Halloween was always a big part of Pokémon GO. Each year, the game features amazing perks with seasonal-themed Pokémon, either ghost- or dark-types. In fact, the very first special event in Pokémon GO was a Halloween event that focused on the spookiest Gen 1 Pokémon: Gastly, Drowzee, and Zubat.
Starting on Thursday, October 20, at 10 am local time, an all-new Halloween event will be coming to the game, and Niantic just dropped the details on what players can expect.
The lede of the announcement was the coming of Mega Banette. Banette, the evolved form of the ghost-type Shuppet, will be appearing in Mega raids for players to battle and, hopefully, catch. In addition, lucky players may encounter a shiny Banette after battling it.
Special Research
Another big announcement is the inclusion of paid Timed Research tasks. There will be two different tickets available for players. For $1 (or the local currency equivalent), players will be given access to tasks featuring encounters with both Yamask and Galarian Yamask. What’s more, the shiny version of Galarian Yamask will make its debut in the game.
The second tier—and the most interesting—will give players a new avatar pose. This tier will cost $5 (or the equivalent) and also gives players increased candy bonuses and additional Halloween-themed tasks. What kind of Halloween tasks are yet to be seen, but I imagine it has to do with either catching or encounters with ghost-types Pokémon.
While those two are timed research, meaning they’ll expire if not completed by a certain date, there will be a Halloween-themed Special Research line, which can be completed at any time—as long as players claim it before the event ends on November 1. This research will offer encounters with Yamask and Galarian Yamask.
Wild encounters
As expected, ghosts are the main draw with Pokémon appearing in the wild. Gastly and Haunter, Misdreavus, Shuppet and Dusclops, Drifloon, Sableye, Yamask, Golett, Phantump, and Pumkaboo are all the spooks you can find while hunting. Players will also get the chance to catch Zubat, Spinarak, Murkrow, and Absol. Unfortunately, there are no new wild spawns that can be shiny.
Eggs
No news about the 2km, 5km, or 10km eggs for the event, but the 7km egg pool is getting limited to just five Pokémon. Yamask, Galarian Yamask, Phantump, Golett, and Noibat will all be hatchable from 7km eggs. But it’s not just both versions of Yamask that can be shiny as Noibat’s shiny will be introduced into the game for the first time. I feel like I’m gonna be spending a lot of Pokécoins on egg incubators during this event because that shiny Noibat looks sweet.
Avatar Updates
One of the exciting changes is new avatar items that will be available. As mentioned before, players can get a new avatar pose with a special paid event ticket, but changes are coming to a previous event pose.
During the event, the Spooky Pose found in the in-game shop will be updated to include movement–it will shamble forward! This update will apply to all future and past purchases of the Spooky Pose. This pose was released in 2020 and is available in the in-game shop for 500 Pokécoins. Niantic has decided to give it a full upgrade by animating it, making the player shamble forward.
This pose looks great with the new avatar items coming during the event. Both the Dusclops Costume and Dusclops Headwrap will cover the player’s avatar head to toe, making them look like a movie mummy. There’s also a Zubat Headband, which looks great for players who prefer spoopy to spooky.
Raids
As usual, Raids will rotate to add the Halloween flair to battling. Once Xerneas leaves 5-star raids, it will be replaced with Altered Forme Giratina. Giratina can, of course, be shiny as this isn’t its first appearance in the game. However, Giratina caught during the event will know the charge attack Shadow Force. Shadow Force is Giratina’s signature move from the main series games and will make Giratina a formidable foe in competitive battles.
One- and 3-star raids will be…less than exciting. One-star raids will be stocked by Sableye, Purrloin, Yamask, Galarian Yamask, and Phantump, while 3-star raids will feature Gengar, Umbreon, Drifblim, and Drapion. I don’t figure many people will be too excited with these choices, with maybe the exception of Galarian Yamask for the shiny hunters. As far as 3-stars go, Drapion might be popular as it’s a good contender in the GO Battle League. But with Gengar being the only shiny possibility—and has featured in numerous events already—I definitely won’t be using many raid passes.
Atmosphere
The Lavender Town remix will be returning to the game. First started in previous Halloween events, the music is based on the theme that plays in the Lavender Town area of the Generation 1 game. While most players play the game with the music off, it’s fun to crank it during the event to get that spooky feel. If you want to hear the music ahead of time, Niantic was good enough to provide a link to a video.
But for the first time, PokéStops and Gyms will be getting a themed makeover. It’s not clear just how they’ll appear in the game, but the Twitter account @poke_miners previously discovered visual assets that could relate to the decoration. You can see the assets in this tweet here.
Finally, no Halloween would be complete without candy, so naturally, the bonuses for the event will feature 2x catch candy, 2x candy for hatching eggs, and 2x candy for transferring Pokémon. For players level 31 and up, they’ll receive a guaranteed Candy XL for walking their buddy.
While many of the events in Pokémon GO can be hit or miss, the Halloween event is always a high point in the game. While I do feel there are a few missteps this year, for the most part, there’s a ton to look forward to on October 20. I, for one, will be sure to keep my supply of egg incubators fully stocked to be thoroughly disappointed at not getting that shiny Noibat.
