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Niantic, the maker of Pokemon GO, has announced all of the events taking place in February. New raid bosses are coming, new Pokemon are being released, and there is a ton more to look forward to in the year’s shortest month. Here’s everything you need to watch out for and when it’ll be happening.
Note: All times listed in this article are local time.
Team GO Rocket
There are a few week-long events going on throughout February in Pokemon GO. First up is a Team GO Rocket event. It seems the villainous team is going to be wreaking more havoc than usual from 10 a.m. February 2 to 10 a.m. February 7.
New shadow Pokemon include Lileep, Anorith, Spheal, Nosepass, Swinub, and Aron, among others. Additionally, Poison- and Dark-types will appear more frequently in the wild, including Koffing, Houndour, and more. Niantic is updating strange eggs as well. They’ll now contain the following Pokemon: Qwilfish, Larvitar, Corphish, Absol, Skorupi, Sandile, Scraggy, Pawniard, Vullaby, and Deino.
One-star raids will feature the following Pokemon: Gligar, Sneasel, Shinx, Klink, Alolan Meowth, and Alolan Grimer. Three-star raids will have Nidoqueen, Ariados, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Absol. Raikou and Suicune will still be tier-5 raid bosses, as previously announced. Finally, Mega raids will feature Mega Venusaur, Mega Houndoom, and Mega Ampharos.
The Team GO Rocket research that was assigned to players during the Johto Celebration event will also continue and probably be much easier given its heavy focus on Team GO Rocket-related quests. Additionally, though, there will be new timed research and field research tasks during the event.
Team GO Rocket will be taking over more stops and appearing in the Team GO Rocket balloon more frequently, too. As a final bonus, during the Rocket event, eggs will have halved hatch distance for this event’s duration.
Year of the Ox
The Lunar New Year takes place in February, and it’s going to be the start of the Year of the Ox. To celebrate, Pokemon GO will have a Lunar New Year event from February 9 to February 14.
This event features more spawns of red-colored Pokemon. Additionally, a new Mega Evolution will begin appearing in Mega raids. Niantic has said to stay tuned for more information at a later time.
Community Day
Spring is on its way, but you can celebrate the blooming of flowers early and get a break from the chills of winter. This is because the featured Pokemon for February’s Community Day is the flowery Roselia. On Sunday, February 7, Roselia will be spawning in abundance with an incredibly-high shiny rate. The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Evolve a Roselia during this window or up to two hours afterward to get a Roserade with the charge attack Weather Ball (with a Fire typing) and the fast attack Bullet Seed. If you’re super lucky, you’ll hatch a shiny Budew from a 2 km egg.
All of the usual add-ons will be present for the event, including a paid special research questline, photobombs when taking snapshots, timed research tasks, and three-hour incense duration. You can also look forward to one-quarter hatch distance and a special Community Day box for purchase.
Check out our post on Roselia Community Day for all the details.
Raid Bosses
Looking to complete some raids throughout the month? Here’s what you can look forward to in February.
From February 1 to 4 at 10 a.m., Raikou will be in tier-five raids (leftover from the end of January). From Raikou’s departure until 10 a.m. on February 9, you’ll find Suicune in tier-five raids.
After that, look forward to Latias and Latios in the Legendary raids around you until 9 a.m. on February 20.
Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo will then take over the tier-five slot until March 1 at 8 a.m.
More interested in Mega raids? Here’s what you’ll find this February.
Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom will continue their run that began in January until February 9 at 10 a.m. Mega Ampharos will hang after this, joined by Mega Pidgeot and a new, unannounced Mega Evolution from then until February 20 at 9 a.m. Next up will be Mega Venusaur, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Blastoise until the start of March.
Every Wednesday at 6 p.m., there will be the usual raid hour event featuring the current tier-five boss.
Valentine’s Day
Ready to feel the love? February means Valentine’s Day, and Pokemon GO is celebrating the holiday of romance with an in-game event. Starting on February 8 and running through to February 15, a new themed event will take place in the GO Battle League: the Love Cup! Your team must feature Pokemon that are red or pink and under 1,500 CP. Legendaries and Mythicals will not be allowed to participate. Good luck!
Additionally, the annual Valentine’s event will take place in-game from 1 p.m. on February 14 to 8 p.m. on February 18. Niantic has teased the debut of some new Pokemon, but we don’t know the full details yet.
Kanto Tour
On February 20, a huge event will be taking place that the game makers have been hyping for months: The Kanto Tour. Niantic announced this event months ago, but it’s finally almost here. If you’ve purchased a ticket for the event, you’ll be able to participate in a challenge to collect all 150 Pokemon originally discovered in the Kanto region.
This will also include the release of every currently unavailable shiny Pokemon from Kanto.
Special research questlines, bonus candies, a questline for shiny Mew, and more will all be available to ticket-buyers. See the full post for all the details.
Players without tickets can participate too, though. The previously-mentioned Kanto Legendaries in raids, event-exclusive timed research, increased trade radius, and Kanto-themed wild spawns and raids will be available to everyone.
Other Info
There are some other minor things to look forward to in February, as well as some nice quality of life changes that have been announced.
If you collect seven stamps from field research tasks, you can encounter a Snorlax as a research breakthrough.
Spotlight Hours will take place every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. February 2 will see Ekans as the featured Pokemon, February 9 will have Miltank, Luvdisc is in the spotlight on the 16th, and good old Pikachu will be featured on the 23rd.
Look forward to some gift boxes, as well. For 1 PokeCoin each, there will be a weekly bundle with some supplies to help you on your Pokemon GO adventure. In the first week, this 1-coin bundle will have 10 Poke Balls, a Remote Raid Pass, and a Rocket Radar. The second week’s bundle will have eight incenses, 16 Razz Berries, and 10 Pinap Berries. Week three will contain a Remote Pass, 20 Poke Balls, 10 Great Balls, and five Ultra Balls. Lastly, in the final week, the bundle will contain 20 Poke Balls, a Remote Pass, and five Incense.
Finally, Niantic has announced that there will be some long-awaited quality of life changes being made to Pokemon GO over the next couple of months. Mythical and Legendary Pokemon will soon be selectable in the mass transfer menu. The developers are adding a sharing feature for leveling up so you can show off. And, finally, a new image gallery showing off gyms and PokeStops you’ve submitted will be added on a rolling basis.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues worldwide, so be sure to stay as safe as possible when playing Pokemon GO. There’s a lot going on in February, but you may want to opt for playing from home whenever possible. Follow your local lockdown restrictions, avoid playing in groups, and be sure to wear a mask when venturing out to play. Stay safe, have fun, and be on the lookout for more details for all of these events through the coming weeks.