Pokemon Go Festival of Lights Event Guide: Timed Research, Rewards & More

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The long-awaited Festival of Lights has finally arrived in the world of Pokemon Go, inviting you to catch some bright Pokemon and complete exciting themed tasks. From November 7 to November 12, 2023, you can encounter over ten themed Pokemon in the wild or hatch them from eggs, and several Research Tasks will make exploration even more exciting. In addition, this is the best opportunity to get the newly debuted 9th generation Pokemon Tadbulb and Bellibolt into your collection. However, this is only a part of all the activities, and we are here to tell you about everything that awaits you at the Festival of Lights.

All Festival of Lights Bonuses

Before we get to the fun stuff, it is worth briefly mentioning all the passive bonuses you will receive during the Festival of Lights in Pokemon Go:

Hatching eggs will reward you with 2x Stardust.
You will also receive 2x Candy for hatching Eggs.
The duration of Incense increased by two times (except for Daily Adventure Incense).

Event 7 km Eggs

Speaking of hatching eggs, it’s also worth mentioning the four themed Pokemon you can get from 7 km Eggs. As we all know, Pokemon from eggs are often more powerful than wild encounters and have an increased chance of being shiny or having top stats and movesets.

Elekid (shiny)
Magby (shiny)
Dedenne (shiny)
Morelull (shiny)

Festival of Lights Debuts

While Festival of Lights brought a lot of pleasure rewards and Pokemon encounters to the game, the real value for most trainers is the new pocket monsters. The most pleasant surprise is the new Gen 9 Pokemon – Tadbulb and Bellibolt, its second evolution. These Pokemon are the latest visitors from the Paldea region and will be a great addition to your Pokédex.
Also, Festival of Lights 2023 became the debut holiday for Shiny versions of Morelull and Shiinotic. These Pokemon arrived in the world of Pokemon Go a year ago during the same event. The bright pink color of this pocket monster takes on an orange-brown fall hue. These changes make them much more themed in the autumn season.

Mega Garchomp Raid

Mega Garchomp Pokemon Go — Image Source: Niantic via The Nerd Stash

Also, during this holiday, or more precisely on November 11 from 2 to 5 PM Local Time, you can challenge Mega Garchomp in raid gyms. It is the first appearance of the Mega version of this Pokemon in the world of Pokemon Go and the best opportunity to get a powerful fighter for your team.
It was probably the large number of bright Pokemon that attracted Mega Garchomp to Raid Gyms. After all, this Pokemon is almost immune to Electric attacks, and Fire, Poison, and Rock-type attacks only deal about half the maximum damage. So, if you decide to challenge it, assemble a team of Ice, Dragon, or Fairy-type Pokemon. The main weakness of this monster is Ice-type moves, so use that against it.

All Event Wild Spawns

However, taking a break from all the new activities and themed celebrations, you will travel and can catch a lot of Pokemon in the wild:

Pikachu (shiny)
Vulpix (shiny)
Ponyta (shiny)
Magnemite (shiny)
Voltorb (shiny)
Chinchou (shiny)
Mareep (shiny)
Slugma (shiny)
Electrike (shiny)
Litwick (shiny)
Morelull (shiny)
Tadbulb

Incense Encounters

If you use Incense, you can also have an increased chance of encountering the following Pokemon:

Alolan Geodude
Hisuian Voltorb
Volbeat
Illumise
Blitzle
Litleo
Dedenne

Festival of Lights Research Tasks

Lastly, the Festival of Lights is an opportunity to get valuable rewards such as consumables or unique encounters with Pokemon. But if you live in India, you can get even more.

Field Research Tasks

Tasks	Reward
Catch 5 Pokemon	x5 Poke Ball x3 Great Ball x3 Razz Berry x2 Pinap Berry
Walk 1 km	Morelull Encounter
Hatch 2 Eggs	Tadbulb Encounter
Send a Gift with a Sticker	Darumaka Encounter
Spin 10 PokeStops or Gyms	Morelull Encounter Tadbulb Encounter

Exclusive Timed Research

Tasks	Reward
Spin 30 PokeStops	x1 Incense
Catch 30 Electric-type Pokemon	Hisuian Voltorb Encounter
Catch 30 Fire-type Pokemon	Hisuian Growlithe Encounter
Walk 5 km	Tadbulb Encounter
Use one Incense	Morelull Encounter
Catch 15 different species of Pokemon	Magmar Encounter
Hatch 4 Eggs	Dedenne Encounter
Final Reward	Alolan Raichu Encounter 3000 XP Thematic T-Shirt

Exclusive Collection Challenge for India Trainers

If you live in India, you will also receive a unique regional Collection Challenge. You can get an additional 3000 Stardust, 3000 XP, and an encounter with Tadbulb if you get the following Pokemon: