Pokemon GO Christmas Event 2020: Release Date, Shiny Pokemon And Everything You Need To Know

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Just like many other games Pokemon GO also likes to celebrate Christmas.

They do so with the Holiday event.

During this time there's plenty of new additions brought to the game.

Keep Reading to have a look at previous Christmas events and what might be coming to 2020, or click the link below to skip to the part you want to know first!

Pokemon GO Holiday 2020 Event Overview

With this event usually comes bonuses and buffs.

Such as earning Candy or Stardust for doing certain tasks.

Over the last few years, we've also seen a Santa Hat Pokemon make its way to the game!

We'll get more into previous Holiday events further down so keep reading.

Double Catch XP is currently up until the end of December.

Release Date

So far a release date has no been confirmed.

Although we can take a look at the last few launch dates and speculate!

  • December 25, 2015 - January 3, 2016
  • December 21, 2016 - January 4, 2017
  • December 18, 2017 - January 2, 2018
  • December 24, 2018 - January 1, 2019

It's likely the event will start a few days before Christmas and will end within the first week on January.

Leaks

So far there's been no specific leak to speak of when it comes to the Christmas event, but there has been a little bit of reading between the lines.

Following the release of the GO Beyond Update, Pokemon GO released a new blog detailing some of the key info for events and activities in December.

But the blog post also had one parting shot, which read:

"More coming soon! Even more fun winter - and holiday- themed events will be tap-tap-tapping their way toward you soon! Stay tuned for details." 

This seems quite a glaring tease to the fact that the game could be set to add Mr Rime to the game.

For those who don't know, Mr Rime is the Galarian evolution of Mr. Mime - known best for his enthusiastic tap dancing.

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December Spotlight

  • Tuesday, December 1, 2020: Seel will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, December 8, 2020: Swinub will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, December 15, 2020: A surprise Pokémon will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, December 22, 2020: Snorunt will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for transferring Pokémon.
  • Tuesday, December 29, 2020: Snover will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.

Previous Events

Below you can find a list of previous Holiday events and what they entailed.

Holiday 2019

  • 1 free Egg Incubator from PokéStop per day
  • Ice-type Pokémon spawn increased
  • Pikachu family with winter hat and Stantler with bells release
  • Shiny Pikachu family with winter hat and Stantler with bells release
  • Shiny Snover release
  • Cryogonal attracted to the Glacial Lure Modules
  • Themed Pokémon in Eggs, Raid Battles and Research tasks
  • Open 2x Gifts
  • Hold 2x Gifts in Item Bag
  • Shop special offer
  • 2× catch Candy (Dec 24 to 25)
  • 2× transfer Candy (Dec 24 to 25)
  • 2× catch Stardust (Dec 26 to 27)
  • 2× catch XP (Dec 28 to 29)
  • 1/2× Egg distance (Dec 30 to Jan 1)

Winter Weekend Event (Dec 28th):

  • 2-hours Glacial Lure Modules duration
  • Themed Pokémon attracted to the Glacial Lure Modules
  • Regice in Raid Battles
  • Two additional Raid Passes
  • Last Resort could be learnt, when evolving Eevee into Glaceon
  • Shop special offer

Holiday 2018

  • 1 free Egg Incubator from PokéStop per day
  • Ice-type Pokémon spawn increased
  • Greater chance of hatching Baby Pokémon from 7-km Eggs
  • 2× catch Candy (Dec 18 to 22)
  • 2× transfer Candy (Dec 18 to 22)
  • 2× catch Stardust (Dec 23 to 26)
  • 2× catch XP (Dec 27 to 30)
  • 1/2× Egg distance (Dec 31 to Jan 2)
  • Shop special offer

Holiday 2017

  • 1 Egg Incubator from PokéStop per day
  • 6-hour Lure Modules duration
  • Ice-type Pokémon spawn increased
  • Delibird and aquatic-themed Hoenn-region Pokémon release(See here)
  • Shiny Snorunt release
  • Pichu wearing Holiday hat release
  • Pikachu spawn increased
  • Shop special offer

Holiday 2016

  • 1 Egg Incubator from PokéStops per day
  • 1-hour Lure Modules duration
  • Kanto-region Starter Pokémon family spawn increased
  • Pikachu wearing Holiday hat release
  • Introduction of Event Pokémon, Lure Module bonus and shop special offers