Quick Links
The new year is here and you can celebrate the festivities in Pokemon Go with a new week of events. January marks the next portion of the Season of Heritage, meaning there is new stuff to do and some exciting activities ahead.
This week sees the debut of a new Mega Evolution in Pokemon Go: Mega Aerodactyl. As always, we've got all the important details on this week's events, so read on to see everything you need to know.
New Year's Event
Ends January 4 at 8pm local time
The annual New Year's event continues this week, coming to a close on Tuesday evening. Check out our post from last week for all the specifics, but for the major details, here's what you'll need to know before the event wraps up:
- Many costumed Pokemon have returned
- New costumed Pokemon — 2022 Glasses Slowking and New Year's Hat Hoothoot — are now available
- Timed Research leads to encounters with event Pokemon
- Double hatch Stardust and double hatch candy
- Eggs require half the walking distance
- New avatar items are available
The Season of Heritage Continues
December 1 to March 1
The Season of Heritage spans three months including December, January, and February. This month is the second portion of the overall event and it's being spearheaded by Team Instinct Leader Spark.
Just like Blanche's portion in December, Spark's will include a new Timed Research challenge. This time around, you'll need to earn XP by catching Pokemon. The challenge leads to encounters with rare Pokemon like Togetic, Goomy, and Cranidos as well as several items and other rewards. Completing the entire challenge by earning 240,000 XP will reward you with the Goomy Hat avatar item. This challenge is only available for Trainers who pre-purchase their ticket for the Johto Tour.
Mountains of Power
January 7 at 10am to January 14 at 8pm local time
The next upcoming event that ties into the Season of Heritage is called Mountains of Power.
Niantic hasn't released the major details, but what we do know is that this event is somehow related to the mysterious door that Professor Willow is trying to open. The event has something to do with terrain similar to the mountains of Johto and Sinnoh. These two regions are mountainous in general, but also feature famous named mountains like Mt. Silver, Mt. Mortar (both in Johto), and Mt. Coronet (Sinnoh).
Raid Changeover
January 7 at 10am local time
The Raid bosses are changing this week. Look forward to Friday when Heatran returns and Mega Aerodactyl makes its debut.
Until then, here's who you'll see:
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 3 |
Tier 5 |
Mega Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Then, at 10am local time on Friday, the Raid bosses will change. We don't know who will headline Tier 1 or Tier 3 Raids, but we do know the Legendary and Mega tiers:
|
Tier 1 |
Tier 3 |
Tier 5 |
Mega Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Heatran will be replaced by Genesect with a Shock Drive next week and Mega Aerodactyl will stick around until February 1.
Spotlight Hour and Raid Hour
It feels like Kyurem has been around forever now, but if you still want to challenge it in Raids, you'll want to participate in this week's Raid Hour event. Meanwhile, Solosis is the featured Pokemon for this week's Spotlight Hour.
Spotlight Hour: On Tuesday, January 4 from 6pm to 7pm local time, Solosis will be the featured Pokemon. Expect a double transfer candy bonus.
Raid Hour: Wednesday's Raid Hour features Kyurem and it'll take place from 6pm to 7pm local time.
Go Battle Day
Saturday, January 8 from 12am to 11:59pm
More interested in PvP than PvE? Never fear, there's an event for you as well. This week will see the first Go Battle Day of the year.
Go Battle Days allow you to participate in more battles than you typically can. During the event hours, you can compete in 20 battle sets, meaning a total of 100 battles. Usually, you can only finish five sets for a total of 25 battles per day. You'll also earn quadruple Stardust for the battles you win.
The active tournaments during this year's first Go Battle Day are the Master League and Master League cups. Here are the rules for each:
|
Tournament |
Rules |
|---|---|
|
Master League |
|
|
Master League Classic |
|
For all the info on this season of the Go Battle League, check out our guide.
News and Reminders
There aren't too many major updates or bits of news this week, but there are a few things to note.
New PokeStops and Gyms in India
Trainers in India should be excited to learn that Niantic is making a push for more PokeStops and gyms in the country. Through the past few weeks and into the beginning of February, India will receive around 5,000,000 new PokeStops and gyms.
Niantic needs your help in adding images to these PokeStops. Additionally, Trainers who are level 38 or higher can suggest new places of interest. Read more on Niantic's blog.
January Research Breakthrough
The Research Breakthrough award this month is Onix, but there's been a bit of a change. Initially, Niantic announced that the Research Breakthrough encounter would come bundled with Mega Steelix Energy. Due to some issues, this has been removed, and the Mega Steelix Energy will now be rewarded as part of a Timed Research questline. You'll earn 200 in total.
Pokemon Go Tour: Johto Tickets - Now For Sale
If you're interested in participating in February's Johto Tour event, tickets are now available. Remember — you'll need to pre-purchase your ticket to participate in Spark's and Candela's Timed Research challenges.
Dev Diaries #2
Niantic has released the next entry in the promised Dev Diaries series. This one features Niantic staff detailing their thoughts on the Season of Heritage including how they designed various aspects of it. The post also outlines how remote Raid participants will do less damage in the future.
Weekly Bundles
January will see the continuation of the weekly Monday bundles in the shop. Each will cost 1 PokeCoin and contain a Remote Raid Pass.
Next Week
Here's a preview of next week's events:
-
January 10: End of Master League and Master League Classic
- Great League and Sinnoh Cup begin
- January 11: Diglett Spotlight Hour
- January 12: Heatran Raid Hour
-
January 15: Heatran leaves Raids
- Genesect (Shock Drive) takes over Tier 5 Raids