2021 is kicking off with a bang in the world of Pokemon GO.
January will start a new year full of wonder for Trainers around the world including the usual events and many new ones.
Get ready for more region-specific celebrations including Unova and a Machop Community Day.
Here's what we know about the January Events in Pokemon GO.
Click the links to read more about it:
- Breakthrough Encounters
- 5 Star Raids and Mega Raids
- Spotlight Hours
- New Years Eve Event 2020
- Pokemon GO Holiday Cup 2020
- Celebration Events
- Community Day
- Challenges
January 2021 Breakthrough Encounters
Chansey will become available for players during the Research Breakthrough event.
According to Pokemon GO, this will take place during the following times:
From Friday, January 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, February 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8)
January 2021 5 Star Raids and Mega Raids
Brand new raids are coming next month, be sure to let us know which ones you are most excited about!
Things are heating up in raids this January! The following Legendary and Mythical Pokémon will be appearing in five-star raids throughout January—one of which is appearing for the first time!
- Ho-Oh will be appearing in raids from Friday, January 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8) to Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Ho-Oh!
- Genesect holding a Burn Drive will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
- Heatran will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Heatran!
- Kyogre and Groudon will be appearing in raids from Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time. If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Kyogre or Shiny Groudon!
- A surprise Pokémon will be appearing in raids beginning on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
In addition, the following Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids.
- Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Abomasnow will be appearing in Mega Raids, with Mega Charizard Y becoming even more powerful from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. through Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 10:00am local time. Mega Blastoise is also a prime pick to use in five-star raids this month, so make sure to stock up on Blastoise Mega Energy!
- On Tuesday, January 19, 2021, a certain Mega-Evolved Pokémon will make its Pokémon GO debut in Mega Raids! More details will come to light as we get closer to the date. Mega Venusaur and Mega Houndoom will also be appearing in Mega Raids beginning on January 19, with Mega Houndoom being even more powerful from Tuesday, January 26, 2021, through Monday, February 8, 2021.
January 2021 Spotlight Hours
This is when the Spotlight Hours will take place during the month of January:
- Tuesday, January 5, 2021: Lillipup will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 12, 2021: Drifloon will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 19, 2021: Shroomish will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, January 26, 2021: Phanpy will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for transferring Pokémon.
New Years Eve Event 2020
A brand new event is coming with the New Year and will feature plenty of new Pokemon rewards.
Running from December 31st, 2020 at 10:00 pm local time until January 4th, 2021 at 10:00 pm local time.
Check out all the details here.
Pokemon GO Holiday Cup 2020
The Holiday Cup for this year starts on December 28 at 1:00 pm PST and will run through January 4 at 1:00 pm PST.
This is a special variant of the existing Great Cup that puts a CP limit of 1,500, but now with a limited pool of types of Pokémon that can be used.
Players may only use Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, and Ghost types.
Read More: Pokémon GO Holiday Cup 2020: Meta, Tier List, Best Teams And Top Pokemon Picks
January 2021 Celebration Events
The Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto will arrive in February, but in the build-up, we'll be celebrating during the Season of Celebration with events themed around different regions of the Pokémon world!
Different weeks will highlight Unova, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto, as Pokémon originally discovered in these regions will be appearing more often in the wild.
The Unova Celebration event, which begins on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
The following features and bonuses will be included:
- Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Lillipup, Herdier, Blitzle, Roggenrola, Drilbur, Scraggy, Tympole, Venipede, Trubbish, Gothita, Solosis, and Ferroseed will be appearing more frequently in the wild! If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Snivy!
- The following Pokémon will be hatching from 5 km Eggs: Roggenrola, Sewaddle, Petilil, Emolga, Karrablast, Joltik, Elgyem, and Shelmet
- Enjoy event-exclusive Field Research tasks that reward Stardust and lead to encounters with Pokémon such as Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, and Ferroseed.
- The following Pokémon will be appearing in raids.Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Timburr, Dwebble, and Klink will be appearing in one-star raids.
- Herdier, Tranquill, Excadrill, and Amoonguss will be appearing in three-star raids.
- Genesect holding a Burn Drive will be appearing in five-star raids. This will be the first time this form of Genesect will be appearing in Pokémon GO, so be sure to catch it while you have the chance! Note that the Shiny form of this Genesect will not be available during this event.
- Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Abomasnow will be appearing in Mega Raids, with Mega Charizard Y becoming even more powerful from Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. through Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
- Stay tuned for Collection Challenges, a new feature in the Today View that’ll make Pokémon GO events all the more exciting to experience! More details to come in early January.
January 2021 Community Day
The January community day event will take place on January 16th, 2021.
January will be highlighted by the generation one Pokemon Machop!
It will have an exclusive move called "Payback" which can only be used on the Machamp version, however.
Challenges
Whether you’re new to Pokémon GO or a seasoned Trainer, Collection Challenges provide a handy guide to catching Pokémon featured during certain events. Look out for the launch of Collection Challenges in early January 2021.