Holiday

The Holiday Event is a seasonal event in Pokémon GO that takes place in the latter half of December. It is the in-game counterpart of, , and the other winter holiday celebrations.

Background
This event took place beginning on the morning of December 25th 2016 and went until noon (PST) on January 3rd 2017.

Each day during the event, trainers were awarded a single-use Incubator when they visited their first PokéStop of the day. There was also a greater chance of obtaining Eggs which would hatch Gen II baby Pokémon.

From the morning of December 25th through the afternoon of December 30th (PST), Special, Great, and Ultra Boxes were available for purchase from the Shop. These boxes contained items that were usually not available for purchase and they were offered at a discounted rate. In addition, from the afternoon of December 30th through the afternoon of January 3th (PST); Bronze, Silver, and Gold Boxes were available for purchase. The items in these Boxes included Incense, Lure Modules, Lucky Eggs, Poké Balls, and Great Balls.

Two weeks prior to this event, on December 12th, Gen II Pokemon began appearing in eggs. Reports of Pikachu and Raichu — donned with Festive hats — began to circulate the same day of the release of the second generation. They were available until the end of the Holiday event,  and any captured would persist in the inventory if not released

Additionally, from the afternoon of December 30th 2016, through the afternoon of January 8th 2017 (PST), starter Pokémon and their evolved forms were encountered more often. Lure modules' duration were also increased up to a whole hour, rather than their normal 30 minutes.