Events

Events are either in-game or both in-game and real-world celebrations for special occasions. During them, there are various, temporal changes to the game including various bonuses and perks for trainers.

Events usually last a week or two and grant trainers a chance to complete their Pokédex by increasing the chance of acquiring rare Pokémon. Trainers may also see an increased spawn-rate of Pokémon in wild, more probable eggs hatchlings or generally receive more items, XP, Stardust, or candies.

During some events members of Pikachu family (Pichu, Pikachu and Raichu) can be caught or hatched wearing event-themed hats.



2016 Events
There were 5 in-game events in 2016. 4 of them were worldwide available and one was exclusive event for Japan.

Halloween
This was the very first in-game event that became a seasonal event to celebrate real-world Halloween. In 2016, it took place from October to November. During this event there was double amount of candies given to players for every action that was rewarding them with it. There were also higher chance to encounter select Ghost and "spooky"-themed Pokémon in the wild, such as Gastly, Marowak, Zubat or Hypno.

Daily Bonus Celebration
This was a short, unique event to celebrate introduction of Daily Bonus mechanic to the game, that took place from November to November, 2016. During the event there were significantly more Pokémon appearing in the wild and trainers were rewarded with much more items for spinning Photo Discs.

Lapras Event
Lapras Event was the first Japan-exclusive event, that took place from November to November, 2016. The event offered increased numbers of Lapras in parts of the coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures.

Thanksgiving
The third worldwide event in 2016 happened to celebrate real-world Thanksgiving and it took place from November to November, 2016. As a gesture of gratitude to the player community, Niantic rewarded trainers with double XP and Stardust.

Holiday
This event, for celebration of real-world Christmas, Hanukkah and the other winter holiday celebrations, took place from December, 2016 to January , 2017. During Holiday 2016 event there were first Pikachu wearing even-that released, there were also single-use Egg Incubators obtainable from the first PokéStop of the day and the very first in the game event special offers available from the shop for the time of an event. It became second seasonal event in the game.

2017
There were 20 events that occurred in 2017.

Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day was the first event in 2018, despite the Holiday event that began in previous year. This event took place from February to February, 2017, and during it selected, pink-coloured Pokémon were appearing more frequently in the wild and selected Baby Pokémon were hatching more often in Eggs.

Additionally, trainers received double candy for catching, hatching and transfer of Pokémon. The required Buddy distance was a half of its regular amount, which means that Pokémon received candy twice as fast and Lure Modules lasted up to six hours, rather than their normal 30 minutes.

Pokémon Day
Pokémon Day was an event that took place from February to March  to celebrate the anniversary of the  franchise. During this event, any Pikachu that were encountered in the wild wore a festive party hat. Any Pikachu captured during the event keeps its hat forever and every Raichu evolved from Pikachu with such hat have the same hat as well.

Snorlax Event
Snorlax Event was the second Japan-exclusive event and it took place from March to March, 2017. During the event, there were increased numbers of Snorlax in all of Kumamoto Prefecture, as well as Yufu, Ōita and Beppu, Ōita.

Water Festival
Water Festival event took place from March to March, 2017 to celebrate World Water Day. During the event, there was an increased frequency of Water-type Pokémon encounters in the wild. Pokémon like Magikarp, Squirtle, Totodile and even the elusive Lapras were easier to find in the wild. Additionally, there was also a higher chance to encounter Pokémon from Johto in water biomes and a new Magikarp Hat was available, in the hat section of the wardrobe, at no cost.

Eggstravaganza
Eggstravaganza was an event to celebrate real-world Easter and it took place from April through April, 2017. During the event, Trainers received double XP and, if a Lucky Egg was active, the amount of XP received would be be quadrupled. A greater variety of Pokémon could hatched from 2-km eggs, and the amount of candy received from hatched Eggs was also increased.

Golden Week
Golden Week was a Japan-exclusive event which took place between April through May, 2017, to celebrate Golden Week in Japan. During the event, PokéStops located at every McDonald's in Japan were lured from 6:00 AM until midnight.

Grass Weekend
Grass Weekend was a unique event that began on May 5, 2017 and lasted only for a weekend. This event celebrated the transition to Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate Spring and the blooming of flowers, Grass-type Pokémon appeared more frequently. Lure Modules also lasted a full six hours.

Adventure Week
The Adventure Week event happened in the middle of May of 2017, exactly, from May to May. During this event, there were more items were awarded from every PokéStop, and Poké Balls were 50% off in the in-game Shop. Buddy Pokémon found Candies four times as fast for the duration of the celebration. Additionally, an all-new avatar item became available in the wardrobe &mdash; the Explorer's Hat. Moreover, Rock-type Pokémon, known in player community as the "Fossil Pokémon" had increased spawn rate in the wild.

Solstice Week
This event happened in June, 2017 to celebrate the in the  and  in the. During the event, Fire- and Ice-type Pokémon had increased spawns. Pokémon like Charmander, Cyndaquil, Growlithe, Houndour, Ponyta, Swinub, Vulpix, and their evolutions appeared more frequently. Rare Pokémon like Sneasel, Magmar, Cloyster appeared as well.

Additionally, Trainers received XP bonuses for successfully catching Pokémon with Nice, Great, and Excellent Throws, as well as Curveballs and First Throws. Hatching Eggs will also rewarded trainers with triple XP.

Pikachu Meet & Greet
Pikachu Meet & Greet was a series of real-world events that began in the middle of June, 2017 and lasted until the end of July. The events featured Pikachu at Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers across Europe. At these events, Trainers were able to take pictures with Pikachu, meet other Trainers, and catch a lot of Pokémon at the many PokéStops, which had Lure Modules activated all day.

1st Anniversary
The 1st Anniversary event happened between July, 2017, and July to celebrate the first Anniversary of Pokémon GO. During the event, Trainers were be able to capture limited edition Pikachu, adorned with a Pokémon League hat resembling the one worn by Ash Ketchum in the animated series. The shop also featured an Anniversary Boxes which featured discounted Incubators, Max Revives, Ultra Balls, and Raid Passes.

Pokémon GO Fest
Pokémon GO Fest was a real-world event that was that was held at in. It was the first officially sanctioned event by Niantic and. This event coincides with the 1st Anniversary and Chester Heritage Festival events.

Pikachu Outbreak
During this real-world, Japanese event, there were two Pokémon GO-related events in Yokohama: Pokémon GO Park, that took place from August to, 2017 and Pokémon GO Stadium that took place on August , 2017.

For the time of these events there was increased spawn rate of Pikachu, also shiny variant of Pikachu introduced to the gameplay, as well as Mewtwo released as the Raid Boss that later become globally available in EX Raid Battles.

Pokémon World Championships 2017
Pokémon World Championships in 2017 took place between August and, 2017 in. For these three days, around Anaheim Convention Center there was increased spawnrate of Pokémon such as Tauros, exclusively available Kangaskhan and Unown in forms of letters that spell "Worlds".

Equinox
This event took place from September, 2017 through October , 2017 to celebrate and for this time, trainers were rewarded with double Stardust for catching Pokémon and hatching Eggs. Eggs had an increased chance of hatching Pokémon such as Chansey, Mareep, and Larvitar, that do not regularly hatch from these eggs or they do not do that so often.

Halloween
2017 Halloween event took place from October through November, 2017. During the event, 5 select Ghost-type Pokémon from the Hoenn region were released to be caught in wild and hatched from eggs: Sableye, Shuppet, Banette, Duskull, and Dusclops (including their shiny forms). There was also Pikachu family members wearing a witch hat, temporally available to obtain through catching in wild (Pikachu and Raichu), hatching from eggs (Pichu) and evolution from one to another.

Moreover, similarly to the year-before event, double amount of candies was awarded for catching, hatching, and transfer of Pokémon. Buddy Pokémon found Candy twice as fast and a free Mimikyu’s Disguise Hat became accessible from the Wardrobe.

Global Catch Challenge
This event took place from November 17th to November 26th. This event featured unlocking Farfetch'd worldwide for 48 hours, as well as Double XP, Double Stardust, and 6 Hour Lure Modules.

Holiday
This event took place from December, 2017 to January , 2018. This event featured Delibird and the release of most of the Water and Ice type Pokémon from the Hoenn region.

2018
So far there were 22 events during 2018.

Hoenn Pokémon Eggs
This event took place from January to February, 2018. All Pokémon Eggs acquired during this event were hatching only Pokémon from the Hoenn region. Also new promotional offer was available in the shop by the same time.

Hoenn Celebration
The second event of 2018 was related to newly added Hoenn-region Pokémon as well. This time, during the event that took place between February to, 2018, all Pokémon from Hoenn region were more common to spawn in the wild. New promotional offer was available in the shop from the beginning of the event to February, 2018.

During this event Kyogre stoped being available as a Legendary Raid Boss on February and Rayquaza started to be available as new Legendary Raid Boss from February  to March, 2018.

Valentine's Day
The second Valentine's Day-related event in the game and the first seasonal event of 2018 lasted just for three days, from February to, 2018, unlike the year ago, when it lasted for one week. During these event there was highly increased chance of approaching Luvdisc and Chansey in the wild and there was tripled Stardust reward for catching them.

Lunar New Year
The in-game event celebrating the Lunar New Year took place between February and, 2018. During this event Growlithe, Eevee, Snubbull, Poochyena and Electrike were spawning more often and for catching them Trainers were rewarded with bonus Stardust.

Pokémon Day
The second event for the celebration of the anniversary of the franchise took place between February  and February, 2018 - which was much shorter time period than the year before event. During the event there was possibility to get Pikachu family members wearing party hats, similarly as during the year-before event, but with opportunities to have Pichu wearing this hat and to obtain shiny variants of these event Pokémon.

Legendary Week
This event took place between February and March, 2018 and during it there were all three Legendary Pokémon of Weather Trio available as the Raid Bosses. This event included also promotional offer in the in-game shop.

Starting on March, 2018, for the next 11 days, it was more likely to hatch from eggs Pokémon "preferring" windy weather - which was chosen as a result of defeating Rayquaza more times than Groudon and Kyogre combined. Moreover, there was double XP rewarded for all actions and it was more likely to encounter Raid Bosses that also were preferring windy weather.

Eggstravaganza
One year later, another holiday celebration event took place, starting on March  and it concluded on April, 2018. This time during the event, there were only 2-km Eggs obtainable from PokéStops. From each 2-km Eggs there was a chance of hatching one of Pokémon that were normally hatching from 5-km and 10-km Eggs. Moreover, trainers received bonus Candy for each hatched Pokémon and double Stardust for various actions in the game.

April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day was an event that took place between March and April  in 2018, to celebrate real-world. The most recognisable feature of this event was temporal change to regular sprites of Pokémon (static raster graphics of 3D models) into 8-bit sprites known from original Pokémon games. Moreover, there was increased spawn rate of Murkrow during the event, and shiny variant of it released to be caught in the wild.

Slowpoke Prefecture
Slowpoke Prefecture was a real-world event in, between March  and April , 2018. And it was a part of April Fools prank where the Kagawa Prefecture, commonly referred to as the "Udon Prefecture", was renamed to the "Slowpoke (Yadon) Prefecture". During this event there was massively increased spawnrate of Slowpoke all around the prefecture.

Kanto Celebration
This event happened between April and April, 2018 and during it there Pokémon originally discovered in the Kanto region were seen more frequently. Pokémon such as Aerodactyl and Snorlax were featured in Raid Battles across the world.

Moreover, trainers were rewarded with double Candy for all actions that typically reward Candy and Lure Modules were reported to last six hours and buddy distance were halved.

Earth Day
Earth Day was a unique event in Pokémon GO that took place in the middle of April ( – ), 2018 to celebrate the real-world. As enough Trainers had globally attended and partaken in the cleanup efforts, they unlocked the bonus Stardust for Grass-, Water-, and Ground-type Pokémon which were spawning more frequently in the wild, until the last day of April.

Battle Showdown
Battle Showdown was another unique event in Spring 2018 and it lasted for the first two weeks of May. During the event there were Fighting-type Pokémon appearing in Raid Battles and more frequently spawning in the wild. Moreover, there was doubled bonus items from Photo Discs at the gyms and double XP for battling in gyms and Raid Battles.

Adventure Week
This event happened between May and June, 2018. This year not only increased Rock-type spawn, but it also introduced Rock-themed Raid Bosses and research tasks.

Water Festival
This event happened between June and June, 2018. This year not only increased Water-type spawn, but it also introduced Water-themed Raid Bosses and research tasks.

Global Challenge
Global Challenge is a event theme around particular events dated for summer 2018, including: Pokémon GO Safari Zone in Dortmund, 2018 edition of Pokémon GO Fest and Safari Zone in Yokosuka. During the events there are "Global Research tasks" for player community with established amount of Research Tasks to be done by players in specific regions. For completing each "Global Research task" there are special bonus rewards that will be available worldwide.

2nd Anniversary
2nd Game Anniversary happened in July, 2018 and featured special Pikachu with summer hat and sunglasses. There was extremely increased spawnrate of Pikachu in such costume, so Trainers could complete their Pikachu Fan medals in order to unlock special clothes.

Pokémon GO Fest
Year later, next Pokémon GO Fest happened in Lincoln Park, Chicago. During the festival attendants could access exclusive Special Research tasks which rewarded them with Celebi encounter, two months prior its global release. There were also Shiny variants of Plusle and Minun released globally with the increased spawnrate during the event.

Special Trading Event
During this August event, all trades, including Special Trades costed 25% less Stardust. Trainers also received three extra candies for each trade. The experience gained by registering a new Pokémon in the Pokédex was tripled, making it 1,500 XP. There was also Spinda released with the beginning of this event.

Johto Festival
Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region were seen more frequently during this event, so Trainers had the perfect opportunity to earn a gold Johto medal and complete their Johto Pokédex. Pokémon such as Sunkern and Ursaring were featured in Raid Battles across the world. In the first few hours, Trainers around the world spotted the higher chance to encounter Unown in the wild. Additionally, there were certain Field Research tasks during this event that rewarded with Evolution Items and would help with Special Research tasks series &mdash; A Ripple in Time.

Ultra Bonus Event
The Ultra Bonus Event was a conclusion of Professor Willow's Global Research Challenge, that has been successfully completed by trainers around the world. It happened in later half of September, 2018 and revolved around Kanto-region Pokémon. During the event there was higher chance for meeting Kanto-region Pokémon in the wild and Legendary Birds &mdash; Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres once again were available from Raid Battles. Additionally, Region-exclusive Pokémon from Kanto for a time of the event hatch from 7-km Eggs and Mewtwo was available from Legendary Raid (not only Ex Raid) for the first time.

Week in Korea
A year later, there was another Week in Korea event scheduled to happen in September, 2018.

Psychic Spectacular
This event happened between October and October, 2018. This event increased Psychic-type spawn and featured related research tasks.

Other events
These, following events unlike the rest aren't neither unique nor seasonal and they do not have specific year in which they happened.

Nest Migrations
Nest Migrations are the technical changes to the game in which Pokémon Nests changes species which spawns in the specific locations.

Community Day
Community Day is the first in game, regular event introduced in January, 2018. This event lasts only few-hours on one, particular day of each month and during it players can catch a Pokémon with an exclusive move that cannot be obtain normally in gameplay.

Safari Zone
Pokémon GO Safari Zone is a recurrent regional event, that happens in different locations around the globe. The events give Trainers the ability to catch region-exclusive Pokémon that do not usually appear in these regions.