It's hard to believe, but six years have passed since Pokémon GO first burst onto the scene. To celebrate, Niantic is running a Pokémon GO Anniversary event, with tons of rewards and special research tasks to get through. It's a great chance for players to fill up their Pokédex, and take down Team GO Rocket while doing so.
In this Pokémon GO guide, we'll run through all the key details on the anniversary event. That includes the start and end dates, the Pokémon you can only encounter during this event, and the research rewards on offer for completing all the main objectives.
Elsewhere, feel free to check out our Pokémon GO July 2022 Community Day guide to see which 'mon will be in the spotlight this month. We've also got the Ditto disguises for July 2022, as well as an updated egg chart for July 2022, so you know exactly what you'll hatch.
Pokémon GO Anniversary Event Start Date
The Pokémon GO Anniversary Event started on July 6, 2022, at 10 AM in your local time zone. It ran for exactly a week, ending on July 13 at 8 PM local time.
As such, you had a full seven days to check out the special Pokémon available to catch during the event, as well as plenty of time to complete limited-time special research.
What Is The Pokémon GO Anniversary Event?
The Pokémon GO Anniversary event was a brief limited-time period in the game with exclusive rewards and gameplay mechanics, to celebrate six years since the game first launched. It overhauled the entire game for the week-long celebration, with new research to complete, Pokémon to catch, and cosmetics to unlock.
In terms of player cosmetics, a range of exclusive avatar items were releasde, so you could kit your trainer out in celebratory garb. That's on top of exclusive celebration-themed stickers, which you were attached to the gifts you send to other trainers.
How Do I Play The Pokémon GO Anniversary Event?
Luckily, there's nothing special you needed to do in order to access the Pokémon GO Anniversary event. Unlike the annual Pokémon GO Fest, you didn't need to spend real money on a ticket to unlock the exclusive perks.
Instead, all you needed to do is simply boot the game up during the week-long event, and the range of perks detailed in this guide will appear in the wild, or on your research hub. It's as simple as that!
What Are The Pokémon GO Anniversary Event Research Bonuses and Rewards?
During the Pokémon GO Anniversary event, various Pokémon appeared more frequently as rewards for completing field research. We've listed them all below - and a lot of them could end up as shinies:
Shiny or not? | Pokémon names |
|---|---|
Shiny | Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Chikorita, Cyndaquil, otodile, Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott |
Not shiny | Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Rowlet, Litten, Popplio |
On top of that, a special research task appeared during the Battle Weekend within this event, from July 9 to 10. Focused on Team GO Rocket Leader Giovanni, if you completed the research you got a free Super Rocket Radar.
There's much more to the Battle Weekend than just that though. Team GO Rocket balloons will appear more frequently, with more Mystery Components as a reward for defeating each one. That all builds up to Giovanni's master plan, to harness Shadow Latios as a weapon. It'll be up to you and your fellow trainers to rescue and purify this legendary. However, Niantic is still quite coy on exactly how that will work, so stay tuned.
Pokémon GO Anniversary Event - Exclusive Pokémon
There are three special Pokémon that debuted in the wild during the Pokémon GO Anniversary event. These are Party Hat Charmeleon, Party Hat Charizard, and Cake Costume Pikachu. Even better, shiny versions of the Charmeleon and Charizard special types were on offer, if you got lucky in the wild!
There were two Ultra Unlock bonus Pokémon who were available in raids during the event. These are Pansear and Unown E. On top of that, Wash Rotom was available as a special research reward during the event.
On top of that, the following Pokémon appeared more frequently in the wild for this week-long promotion:
- Bulbasaur
- Squirtle
- Machop
- Ledyba
- Ralts
- Buneary
- Pansear
- Venipede
- Chespin
- Fennekin
- Froakie
- Bunnelby
- Litleo
- Pikipek
- Gabite
- Clauncher
- Helioptile
This next batch of Pokémon appeared during raids across the event:
Tier | Pokémon |
|---|---|
Mega Raids | Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y |
Five-Star Raids | Zapdos |
Three-Star Raids | Venusaur, Party Hat Charizard, Blastoise, Tyranitar, Metagross |
One-Star Raids | Cake Costume Pikachu, Dratini, Unown E, Pansear |
That's it for our look at the Pokémon GO Anniversary event! Be sure to check back soon, because we'll update this guide as soon as new details emerge. Until then, why not check out the best Giovanni counters for July 2022?