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Pokemon Go January 2021 Events: Unova Celebration, January Community Day, And More

Pokemon Go is kicking off the new year with a variety of events and returning Legendary Pokemon.

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2021 has arrived, and Pokemon Go is kicking off the new year in a big way. Developer Niantic has outlined a variety of events that players can look forward to in the first month of 2021, including a New Year's celebration, new Pokemon Spotlight Hours, returning Legendary Raids, and more. You can read up on all of the biggest January 2021 events happening in Pokemon Go below.

New Year's Event

Pokemon Go New Year's event
Pokemon Go New Year's event

Niantic is ringing in 2021 with a New Year's celebration, which kicks off at 10 PM local time on December 31 and runs through January 4. Throughout the event, you'll be able to catch a variety of festive Pokemon. Pikachu that are wearing New Year's hats will appear in the wild, while party hat-wearing versions of Raticate, Wobbuffet, and Wurmple will be featured in one-star Raids. Slowpoke wearing 2020 glasses will also be available; evolve it into Slowbro and it'll be wearing 2021 glasses.

Those aren't the only special Pokemon appearing during the New Year's event. Complete Field Research tasks and you'll be able to encounter party hat Eevee, while Shiny Wynaut may hatch from 2 km eggs. There will also be New Year's-themed avatar items in the game's style shop, and the following bonuses will be active throughout the event:

  • 2x hatch Candy
  • 2x hatch Stardust
  • 1/2 hatch distance

Legendary And Mega Raids

Niantic is bringing a handful of Legendary Pokemon back to the game throughout January 2021. The following monsters will appear in five-star Raids during their specified dates:

  • January 1-5: Ho-Oh
  • January 5-12: Genesect (w/Burn Drive)
  • January 12-19: Heatran
  • January 19-26: Groudon and Kyogre
  • January 26: A "surprise Pokemon"

In addition to the Legendaries, Niantic is shaking up the Mega Raid bosses for January. Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Abomasnow will appear in Mega Raids for the first part of the month. Then, beginning January 19, a new Mega-Evolved Pokemon will debut in Raids, and it'll appear alongside Mega Venusaur and Mega Houndoom.

January Research Breakthrough Encounter: Chansey

As usual, Niantic will begin offering a new set of Field Research tasks and rewards starting January 1. A new Research Breakthrough encounter will also be available. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough in January 2021, you'll earn a chance to catch the rare Chansey.

Pokemon Spotlight Hours

Every Tuesday evening in January, Niantic will spotlight one specific Pokemon and bonus for one hour. These spotlight events will all run from 6-7 PM local time. You can see the full schedule below:

DateSpotlight PokemonSpecial Bonus
January 5Lillipup2x catch Stardust
January 12Drifloon2x catch XP
January 19Shroomish2x catch Candy
January 26Phanpy2x transfer Candy

Unova Celebration Event

Unova Celebration
Unova Celebration

In the lead up to February's Kanto Tour, Niantic is celebrating the different regions of the Pokemon world with their own individual events. The Unova Celebration will run from January 5-10. During that time, the following Gen 5 Pokemon will appear in the wild much more frequently than normal:

  • Snivy
  • Tepig
  • Oshawott
  • Lillipup
  • Herdier
  • Blitzle
  • Roggenrola
  • Drilbur
  • Scraggy
  • Tympole
  • Venipede
  • Trubbish
  • Gothita
  • Solosis
  • Ferroseed

Additionally, you'll have your first chance to catch Shiny Snivy in Pokemon Go during the event, and various Gen 5 Pokemon will be hatching from eggs and appearing as Raid bosses. There will also be event-exclusive Field Research tasks to complete, which will reward you with Stardust and Gen 5 Pokemon encounters.

Finally, Genesect will return to five-star Raids during the Unova Celebration. This time around, the Mythical Pokemon will be holding a Burn Drive, making this your first chance to catch this form in Pokemon Go. A Sinnoh Celebration event will follow from January 12-17.

January Community Day

Machop
Machop

January's Community Day is set for January 16, and the featured Pokemon this time will be Machop. Throughout the event, Machop will appear in the wild much more frequently than normal, and you'll have a chance to catch a Shiny Machop with a little luck.

As usual, you'll be also be able to get an event-exclusive move during January's Community Day. Power up Machop's evolved form, Machoke, into Machamp up to two hours after the event ends and it will learn the Dark-type attack Payback. Finally, you'll earn triple the usual amount of Stardust for catching Pokemon during the event, and any Incense you use will last for three hours.

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