With a new year and a new decade coming up fast, and Niantic is gearing up with a whole host of updates and events forPokemonGO. With a new Legendary Pokemon to catch, new research breakthrough encounters, Team Rocket special research, the revival of the Adventure Sync Hatchathon event and more,Pokemon GOplayers should have plenty to do in the coming weeks.
It’s already been an eventfulDecember forPokemon GO, with trainers given the opportunity to catch shadow Pokemon–and, of course, beanie-wearing festive Pokemon as well. Trainers will still see some familiar faces in January, however, including a boss fight with Team Rocket’s Giovanni that’ll score a special Shadow Pokemon.
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First up on the January list is this month’s Research Breakthrough reward, which is Lapras that know Ice Shard and Ice Beam; a Lapras with either of those abilities hasn’t been available to catch since 2018, so interested players shouldn’t miss their chance to catch one. AnotherTeam GO Rocketscheme is also brewing for January, and right now it seems like it’ll work the same as December’s, with players taking on the villainous group to complete this month’s Special Research and eventually beat Giovanni. Players who can do that will find themselves in possession of a legendaryShadow Moltres Pokemon.
But Shadow Moltres isn’t the onlyLegendary Pokemonup for grabs in the new year, as players will also have a shot at catching Heatran, a fire Fire- and Steel-type Pokemon from the Sinnoh region. The Lava Dome Pokemon will be hanging around five-star Raids from January 7 to February 4, and could possibly be encountered in its Shiny form. Then, January 2 through January 16 are the dates thatPokemon GOwill be running its Hatchathon, where players can go on Adventure Sync walks to earn extra Stardust, Rare Candies, and even an Unova Stone for those who put in the effort (and steps). There’s also a chance that Pokemon hatched during the event will come out of their eggs wearing party hats, just for that extra dash of festivity.
Beyond that,January’s Community Dayis already set for Sunday, January 19, though Niantic isn’t revealing its featured Pokemon just yet. While waiting for the new January rewards to arrive in the game, players still have time to catch December’s Legendary, Virizion–it’ll stick around until January 7.
Pokemon GOis available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
