In leu of the debut of Pokemon Horizons: The Series in the United States on March 7 on Netflix, Pokemon GO is giving players the chance to meet a few of the Pokemon—as well as characters—that they'll quickly become close with in the animated series. Like other events in the mobile title, a plethora of Pokemon from a specific event-themed spawn will be available in all aspects of the game, including Pikachu wearing Cap's hat straight from the show.
While this may just seem like another costumed Pikachu that will take up a spot in the player's collection, this time is a bit different. This Pikachu happens to know one of the strongest Electric Type moves in the series, Volt Tackle, which has long been exclusive to Pikachu and its evolutionary tree. Therefore players should take advantage of this shrug-looking Pikachu before it disappears, as it's unlikely to come back at any time in the near future.
Players that adventure deep enough will also discover Charcadet for the first time in Pokemon GO, as well as the opportunity to evolve it into either Ceruledge or Armarouge. Ceruledge is the main Pokemon used by Amethio, who serves as one of the primary antagonists in Pokemon Horizons: The Series, aiming to take the pendant hanging around Liko's neck that holds an immense secret.
Here's a breakdown of all of the aspects of the celebration event—though players should act quickly, as the event will only be available from March 5 to March 11.
Pokemon GO Pokemon Horizons: The Series Celebration Event Bonuses
Niantic is encouraging players to hatch as many Eggs as they can during this event with double experience earned for hatching all Eggs, regardless of the distance required to hatch it or when they were obtained. However, the distance required to hatch Eggs won't be reduced during the event, so if players want to hatch as many as possible, it may be wise to invest in Incubators or Super Incubators—which will halve the time required for hatching—via the in-game shop for Poke Coins.
Additionally, as was common in nearly all seasons of the anime up to Pokemon Horizons: The Series, Team GO Rocket balloons will appear aplenty in the overworld. This will not only give players more chances to rescue Shadow Pokemon and add them to their collections, but also collect important items like Rocket Radars and Shadow Shards. These Shadow Shards, which can be crafted into Purified Gems, will be particularly useful in taking down Shadow Raikou, who appears in five-star Shadow Raids on weekends in March.
Using the GO Snapshot feature will even result in photobombs from Liko, Roy, and Captain Friede, several of the protagonists of Pokemon Horizons: The Series. This will result in Charizard, Pikachu in Cap's hat, Sprigatito, or Fuecoco spawning in the overworld for players to encounter.
Pokemon GO Pokemon Horizons: The Series Celebration Event Encounters
All of the Pokemon featured in this event commemorating the US release of the anime are those used by the protagonists and antagonists they'll soon meet. Since Pokemon Horizons: The Series doesn't take place in any specific region, these encounters include Pokemon from nearly every region in the series—though if players are a bit behind on collecting some faces from the Paldea region, they'll enjoy a number of the Pokemon being highlighted throughout the week.
- Increased wild spawns: Scyther, Nosepass, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, Pawmi
- Rare wild spawns: Pikachu wearing Cap's hat, Alolan Grimer, Beldum
- Field Research encounters: Pikachu wearing Cap's hat, Golduck, Skarmory, Rockruff, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly
Unless Volt Tackle is added to Pikachu's movepool via the use of an Elite Charged TM, this will be the only way to get a Pikachu with this move. There is also a small chance for players to find a Shiny Pikachu in this particular costume, though the rate was not increased for the event.
Charcadet will be joining the game exclusively through 2km, 5km, and 10km Eggs, which can be obtained through spinning Poke Stops or opening Gifts. Evolving this Fire Type Pokemon will require players to partner with it as their Buddy, have at least 50 Charcadet Candies, and defeat 30 Psychic or Ghost Type Pokemon while it is their Buddy. Defeating the Psychic Type Pokemon will then allow players to evolve Charcadet into Armarouge, while the Ghost Types will unlock the evolution into Ceruledge.
Following the conclusion of the event, Charcadet's exclusivity will be moved solely to 10km Eggs. Egg pools can be viewed at any time by clicking on an Egg from the player's collection and scrolling to the bottom of the screen, with certain Pokemon being much rarer hatches than others.
Pokemon GO Pokemon Horizons: The Series Celebration Event Raids
As with wild encounters, the Raids in this event will feature Pokemon used by characters from the animated series, though will highlight the stronger, more rare partner Pokemon instead. These will all appear in either one-star or three-star Raids, with the five-star Raid pool continuing to feature the rotation of Legendary Pokemon coinciding with the World of Wonders season.
Players should keep in mind that, not only will they get an additional Raid Pass each day this season, but extra XP will be earned upon completing one-star and three-star Raids in particular, which are exactly what this event features.
- One-star Raids: Pikachu wearing Cap's hat, Rhyhorn, Rockruff
- Three-star Raids: Chansey, Noctowl, Metagross
