Pokémon Spotlight Hour will feature a different Pokémon and a special bonus for one hour at 6:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday during the month of March. Shellder Spotlight Hour takes place on March 18th, 2025, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm local time, with a bonus of 2x Stardust for catching Pokémon!
This Spotlight Hour is the third March 2025 Pokémon spotlight, and it is especially interesting as Shellder can be shiny, and is a boosted stardust Pokémon!
Trainers who plan to participate should be prepared with a Mega Pokémon to maximise candy gains per Pokémon caught. Here’s everything you need to know!
Shellder Spotlight Hour
Bonuses
-
You will get 2x Stardust for catching Pokémon
-
Shiny Shellder is available in Pokémon GO
Note on Stardust Bonus
Excitingly, Shellder is one of the rare Pokémon that give extra Stardust on catch, with a base rate of 1000 Stardust per catch which increases with weather-boost and a Star Piece.
Here’s how much Stardust you can get during Shellder Spotlight Hour in March 2025, thanks to the 2x Stardust bonus:
| Type of catch | Stardust |
|---|---|
| Regular catch | 2000 |
| Weather boosted catch | 2500 |
| Regular catch with Star Piece | 3000 |
| Weather boosted catch with Star Piece | 3750 |
The best possible scenario you can have is to catch a weather boosted Pokémon with an active Star Piece. As Shellder is a Water-type they are boosted by Rainy.
To maximise Stardust caught you’ll likely want to use Great Balls to ensure the catch and use a quick catch technique. Otherwise, you could be spending too much time attempting to catch, rather than just catching.
We believe that the baseline for calculating potential Stardust during this hour should be 60 Pokémon. You should be able to get 60 Pokémon during one hour, regardless of if you are using the Fast catch trick, or just catching slowly.
Here’s how much Stardust you should be able to earn during the Spotlight Hour:
| Star Piece active | Weather is Fog | Stardust |
|---|---|---|
| ❌ No | ❌ No | 120,000 |
| ❌ No | ✅ Yes | 150,000 |
| ✅ Yes | ❌ No | 180,000 |
| ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | 225,000 |
- 120,000 Stardust is your minimal Stardust goal. This means you caught 60 Pokémon, but there was no weather boost and you did not activate a Star Piece.
- 150,000 Stardust is your minimal goal if the in-game weather is Rainy.
- 180,000 Stardust is the minimal amount you are looking for with a Star Piece activated. This should be easy to get if you activate two Star Pieces, regardless of in-game Weather. Star Piece increases your Stardust gain by 50%, which is an additional 6,000 Stardust over the baseline.
- and finally… 225,000 Stardust is the amount of Stardust you will get if you catch 60 Pokémon, with a Star Piece active, during Rainy weather.
The only downside of this event is that Shellder is relatively difficult to catch, and you will probably want to use Great Balls or Ultra Balls during the event. Otherwise, you could be spending too much time attempting to catch, rather than just catching.
Shellder is a Water-type Pokémon in Pokémon GO. As a Water-type Pokémon, Shellder is weak to Electric and Grass-type moves.
Shellder’s maximum Combat Power stat is 1221 CP, and its best Pokémon GO moves are Tackle and Razor Shell. Shellder encounters are boosted during Rain weather. Shiny Shellder is available! ✨
Shellder
|
50 Shellder Candy |
Cloyster
|
Shiny Shellder is easy to spot – its usual purple colouring turns orange!
| — | Regular | Shiny |
| Shellder |  |
 |
| Cloyster |  |
 |
| LVL | Max CP | LVL | Max CP | LVL | Max CP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 CP | 2 | 47 CP | 3 | 80 CP |
| 4 | 113 CP | 5 | 145 CP | 6 | 178 CP |
| 7 | 210 CP | 8 | 243 CP | 9 | 276 CP |
| 10 | 308 CP | 11 | 339 CP | 12 | 370 CP |
| 13 | 401 CP | 14 | 432 CP | 15 | 463 CP |
| 16 | 493 CP | 17 | 524 CP | 18 | 555 CP |
| 19 | 586 CP | 20 | 617 CP | 21 | 648 CP |
| 22 | 679 CP | 23 | 709 CP | 24 | 740 CP |
| 25 | 771 CP | 26 | 802 CP | 27 | 833 CP |
| 28 | 864 CP | 29 | 895 CP | 30 | 926 CP |
| 31 | 941 CP | 32 | 956 CP | 33 | 972 CP |
| 34 | 987 CP | 35 | 1003 CP | 36 | 1018 CP |
| 37 | 1034 CP | 38 | 1049 CP | 39 | 1064 CP |
| 40 | 1080 CP | 41 | 1094 CP | 42 | 1107 CP |
| 43 | 1121 CP | 44 | 1135 CP | 45 | 1149 CP |
| 46 | 1163 CP | 47 | 1178 CP | 48 | 1192 CP |
| 49 | 1206 CP | 50 | 1221 CP |
The following Pokémon will grant you extra bonuses when catching Shellder if they are Mega/Primal evolved:
A Note on Mega Catch Bonus
While a Pokémon is Mega-Evolved, additional XP and Candy is granted when catching a Pokémon that shares a type with it, or for any raid boss caught. These do not stack with each other. Additionally, High and Max Level Mega-Evolved Pokémon grant an increased chance to obtain Candy XL when catching a Pokémon that shares a type with it.
PVE
Cloyster has a phenomenal Defense stat, which is sadly undermined by its low Stamina stat, making its overall tankiness just decent. To make matters worse, its attacking power is pretty low. As a result, Cloyster is no PvE Pokémon. 😒
💥 The best moves for Cloyster in PvE are Frost Breath and Avalanche.
⚔️ Raids
Whether it’s Ice or Water type, there are far better options to choose from. Head back, Cloyster. 🙄
🛡️ Gyms
Even though Cloyster’s overall ability to take hits isn’t great stat-wise, it has a good defensive typing (Water/Ice) that counters two (Grass and Rock) of its four weaknesses (+ Fighting & Electric). In that regard, it’s decent on gym defense. 🫡
PVP
Cloyster isn’t one to fumble so easily in PvP, as it has specialized use in all three GBL platforms as well as in limited Cup metas!
Debuffing the foe’s Attack, dealing appreciable damage, and covering big threats—these three factors keep Cloyster relevant in PvP.
💥 Best moveset for PvP: Ice Shard, Icy Wind, and Liquidation.
🔵 Great League
Cloyster can take down major Great League Pokémon like Cloyster, Drifblim, Corviknight, Stunfisk, Altaria, and Shadow Drapion. Beyond these key wins, it also plays a supportive role, forcing switch-outs with Icy Wind’s debuffs or breaking shields.
🟡 Ultra League
With the looming threat of Dragon, Flying, and Ground-types in the Ultra League, Cloyster finds a good amount of use here. And yes, those Icy Wind stunts are always appreciated! 😂
🟣 Master League
Even though there are many Dragon, Flying, and Ground-types in the Master League, Cloyster lacks the power to secure victories against them. 😭
