.png

​
It's almost that time of year! GO Fest 2021 is upon us and so is our first ever GO Fest celebration! Come hang out with us in the Pokemon Go room on Showdown for a weekend full of shiny brags, epic legendary raids, and awesome contests!

Our celebration will feature 2 types of contests; the first will be an avatar fashion show focused on showing off your sense of style and the second will be all about showing off your catches! See below for more info on each specific contest that we will be hosting.

Part 1: Fashion Festival

Our GO Fest Fashion Festival will have 5 categories, with details of each outlined here! Details on how to submit your entries are also outlined in the previous link, and you can submit with this form!

Winners:
  1. Best Stand-Alone Outfit!: dot Comfey​
  2. Freebies!: Amaluna​
  3. Team Represent!: chemcoop​
  4. Matching Outfits!: Amaluna​
  5. Worst Look!: chemcoop​

Part 2: Collection Challenge

The Collection Challenge focuses primarily on the research and costumed Pokémon available during GO Fest 2021. There are 11 categories, and participants can submit for up to 3. The categories are below, and further information is here. Entries can be submitted using this form!

Winners:
  1. Best Meloetta: Pablo
  2. Biggest Star Pikachu: Bobbyzchoo
  3. Lucky 7 Galarian Ponyta: Bobbyzchoo
  4. Pokédex Size Galarian Zigzagoon: N/A
  5. Flygon #3: N/A
  6. Pokédex Size Gardevoir: Amaluna
  7. Biggest Audino: Amaluna
  8. Chimecho and the Big Bell: jsmith1315
  9. The Quietest Whismur: PokeAuditor
  10. Heaviest Throh: Amaluna
  11. Tallest Sawk: N/A

Overall Winner + Prizes

GRAND PRIZE: Amaluna
Runner-Up: chemcoop
Third Place: Bobbyzchoo
 
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