Niantic just introduced a new Special Research quest chain that will surprise Pokémon Go players with the legendary Pokémon Jirachi. The quest line is called “The Thousand Year Slumber,” and, like the Special Research quest lines for Mew, Celebi, and Meltan before, will reward the player with the Mythical Wish Pokémon when completed.
Some of the stages of the quest require lots of candy or rare items, so you should definitely read this guide before you start. So pretend it’s 2003 again, go to your local Blockbuster and get the Jirachi Pokémon movie, and learn how to complete The Thousand Year Slumber.
Stage 1 – Lay Of The Land
- Catch 25 Pokémon
- Spin 10 Pokéstops or Gyms
- Make 3 new friends
The first step in researching Jirachi is getting to know the Hoenn region: catching Pokémon, visiting Pokéstops, and meeting new trainers. The first two should be fairly easy to complete during a short walk, just make sure you have room for Pokémon in your storage and items in your bag. Making friends can be more difficult, especially since there is a limit for how many friends you can have. If you’re an especially friendly trainer, you may have to delete some and re-add them. Don’t worry, you’ll keep the same level of friendship! The most important reward you’ll get from this stage is a Feebas for making friends, and a Moss Lure, Glacial Lure, and Magnetic Lure when you complete the entire stage.
Stage 2 – How To Train Your Feebas
- Catch 3 Whismur
- Evolve a Feebas
- Get a Gold Medal for the Hoenn Pokédex
Whismur is a fairly common Pokémon, but you might have to take a walk or two to find some. You can increase your chances by going out in partly cloudy weather, which will increase the chances of normal type Pokémon spawning. Completing this step will give you 10 Whismur candy. Evolving a Feebas might be more difficult, but at least you already have one from the last stage. To evolve it, you’ll need to walk 20 km, and get 100 Feebas candies. However, those 20 km will only get you 4 candies, so be prepared to walk a lot longer, catch a lot more Feebas, or stockpile rare candies.
To get the Gold Medal, you need to register 90 Pokémon originally from Hoenn to your Pokédex. If you’ve been playing for a while, you might automatically complete this mission as soon as you get it.
Stage 3 – Loudred Paparazzi
- Take a Snapshot of Loudred
- Make 3 Great Throws in a Row
- Earn 3 Candies walking with your Buddy
If you have a Loudred already, this first part will be easy. If not, you can use the candy you got in the last stage to evolve your Whismur, then take a picture. Earning candies is just walking, and you can make it even easier by setting a 1 km Pokémon like Magikarp or Swablu as your buddy. Getting your great throws is just a matter of aim.
Stage 4 – Magnetic Personality
- Catch 50 Psychic or Steel Pokémon
- Power up Pokémon 10 times
- Send 10 gifts to friends
Remember that Magnetic Lure Module you got all the way back in Stage 1? You can stick that on a Pokéstop to attract Steel Pokémon (along with Electric and Rock ones) and speed up that part of the quest. Don’t get rid of all of them, because you’ll need some for later. Other than that, just do what you do and you can quickly complete this stage.
Stage 5 – Time To Battle
- Battle a Team Leader 3 times
- Win against another Trainer 7 times
- Win 5 Raids
Here you just have to get a lot of potions and powerful Pokémon to win some battles. Remember, you have to win against another trainer, not just battle them. You can cheat the system by taking turns with another trainer, winning and losing battles in the Great League so that you can save your high level Pokémon for raids. If you can team up with another trainer you can also complete Raids much more easily, especially if you focus on low level Raids.
Stage 6 – The Long Con
- Take 5 photos of Steel or Psychic Pokémon
- Make 3 Excellent Curveball Throws
- Spin a Pokéstop 7 days in a row
There’s no real way to speed this one up. You have to wait a whole week of spinning Pokéstops to finish, which should give you plenty of time to make your Pokéball trickshots, which will be pretty difficult. Other than that, just take pictures of your Pokémon; you should have some Steel and Psychic types left over from Stage 4.
Stage 7 – You’re done!
All the parts of this stage will automatically finish, and you’ll be free to catch the legendary Pokémon Jirachi!