G’day PoGO lovers! The Rediscover Kanto event has just dropped, without a lot of warning about the spawns and bonuses! Obviously there’s a fair bit of controversy about the new avatars and the state of the game in general, but we’ve got new biomes to explore and the release of Wiglett! Also – Kanto spawns, again! Everyone’s favourite region is being featured throughout this event, with a handful of featured mons appearing more frequently in specific biomes.
Below are the event details, and then let’s take a look at some of the priorities for this event!
Rediscover Kanto
Date & Time 📅
- Starts Monday, April 22, at 10:00 a.m. PDT
- Ends Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. PDT
Bonuses 🎁
Increased XP for a seven-day PokéStop spin streak.
Increased XP for a seven-day Pokémon catch streak
Friendship levels will increase faster than normal through opening Gifts, trading Pokémon, or battling together in raids, Gyms, or Trainer Battles!
Increased chance to encounter Shiny Bulbasaur, Shiny Charmander, and Shiny Squirtle in their respective biomes!
Infographic
Priority 1: Legacy Moves for Kanto starters
It probably goes without saying, but if you are unaware – the 3 legacy moves available to Venusaur (Frenzy Plant), Charizard (Blast Burn) and Blastoise (Hydro Cannon) are essentially non-negotiable for all 3 to be viable, in both PvP and PvE (raids). In terms of the ideal movesets for each, below shows that there is absolute benefits to obtaining a strong version of all 3 with their exclusive moveset throughout this event, if you don’t yet have one. Sitting within the top 4 for their respective typings, it is a no-brainer to take advantage of this opportunity to obtain these overpowered legacy moves without using an Elite Charged TM (note: Mega Venusaur is also the #5 Poison type attacker, even without a Poison type fast move!).
| Mon | PvP | PvE | Raid Ranking |
| Venusaur | Vine Whip Frenzy Plant* Sludge Bomb |
Vine Whip Frenzy Plant* |
#3 Grass type as Mega Venusaur |
| Charizard | Wing Attack* Blast Burn* Dragon Claw |
Fire Spin Blast Burn* |
#2 Fire type as Mega Charizard |
| Blastoise | Water Gun Hydro Cannon* Ice Beam / Skull Bash |
Water Gun Hydro Cannon* |
#4 Water type as Mega Blastoise |
* denotes legacy move
The only exception to the ideal movesets duplicating across PvP and PvE is that Charizard now prefers to have Wing Attack as its fast move in PvP (which is also a legacy move), due to the improved speed of energy generation it provides. However, Charizard doesn’t have a lot of play in the highest CP Master League due its lower CP and stat product, so you are relatively safe with going for the more obtainable Fire Spin for the fast move. Although, if Mega Master League returns, then it’s worth noting Wing Attack is the way to go for Mega Charizard Y!
Priority 2: Wiglett!
Wiglett
In a surprise move, Niantic have released Wiglett into the wild as part of the newly released biomes! Wiglett can be found at water sides and beaches, so if you’re lucky enough to be close enough to those environments, you may encounter one!
Wugtrio is thoroughly average in PvP due to its incredibly attack weighted stats. It probably has the best moveset it could have upon release, it just can’t hang around for long enough to apply meaningful pressure to its opponents HP meters. Unfortunately, this is pure spice value.
Priority 3: Registeel
Registeel
Everyone’s favourite PvP tincan is back in 5 star raids! After 2 (very good value) weeks of Tapu Bulu as the featured 5-star raid mon, Registeel will return from April 25 to May 2.
If you’re needing one for your Great League and Ultra League rosters, now is a great opportunity to raid for the candy (and XL candy for the Ultra League). Registeel is incredibly polarising, as it is both frequently featured in team builds but largely hated on due to a combination of its obscenely good stats, very decent defensive typing, and fast access to its nuke charged moves. I personally think with the rise of Poliwrath, Whiscash and Gligar, Registeel has become naturally nerfed over time to an extent, reducing its previous OP status. However, as they say – if you can’t beat them, join them!
Note that Regi won’t have the charged move Zap Cannon upon catch, which means you’ll need to shell out an Elite Charged TM if you want to build one with its preferred moveset. It is definitely worth one though, if you’re sitting on the fence.
Priority 4: Trubbish Spotlight Hour
Trubbish
If your Trubbish spotlight hour hasn’t arrived yet – this is a stardust bonanza! At base 750 stardust per catch (higher in weather boosted conditions), dropping 2 star pieces and going for a walk with decent spawn rates will absolutely be beneficial to your stardust bank.
From a PvP perspective, Garbodor isn’t winning too many battles in the open Great League, due to its current sluggish moveset of Infestation, Body Slam and Seed Bomb / Gunk Shot. However, Garbodor learns Sand Attack in the MSG, which definitely helps it out a bit! It is held back a bit by its stat product though, even with an updated moveset. It could be worth holding onto one for the day when Niantic wants to tweak with it’s movepool.
Priority 5: Other PvP Considerations
In terms of the spawns during this event that are PvP worthy… well you could consider all of Kanto for this! However, that will take a long time to dissect, and we don’t have that long!
My recommendations for this event, depending on the consistency of the spawns are below. All are viable in the Great League, with Dragonite, Snorlax and Pidgeot also more than viable in the higher CP leagues. Dragonair and Dragonite probably prefer to be in their shadow forms due to its increased power output, as does Ninetales.
Edit: a few more added in here based on the spawns to date:
- Vulpix > Ninetales (for Great League)
- Dratini > Dragonair (Great League) > Dragonite (all 3 leagues)
- Grimer > Muk (Great League limited metas, Ultra League spice)
- Snorlax (if you are lucky with spawns)
- Pidgey > Pidgeot (again, if you are lucky!)
- Mankey > Annihilape (all leagues)
- Jigglypuff > Wigglytuff (now the primary Charmer in Great League)
- Machop > Machamp (prefers to be shadow but still a menace in Great League, Ultra League and MLPC)
Priority 6: Exploring new game features
Overall, the new biomes appear to be a really cool new feature to the game! Although it remains to be seen whether it will break other features of the game, this new feature is absolutely welcomed by me. It is also likely we’ll start to see mons spawning more frequently within specific biomes longer term, which aligns with the direction Niantic has been taking with its recent changes to the game, designed to ‘get people outside and exploring’. Hopefully this doesn’t mean certain spawns are restricted forever to specific geos, but we’ll need to see how that plays out long term.
As for some of the other features, the new avatar release has been… something. We’ll see how that improves over time too!
I hope this quick guide has helped you prioritise your hunting for this event, and as always, you can find me on Twitter or Instagram for more analysis.
See ya later,
JTizzle
