Adventure Week makes its triumphant return in Pokémon GO with fantastic in-game events, rare spawns, tons of experience to acquire, and for those willing to go the literal distance, a big prize at the end.
Niantic is describing this year’s event as bigger and better than ever, and so far, this is not an exaggeration. Adventure week runs from June 4th to June 11th. Here we’ll give you both the rundown on all the major events happening throughout the week, as well as tips on how to maximize your playtime and reap the most benefits.
This year’s features are:
- Rock-type Pokémon like Geodude, Rhyhorn, Omanyte, Aron, Lileep, Anorith, and others will appear more often in the wild.
- 2 km Eggs will hatch Rock-type Pokémon such as Onix, Larvitar, Lileep, Anorith, and Shieldon more often
- Challenge Onix, the Rock Snake Pokémon, and other Rock-type Pokémon in raids.
- You may encounter a Shiny Onix, Lileep, or Anorith if you’re lucky!
Asides from those features, there are three distinct bonuses in effect as well:
- Earn 4× Buddy Candy (Tip: Turn on Adventure Sync to make every step count!)
- Visit new PokéStops and earn 10× XP on your first spin of each Photo Disc
- Trainers who have Adventure Sync activated and walk 50 km will earn 50,000 Stardust and 15 Rare Candies!
There is a lot of information to unpack in the details of the event. So let's start with the easiest way to make gains, walking. Lots and lots of walking.
Going the Distance
One of the most ambitious and also important Bonuses of the event lies in activating Adventure Sync and walking a total of 50km over the seven days that the event takes place. To do this, players will need to average slightly more than seven km per day, which is no small task depending on the weather and how busy one may be.
Still, the reward for completing this task is no joke. 50,000 Stardust and 15 Rare Candies are great prizes. Players should begin by asking themselves, before they consider all the other features and bonuses in the event that they may be working towards, if this goal of reaching 50 km is plausible or not.
Remember as well that walking is the best, most accurate method of tracking distance traveled. Biking and even riding a bus that stops frequently can still exceed some undisclosed speed limit that disables the tracking for distance.
Plan Your Routes, Hit Up New PokéStops!
The second bonus of the event states that each new PokéStop a player visits will net them 10x XP on the first spin of a Photo Disc. This bonus has great synergy with the goal of reaching 50 km total, and can go a great deal towards your next level up with XP gained simply from exploring a new area.
To maximize both XP and km walked for this, consider planning routes to places in town that you may not have been to before. Tourist attractions, monuments, downtown areas, universities, all of these types of locations are often densely populated with PokéStops that you may not have visited before. Planning ahead with Google maps, or better yet, running sites like Mapmyrun.com will not only allow you to create a route and save it for reference, it will also tell you exactly how long your route is.
That Sweet, Sweet Buddy Candy
The introduction of Buddy Candy into the game has been one of the best additions, allowing players the opportunity to evolve Pokémon that might be difficult to acquire otherwise. Aiming for the 50 km total with the 4x bonus would be as if you and your favorite Pokémon had walked 200 km together. Let that sink in, and do not forget to assign one into the Buddy slot.
Shiny Pokémon? Yes, Please!
Onix, Lileep, and Anorith have a chance to pop up in their shiny variants. There is no real strategy in obtaining shiny Pokemon as they are simply rare. The exception to this is simply playing the game more often. Combine the increased rate of spawn for rock-types, with the goal of walking a total of 50 km during the event, and a player will have effectively maximized their odds at finding a shiny.
This year’s Adventure Week is bound to be another fantastic time, so best of luck to all the Pokémon Trainers out there in whichever goals they set for themselves!