A Drive to Investigate


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A Drive to Investigate was a Genesect-themed event. Genesect Special Research and some parts of the event required purchasing a ticket to unlock.

Featured Pokémon
Selected Normal-, Fire-, Water-, Electric-, and Ice-type Pokémon and Nincada had increased spawn rates in the wild and from Incense or Lure Modules:

These Shiny Pokémon were released with the start of the event: PS Nincada (290) PS Ninjask (291)

5-km Pokémon Eggs obtained during the event would hatch more of these Bug-type Pokémon:

The following Raid Bosses were available for a time of this event, featuring Bug- or Steel-type Pokémon.

Shop special offer
The following offers were available from the shop from the start of the event.

Ticket-exclusive features
Trainers could purchase the ticket which enabled them to receive the Special Research tasks series – A Drive to Investigate if they turned on the game during local time from March, 2020, 8 a.m. to March , 2020, 10 p.m.

Ticket details:
 * Sold US$7.99 (or the equivalent in local currency) and could be purchased directly from the shop. The ticket could not be purchased with PokéCoins.
 * Tickets could be purchased until March, 2020, at 8 p.m. local time.

Field Research event tasks
There were several Field Research tasks available exclusively to the ticket holders for the duration of the event. Unlike A Colossal Discovery, not all PokéStops gave event tasks.

Special Research
Great to see you again, TRAINER. I always run into you when I find something exciting. Maybe you’re my Special Research good-luck charm! Last night, I was studying the chemical reaction that causes Trubbish to appear. Suddenly I saw bright flashing lights in the near distance and went to investigate. When I arrived at the site, I noticed a lot of damage to the ground and the surrounding area. At first, the damage looked to be caused by Trainers practicing for the GO Battle League, but my gut told me to investigate further in the morning. While I look into this, can you help me research Normal-type Pokemon? Some of the damage looks like it was caused by a Normal-type attack.

Thanks for getting that baseline research taken care of for me, TRAINER. I have some updates to share with you. After I returned to the site we’re studying, I realized there was actually a trail of damage. When I followed that trail, I started finding areas that were dearly burned. That damage must have been done by a Fire-type Pokemon or at least a Pokemon that knows Fire-type attacks. You know what this means, Trainer! Time to research Fire-type Pokemon. The more information we have about this type of Pokemon, the more clues we’ll have to determine whatever did all this damage. Meanwhile, 171 continue following the trail of damage.

Thanks, TRAINER! You’ve been on fire when it comes to getting these research tasks done! Get it? You’re on fire? Anyway…the damage can’t have been caused by a Trainer Battle. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It seems almost…unnatural? Could it really have been caused by Pokemon? This is getting fascinating! Could you do some research on Water-type Pokemon for me? As I followed the damage trail further, the burned area suddenly ended and strange water damage started appearing, and it just doesn’t seem to line up with any Pokemon I’ve encountered.

TRAINER, I’m so glad you’re back! We might have stumbled upon something incredible. I contacted one of my colleagues in the Unova region. She shared some notes about a Mythical Pokemon called Genesect that was restored from a 300-million-year-old fossil and then altered Pretty cool, huh? The notes say that though this Pokemon is Bug and Steel type, it’s known to be able to use attacks with types like Fire and Water, among others. This lines up with the damage at the site we’ve been researching! One of the other types Genesect can attack with is Electric, and as I kept following the damage trail, I found spots that must have been hit by some kind of high-voltage Electric-type attack. see if anything else lies even farther down the trail, but in the meantime, I know I can count on you to start investigating Electric-type Pokemon to help us get to the bottom of this.

I can’t thank you enough for your help, TRAINER. You really are my Special Research good-luck charm! With the information you collected combined with the notes from Unova, I think we’ve uncovered the Bug- and Steel-type Pokemon Genesect! I know what you’re thinking: Bug AND Steel with such odd attack types? Apparently, when this Pokemon is holding a specially developed item called a Drive, its Techno Blast attack changes to a type that corresponds to the Drive the Pokemon’s holding. I wonder what kinds of Drives exist for this Pokemon. I still have so many questions, but for now, why not do a little research on Ice-type Pokemon? I hear Ice is another type Genesect can wield. You ought to take a snapshot of Genesect to commemorate your meeting, too!

Avatar items
These avatar items were released with the beginning of the event:

Trivia

 * According to the datamine, Genesect Special Research event was planned only during local time 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March, 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Niantic decided to extend the event in attempt to make this event available and playable for as many Trainers globally as possible.