Niantic has announced this year’s Halloween in-game event for Pokémon Go, which begins this upcoming Thursday, October 17, in addition to a raid weekend event at the beginning of November. The Halloween event will include costumed Pokémon, a new Legendary, some new Trainer outfits, and a new Shiny Pokémon.
Starting at 1 PM PST on Thursday, Team GO Rocket will use new Shadow Pokémon in battle, which players will have the chance to catch and purify afterward. These Pokémon will include Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lapras, Mareep, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Trapinch, Cacnea, Shuppet, and Duskull.
Trainers and Pokémon alike can take part in dressing up for Halloween. The Style Shop will have new Pokémon-inspired clothes and accessories for players, including a Pikachu Onesie, Zubat Bag, Cubone Cap, Mimikyu Bag, and Litwick Cap. Meanwhile, a few Pokémon will appear in the wild and in raids wearing costumes. In raids, players can encounter Bulbasaur wearing a Shedinja costume, Charmander wearing a Cubone costume, and Squirtle wearing a Yamask costume. In the wild, Pikachu wearing a Mimikyu costume can appear. Additionally, players have a chance to encounter all of these costumed Pokémon in their Shiny forms.
Those aren’t the only Pokémon making a special appearance throughout the event. Yamask will become available for players to encounter in the wild for the first time in both its regular and Shiny form. Lastly, the Legendary Pitch-Black Pokémon Darkrai, who first appeared in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. will be available in five-star raids. The special costumed Pokémon and Darkrai raids will be available from October 17 until Friday, November 1 at 1 PM PST, so players will have about two weeks to try to catch them all.
Additionally, some Ghost and Dark-Type Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild, as well as in Eggs and raid battles, including “Gastly, Murkrow, and more.” Players will receive “frightful and fun Field Research tasks” that will be limited to the duration of the Halloween event. Other bonuses include double the candy amounts from catching and transferring Pokémon and hatching Eggs. At the start of the event, players will receive a new Special Research message that could lead to them facing a “Forbidden Pokémon.”
After the Halloween event concludes, Niantic already has another event lined up, featuring some Gen 3 Legendaries. From 1 PM PST on November 1 to 1 PM on Monday, November 4, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel will return to five-star raids.
Simultaneously, a few other Pokémon will appear more often in the wild, including Geodude, Magnemite, Swinub, Aron, and Spheal. Other Pokémon will hatch more often from Eggs, including Aerodactyl, Shuckle, Sneasel, Skarmory, Snorunt, and Beldum. Lucky players may encounter Shiny Skarmory, Shiny Regirock, Shiny Regice, or Shiny Registeel.
Niantic will also offer players the chance to purchase a ticket for a special EX raid later on in November featuring the Gen 4 Legendary Regigigas.
Players will have the chance to buy access to the Regigigas EX raids for $7.99 on Saturday, November 2, between 11 AM and 7 PM in their local time zones. With this purchase, players will be able to encounter Regigigas before its official first appearance in Pokémon Go, and can even choose when to complete the Special Research. However, it’s recommended players start it as soon as possible during the Regi Weekend event, as they must catch Regirock, Regice, and Registeel to complete the Special Research and catch Regigigas.
Participants will receive a Colossal Discovery medal, a Unova Stone, a Sinnoh Stone, an exclusive avatar pose, and up to 10 additional Raid Passes from Gym Photo Discs at no cost, though they will not be available after the event period ends, as players can only hold one Raid Pass at a time.
For any players who can’t participate in the early Regigigas EX raid event, Niantic says not to worry, as Regigigas will appear in EX raids again later in November.