Pokemon Go's next event is a throwback to the first four regions

(Image credit: Niantic)

Pokemon Go is hosting a throwback event for all of May, with each week bringing new themed challenges based on the original four regions of the franchise. 

The Pokemon Go Throwback special research will kick off on Friday, May 1 with a trip to the Kanto region. Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh will follow, and each region will come with eight sets of three research tasks. If you manage to complete all the challenges each week, you'll receive Rare Candies and you'll encounter iconic Pokemon that have event-exclusive moves. 

On top of that, during each week, Pokemon from that region will be more common in the wild, will hatch from specific Pokemon Eggs, and will appear as Research encounters. Shiny and variant Pokemon, like a Pikachu wearing a Charizard hat, will also appear throughout the event. Other event bonuses, like double Stardust or halved Egg hatch time, will also be available throughout May. 

Here's the full schedule for each week: 

  • Kanto week: May 1 - May 8 at 1pm local time
  • Johto week: May 8 - May 15 at 1pm local time
  • Hoenn week: May 15 - May 22 at 1pm local time
  • Sinnoh week: May 22 - May 29 at 1pm local time

In addition to these weekly offerings, the event will conclude with a Challenge Champion 2020 Special Research event from June 3 to June 8 at 1pm local time. You'll need to complete the Timed Research challenges for the previous four weeks to participate, but in exchange you'll get access to several Galarian Pokemon - including the first-ever Pokemon Go sighting of Galarian Stunfisk - and an event-exclusive avatar item based on Professor Willow's glasses. 

We'll have a full guide on the Throwback event soon. In the meantime, you can find more details in Niantic's blog post

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Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.