Pokémon GO was released six years ago and the Niantic team has prepared a big anniversary event and Battle Weekend to celebrate the occasion! You can expect Pokémon debuts, raids, field research tasks, and bonuses.
In 2016, the now-famous augmented reality mobile game, Pokémon GO, was released. All over the world, Trainers took to the streets and sparked a visible cultural movement filled with lovers of the collectible Pokémon. Six years down the road, the game is stronger than ever with over 80 million players logging into the game every month in 2022.
To celebrate all these years of catching, researching, and battling, Niantic wants to reward Trainers with a special anniversary event and Battle Weekend that will see a slew of new Pokémon, Raids, Field Research tasks, Skins, bonuses, and more!
Pokémon GO Anniversary Event
The special six-year Pokémon GO anniversary event will begin on July 6, 2022, at 10 am and will end on July 12, 2022, at 8 pm local time. However, there will be a bunch of big and exciting content coming to the game. Let's go!
Pokémon Debuts
Three Pokémon will be receiving special anniversary skin updates. These are:
- Party Hat Charmeleon
- Party Hat Charizard
- Cake Costume Pikachu
Wild Encounters
Besides this, fifteen Pokémon will get have a higher chance of appearing in Wild Encounters. These are:
- Bulbasaur
- Buneary
- Bunnelby
- Chespin
- Cake Costume Pikachu
- Fennekin
- Froakie
- Ledyba
- Litleo
- Machop
- Party Hat Charmander
- Pokipek
- Ralts
- Squirtle
- Venipede
On top of that, you might be able to encounter three additional Pokémon if you're lucky. These are:
- Clauncher
- Gabite
- Helioptile
Raids
As we all know, Raids are when a Boss Pokémon takes over a Gym. The objective is to defeat this Pokémon in order to be rewarded with special items and a chance at catching that Pokémon.
1. One-Star Raids
- Cake Costume Pikachu
- Dratini
2. Three-Star Raids
- Blastoise
- Metagross
- Party Hat Charizard
- Tyranitar
- Venusaur
3. Five-Star Raids
- Zapdos
4. Mega Raids
- Mega Charizard X (will only appear in Raids between July 6 and July 7, 2022)
- Mega Charizard Y (will only appear in Raids between July 7 and July 12, 2022)
Field Research Task Encounters
Field Research tasks require players to find certain Pokémon, engage in battle as well as complete other activities. There are 21 Pokémon that you may encounter in the Pokémon six-year anniversary event:
- Bulbasaur
- Charmander
- Chespin
- Chikorita
- Chimchar
- Cyndaquil
- Fennekin
- Froakie
- Litten
- Mudkip
- Oshawott
- Piplup
- Popplio
- Rowlet
- Snivy
- Squirtle
- Tepig
- Totodile
- Torchic
- Turtwig
- Treecko
New Avatar Items And Stickers
We will be getting new avatar items during the six-year anniversary event that can be purchased in the in-game shop. These will still be available even after the event ends.
Special event-themed stickers will be available too. These stickers can be obtained by spinning PokéStops, opening Gifts, and purchasing them from the in-game shop.
Battle Weekend
The Pokémon GO Battle Weekend will be live from Saturday, July 9, 2022, at 12 am to Sunday, July 10, 2022, at 11:59 pm local time. During the Battle Weekend, there will be event bonuses. These are:
- Team GO Rocket balloons will appear every three hours
- Up to 20 GO Battle League sets will be available each day
- 4x multiplier Stardust earned from GO Battle League Rewards
- Charged TMs may be used to help Shadow Pokémon forget the Charged Attack Frustration
In the Battle Weekend event, players have to help Spark, Blanche, and Candela defeat Team GO Rocket Grunts, their leaders (Sierra, Cliffe, and Arlo), and their Shadow Pokémon! But these are the Shadow Pokémon you can expect to encounter:
- Geodude
- Purrloin
- Shinx
- ??? (More that haven't been announced yet!)
Also, after the Trainers all over the world saved Shadow Latios, the Team GO Rocket boss, Giovanni, transformed Latios into a Shadow Pokémon! You will need to save Shadow Latios from the hands of this evil genius.
On top of this during the Battle Weekend, Special Research centered on Giovanni will be available to claim from this weekend until the end of the Season of GO on September 1, 2022, at 10 am local time! Once completed, Trainers will receive a Super Rocket Radar.
The Pokémon GO Six Year Anniversary Event and Battle Weekend promises to be fun, exciting, and action-packed! Until the next in-game event, stay tuned with other mobile gaming news: