Pokemon Go Johto Celebration Event kicks off next week

Pokemon Go
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

Niantic has unleashed the full details of the upcoming Pokemon Go Johto Celebration Event, which kicks off next week. This follows similar events for the Sinnoh and Hoenn regions, with the latter event running until the end of this week.

From Tuesday, January 26 at 10am local time to Sunday, January 31 at 8pm, you'll be seeing Pokemon from the Johto region appear more commonly in the wild, as well as in 5 km Eggs, raids, and event-exclusive Field Research encounters. Here's where to find the various Pokemon featured in the Johto Celebration Event:

  • Boosted world spawns: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Mareep, Hoppip, Aipom, Sunkern, Yanma, Murkrow, Gligar, Snubbull, Slugma, Miltank, and more
  • 5 km Eggs: Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Wooper, Tyrogue, Smoochum, and Larvitar
  • Field Research encounters: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Chinchou, Mareep, Sudowoodo, and Miltank
  • One-star raids: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Mareep, Marill, and Larvitar
  • Three-star raids: Togetic, Espeon, Umbreon, Skarmory, and Miltank

Entei, Raikou, and Suicune will also be appearing in five-star raids during the event, but you'll need to be looking at specific times.

  • Entei will be appearing in five-star raids from Tuesday, January 26 at 10am to Sunday, January 31 at 10am
  • Raikou will be appearing in five-star raids from Sunday, January 31 at 10am to Thursday, February 4 at 10am
  • Suicune will be appearing in five-star raids from Thursday, February 4 at 10am to Tuesday, February 9 at 10am

During the event, you'll also be able to complete the Johto-themed Collection Challenge. If you manage to catch Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Sudowoodo, Sunkern, Murkrow, Smeargle, Miltank, and Larvitar, you'll be rewarded with 15 Poke Balls, 10 Ultra Balls, and an Incense. Finally, certain evolutions will get you Pokemon with exclusive attacks from 2018 Community Days. Here are the specifics on that:

  • Evolve Bayleef (the evolved form of Chikorita) to get a Meganium that knows Frenzy Plant
  • Evolve Quilava (the evolved form of Cyndaquil) to get a Typhlosion that knows Blast Burn
  • Evolve Flaaffy (the evolved form of Mareep) to get an Ampharos that knows Dragon Pulse
  • Evolve Pupitar (the evolved form of Larvitar) to get a Tyranitar that knows Smack Down

These celebration events are all leading up to the big Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto ticketed event, which goes live on February 20. That event brings all 150 Pokemon from the Kanto region to the wild, raids, and research tasks. Just like the original games, ticket holders will choose between Red and Green, which will determine which Pokemon will be drawn to Incense during the 12-hour event. Moreover, those classic 150 Pokemon will also be available as Shiny Pokemon. Even after the event, you'll still have a chance to catch certain Pokemon from the original 150 until February 27.

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Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.