Pokemon Go Is Blasting off Again
2021 is a big year for the Pokemon franchise – it marks the iconic JRPG series’ 25th anniversary, with a virtual concert celebrating the milestone and the long-awaited generation 4 remake games Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl being released this November. However, it’s not all about the main series games: This year also marks the 5th anniversary of the hit augmented reality mobile game Pokemon Go. To celebrate, developers Niantic and The Pokemon Company will be hosting a two-day musical celebration of all things Pokemon Go.
Over the course of the weekend, several music-themed events for both regular Trainers and Pokemon Go Fest ticket holders will go live. The first day’s theme is ‘Catch!’, including the return of hourly habitats like we saw at last year’s Pokemon Go Fest. The game will cycle through four habitats on an hourly basis – Jungle, Desert Mountain, Ocean Beach and Cave – with each habitat featuring unique Pokemon to be captured. Throughout the day, music-themed Pokemon such as Chimecho, Kricketune and a special costumed Pikachu will appear for all Trainers, and several shiny Pokemon will be debuting.
For ticket holders, Day 1 entails a music festival-themed Special Research that will allow you to affect the music that plays for you during the event through deciding which Pokemon will participate in Porfessor Willow’s music festival. Completing the research will give you access to an exclusive avatar pose, a shirt item, and even an encounter with a Mythical Pokemon. Ticket holders using Incense on Day 1 will find shiny Pokemon appearing at much higher rates, along with new shiny Pokemon such as Throh and Sawk.
On Day 2, the theme will be ‘Raid’, featuring raid-focused gameplay. Niantic have promised ‘some of your favourites’ will be returning, though exact details of which raids are coming back have not yet been given. Ticket holders will receive several bonuses for completing these raids – Raid Battles will give ticket holders an extra 10,000 XP in Raid Rewards. Ticket holders will also be able to get their hands on Raid Passes and Remote Raid Passes through completing Timed Research, spinning Gym Discs and through a free event bundle, available on the Pokemon Go shop.
Tickets for the event have had their price slashed from $14.99 to just $5! Pokemon Go Fest 2021 will take place from 10am to 6pm, local time, on July 17th and 18th.