Pokémon GO 2019 Timeline: A Whole Year of Excitement!

Hello all of my fellow trainers out there! To those who have not yet seen these articles, we will be going over all of the events that occurred over the course of 2019! To those who have previously read these articles, I apologize for not continuing the project back in May. But to make up for it, today we will go over everything!

Be ready for a nice long read with a visual at the end of the article by OrangeHeart to back them up! Now saddle up and let’s ride!!

January: The Start of a New Year

• January 2: Adventure Sync Hatchathon – Gave players double candy and stardust for every egg hatched.
• January 12: Totodile Community Day – The happy-go-lucky teal and blue shiny Totodile came out to play! Trainers who evolved a Totodile into a Feraligatr got the powerful attack Hydro Cannon Water. The special event bonus was 1/4 Hatch Distance and 3-hour Lures.
• January 15: Hoenn Celebration Event – This event brought an overall increase of Gen III Pokémon, along with the release of shiny Taillow and shiny Zigzagoon. If players evolved a Shroomish into a Breloom during this event, they received a Breloom with the exclusive fast move: Grass Knot Grass. Groudon and Kyogre returned to raids. This was the first time the bright green shiny form of Groudon was made available for some lucky players.
• January 16: TSUTAYA partnership begins, adding various Pokéstops and gyms across Japan.
• January 19: Feebas Research Day – Allowed players the chance to encounter a shiny Feebas after completing Field Research quests during a 3-hour window.
• January 25: Safari Zone in Porto Allegre, Brazil – The South American (LATAM) region finally plays host to an event. Players worldwide could also encounter shiny Psyduck for the first time ever!
• January 26: Tokaigi Game Party 2019 – Tied in with a special event in Japan, Machop spawns were increased around the center for the Tokaigi Game Party.
• January 29: Palkia makes its first appearance in raids, bringing the controller of space out into our realm, and giving us a powerful Water and Dragon type adversary.
• January 30: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Argentina.
• January 31: A new wave of Gen IV Pokémon were released. Raid bosses became more of a challenge due to their health being buffed. New Moves were added to the existing movepools of some Pokémon. Move power for certain moves was rebalanced.

February: Love was in the Air!

• February 4: Lunar New Year event – 12 Pokémon based on the members of the Chinese Zodiac spawned; Rattata – Rat, Miltank – Ox, Electabuzz – Tiger, Buneary – Rabbit, Dratini – Dragon, Ekans – Snake, Ponyta – Horse, Mareep – Goat, Mankey – Monkey, Torchic – Rooster, Poochyena – Dog, and the highlight Spoink, for Year of the Pig. Lucky Trainers also got a chance to encounter a brown and black shiny Spoink!
• February 5: Shiny Meltan – To tie-in with the Lunar New Year event, Trainers would get a chance to encounter shiny Meltan from the Mysterious Box, which for a limited time was available every three days! This marked the first time a Mythical Pokémon has ever appeared in its shiny form in Pokémon GO.
• February 8: Friendship Bonus Weekend – Friendship increased twice as fast during the weekend and stardust trade costs were halved.
• February 13: Valentine’s Event – Pink Pokémon spawns were featured and with that came the release of shiny Smoochum and Cleffa in to 7km eggs. Trainers also got to enjoy 6-hour lures and double catch candy. In recognition of Valentine’s Day a special Heart Spinda became available via research tasks for a limited time.
• February 14: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Vietnam.
• February 16: Swinub Community Day – Swinub appeared more frequently during the 3-hour window, and introduced its watermelon-colored shiny variant for the first time. Trainers were able to get 10 guaranteed Sinnoh Stones collectively from PvP and PvE battles. Mamoswine evolved during this event would know the special Rock type attack, Ancient Power. The special bonuses were 3x Catch Stardust and 3-hour Lures.
• February 21: GO Snapshot – The brand new feature went live on all Android devices, followed shortly after with iOS devices, giving Trainers a new way to take AR photos with Pokémon they had previously caught or hatched.
• February 22: Latias Special Raid Week – Latias returned to raids and gave Trainers the chance to encounter the shiny variant.
• February 23:
  • Clamperl Limited Research – Clamperl arrived in Pokémon GO during a special 3 hour long event, much like Feebas previously. It seemed Niantic had taken feedback from the previous event and Clamperl went off mostly without a hitch. Other Water type Pokémon were also spawning during the event, giving many Trainers the chance to add shinies like Krabby, Shellder, Wailmer and Magikarp to their collections. If you were lucky a shiny purple and orange Clamperl could also be encountered!
  • Pokémon GO Special Weekend in Japan, sponsored by Softbank – Certain Pokémon like Charmander, Dratini, and Unown were seen all throughout Japan to those who had preregistered for the event.
• February 25:
  • Players could encounter Smeargle using GO Snapshot – This finally allowed Trainers to finish off their generation 2 Pokédex.
  • MWC19 event in Barcelona – Increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns appeared, as well as 4-hour lures and double stardust for everything.
• February 26:
  • The Team Medallions – A new item was introduced to Pokémon GO which allowed Trainers to swap their team to one of the opposing two teams. This item cost 1000 Poké Coins and could only be purchased once every 365 days.
  • Pokémon Day Event – Spawns of Kanto Pokémon that you would have encountered around the beginning of the Gen 1 games were increased. Shiny Pidgey (finally!) and shiny Rattata also made their appearance in the game! Trainers could also encounter Pikachu and Eevee wearing Flower Crowns along with their shiny variants.
• February 27: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Peru.

March: March Madness!!!

• March 1: Dialga, the Dragon and Steel type Temporal Pokémon comes to raids.
• March 5: Battle Showdown event – A week-long event featuring an increase in Fighting type Pokémon spawns, double gym badge XP, and double Catch, Battle, and Raid Stardust, temporary increase in rewards from Trainer and Leader battles, and shiny Mankey and Machop become available in the wild!
• March 6: ITB Berlin in Berlin, Germany – Increased spawns of Teddiursa and Ursaring along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• March 13: The first Legendary Lunch Hour occurs, making any gyms without an active raid on it at 11:50 AM in each time zone get a Tier 5 egg with ten-minute timers that would all hatch into Dialga, along with hour-long raid timers.
• March 14: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Indonesia.
• March 15: Rayquaza Raid Weekend – Rayquaza comes back to raids for a special weekend, allowing players who previously missed it to obtain it finally. The shiny was not released, making many players confused or even angry.
• March 18: GDC 2019 – A Sponsored Mini Event including Unown in San Francisco, California featuring the letters G, D, and C spawning.
• March 19: Spring Equinox Event – A week-long grass event, along with Solrock and Lunatone swapping regions, and the release of their shinies.
• March 22: Dreamhack Dream League in Stockholm, Sweden – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring Increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• March 23:
  • Treecko Community Day – Treecko spawned more often for a new 3-hour period; 3-6 PM in each timezone. This introduced the beautiful shiny Treecko, and any evolved into Sceptile up to an hour after the event would learn the Grass type attack, Frenzy Plant. The special event bonuses were 1/4 Hatch Distance and 3-hour Lures.
  • MCM Birmingham in Birmingham, United Kingdom – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring Increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
  • Heroes Dutch Comic-Con in Utrecht, The Netherlands – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring Increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• March 25: Deoxys’ forme changed in EX-Raid battles. The Defense forme Deoxys would now take the stage to be faced and captured.
• March 27: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Central and Southern Americas in the following countries:
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Panama
  • Honduras
  • Belize
  • Ecuador
  • Bolivia
  • Colombia
  • Uruguay
  • Paraguay
  • Suriname
  • Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic)
  • Guyana
• March 28: Giratina would see its return to raid battles. It’s Altered Forme would appear for five days, and then change into its Origin Forme in April.
• March 30: Lotad Limited Research – Special Lotad research would occur during a 9-hour window, 11-8 in each timezone. Pokémon that would spawn more frequently in different weather conditions had increased spawn rates, essentially bringing back the original weather spawn system. Shiny Lotad would become available from quests, and shiny Castform could be found in the wild.

April: April Showers

• April 1: April Fools Photobombs – The Ash Hat Pikachu made it’s return to Pokémon GO after being absent last year. But this time, it would appear as a photobomb, replacing Smeargle for two days. This Pikachu could also be shiny! Some lucky trainers were photobombed by Ash Ketchum himself too!
• April 2:
  • Giratina Origin Forme comes to raids – Giratina’s Altered Forme would fizzle out and transform into the Origin Forme for trainers to battle!
  • Bug-Out Event – Increased Bug-type spawns, along with hour-long timers on incense and increased spawns from incense. Bug-themed Field Research would also become available. Trainers could find a shiny Scyther too!
• April 4:
  • Summer events announcement – On this day, Niantic announced the Summer 2019 event lineup, revealing that there would be three Pokémon GO Fests during the Summer. One in Chicago in June, one in Dortmund in July, and one in Asia later on in the Summer.
  • EGX Rezzed in London, United Kingdom – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• April 6-7: Pokémon GO Special Weekend in Japan
  • 6th: Increased Chikorita and Totodile spawns, along with the Unown letters T, Y, N, and I.
  • 7th: Increased Cyndaquil spawns, along with the Unown letters S and V.
• April 9: Lucky Friends go live – A feature available to Best Friends. The first interaction of the day can give a chance of Lucky Friends, and it guarantees the next trade will be lucky.
• April 10: The second Legendary Lunch Hour featuring Giratina’s Origin Forme occurs, making any gyms without an active raid on it at 11:50 AM in each time zone get a Tier 5 egg with ten-minute timers, along with hour-long raid timers.
• April 11: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Taiwan.
• April 13:
  • Bagon Community Day – Increased Bagon spawns for a three-hour period along with the release of its shiny green variant. Any Shelgon evolved during the three-hour and extra evolving hour period would become a Salamence that knew the Dragon-type move Outrage, making it a total powerhouse and would bring it back into the competitive field. The special event bonuses were 3x Catch XP and 3-hour lures.
  • Armageddon Expo in Wellington, New Zealand – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• April 15:
  • Latios Raid Week – To counter the Latias Raid Week in February, Latios would finally see it’s return to the raid scene, along with the release of it’s shiny!
  • #GOSnapshot Challenge begins – A special AR themed contest by Niantic begins, challenging trainers to take certain AR photos themed around special subjects. The grand prize winner would receive a free all-expense paid trip to a Pokémon GO Fest of their choice for the winner and a friend of their choice.
• April 16: Easter Eggstravaganza – A new Easter event, focused around eggs. Pokémon like Pichu, Magby, and Smoochum have increased hatch chances from 2km eggs, along with hour-long Lucky Eggs, double hatch candy, and halved egg distance. Special Field Research themed around eggs also occur, and lucky trainers could find the shiny pink Buneary, and shiny Igglybuff could be hatched.
• April 18: Sentosa Safari Zone in Singapore – A four-day long event in Sentosa, featuring Alolan Exeggutor, Lapras, Dratini, Shuckle, Tropius, and Unown S spawns along with the release of shiny Shuckle and to everyone’s surprise, shiny Lapras!
• April 19:
  • Latios Legendary Dinner Hour – A unannounced event would take place, starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local timezones and lasted for one hour, featuring Latios raids.
  • Insomnia in Birmingham, United Kingdom – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• April 20: Icon Comic & Games in Johannesburg, South Africa – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• April 22: Pokémon GO Fest Chicago ticket registration begins – Trainers would have from 7 AM PST, April 22 to 7 AM PST, April 24 to enter into a drawing for a chance to receive the opportunity to purchase Pokémon GO Fest tickets for themselves and up to 3 Great, Ultra, or Best friends.
• April 24:
  • Shiny Meltan event begins again – Like in February, trainers could open the Mysterious Box every three days for a chance at getting a Shiny Meltan.
  • The first wave of ticket drawing winners for Pokémon GO Fest Chicago goes out, starting a 30-wave ticket distribution, allowing trainers to buy tickets.
  • Pokéstop nomination begins in Denmark.
• April 27:
  • Fan Con: Cape Town Comic Con – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
  • NHK Osaka Heisei Period Exhibition –  A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Porygon spawns, along with 4-hour lures.
• April 29:
  • Earth Day 2019 Rewards – Thanks to the efforts of over 17,000 trainers around the world, a three-day event would begin, featuring increased Ground-type spawns, double catch stardust, and candy for event spawns. Along with the addition of shiny Diglett, and Groudon’s return to raids.
  • Legendary Lake Trio start spawning in the wild – For the first time, legendary Pokémon would be seen spawning in the wild, and to top that off, the three of them became regional spawns, Azelf in the Americas, Mesprit in Europe and Africa, and Uxie in the Asia-Pacific region.

May: The Mayflower Sails On

•  May 1: Groudon Legendary Dinner Hour – Due to the Earth Day 2019 Rewards, a Raid Hour from 6 to 7 PM local time would feature Groudon raids on every gym! Along with that, trainers were able to get double stardust and candy for catching these Groudon, of course with shiny chances!
• May 2: The Regional Lake Trio come to raids – Upon the departure of Groudon from raids, the Lake Trio would be seen in raids in their respective regions; Azelf in the Americas, Mesprit in Europe and Africa, and Uxie in the Asia-Pacific Region! This marked the first time that a Legendary Pokémon was exclusive to a single region in raids, as all previous legendaries rotated regions after a certain point.
• May 4: Pokémon GO Week in Korea – A special 3-day event in Seoul, Korea to tie in with the Pokémon Festa occurred, featuring increased spawns of Pokémon like Unown, Combee, and more! Corsola was also a featured regional spawn at this event. And players in the area would observe an increased shiny rate on the event spawns!
• May 7: Detective Pikachu Tie-In Event – To celebrate the movie Detective Pikachu in theaters, a special event began, releasing a special Pikachu wearing a Detective Hat like in the movie that trainers could find through photobombing! Players could also find increased spawns of Pokémon from the movie such as Charizard, Flareon, and more! There were special field research tasks along with featured raids as well and during this event, trainers would enjoy double catch experience! Lucky players could also encounter a shiny, pink Aipom!
• May 8: re:publica 2019 in Berlin, Germany – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Magnemite and Bronzor spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• May 9: Pokéstop nomination begins in India.
• May 13: Pokémon GO Fest Dortmund ticket registration begins – Trainers would be able to register on May 13, at 7 AM PDT to enter into a drawing for a chance to receive the opportunity to purchase Pokémon GO Fest tickets for themselves and up to 3 Great, Ultra, or Best friends.
• May 17:
  • The Last Wave of Gen IV Pokémon was released into Pokémon GO, giving us the final set of Pokémon to work on filling out our Pokédexes, giving us Pokémon like Burmy, Gible, and Hippopotas. Earth Power was also released as a new move available to some species.
  • New Lure Modules were released – Mossy, Glacial, and Magnetic Lures were released in the in-game shop, giving new ways to evolve certain Pokémon, such as Eevee, Nosepass, and Magneton. Cherubi was released as a Pokémon that is exclusive to Mossy Lures and Eggs.
• May 19: Torchic Community Day – Increased Torchic spawns for a three-hour period in each time zone from 3 PM to 6 PM. Players would be able to explore their local communities and enjoy 3x Stardust. If Combusken was evolved into Blaziken, it would have the exclusive Fire move Blast Burn. The special exclusive move for Blaziken, Blaze Kick Fire was also added, which players could use Charged TMs to acquire.
• May 21: Extraordinary Raid Week – A special raid-themed event where raids were to spawn more increasingly for a week, along with 2x XP and Stardust. Lucky players would be able to find the beautifully oxidized Shiny Bronzor!
• May 22:
  • Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Malaysia.
  • Extraordinary Dinner Hour – Due to the special raid-themed event, a special raid hour featuring all Pokémon currently in the raid pool would occur, making every gym in your area from 6 PM to 7 PM host a raid, giving players a chance to farm raids of Pokémon they wished to shiny hunt like Bronzor, Shinx, and even Alolan Raichu.
• May 25: Lapras Raid Day – As part of the Extraordinary Raid Week, a special raid day featuring the Sea-Faring Pokémon, Lapras would occur from 11 AM to 2 PM local time. A special bonus for this day, as all other special raid days would feature is 5 free passes. Also as an EXTRA bonus. players would be able to catch Lapras with two of its legacy Ice type moves, Ice Beam and Ice Shard!
• May 27: Cresselia Returns to Raids – Cresselia would make it’s elegant return to raids, giving players another chance to catch the graceful, yet sneaky Psychic type Legendary Pokémon. Lucky trainers would also be blessed with a Lunar-colored Shiny Cresselia!
• May 29: Snoozing with Snorlax – To celebrate the announcement of a upcoming game for mobile devices known as Pokémon Sleep at the 2019 Pokémon Press conference, a special Snorlax found sleeping could be encountered. These special Snorlax would know the move Yawn, and once caught, would be awake and ready to battle!

June: Chicago GO Fest is Among Us!

• June 4: Adventure Week 2019 – The third Adventure Week event in Pokémon GO began, featuring increased Rock type spawns in the wild, raids, and field research tasks. Special bonuses included 4x buddy candy and 10x XP on your first spin on newly spun Pokéstops. If trainers walked 50km for their Adventure Sync, they would receive 50,000 Stardust and 15 Rare Candies. Lucky trainers could encounter shiny Anorith, Lileep, and Onix!
• June 5: Cresselia Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour upon Cresselia’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local timezones and lasted for one hour, featuring Cresselia raids.
• June 8: Slakoth Community Day – Increased Slakoth spawns for a three-hour period from 3 PM to 6 PM in their local time zones. This sleeping sloth could also be encountered in it’s shiny pink variant. If trainers evolved Vigoroth into Slaking up to an hour after the event, they could get a Slaking with the exclusive Normal type move, Body Slam. Players would be able to enjoy 1/4 egg distance during the event. The make-up day for the EMEA region would be on July 4 until July 7.
• June 11: Professor Willow’s Global Challenge – Like last year, special challenges were announced for trainers to complete all over the world during the GO Fest events over the Summer.
  • Spark’s Candy Research Challenge: June 13 – June 16 and required trainers to complete the following:
    • Pokémon GO Fest Chicago Attendees – Complete 1 Million Research Tasks to unlock 2x Catch Candy
    • Team Instinct – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 1 guaranteed Rare Candy from Raids
    • Team Valor – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 1/2 Hatch Distance
    • Team Mystic – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 2x Hatch Candy
  • Candela’s XP Research Challenge: July 4 – July 7 and required trainers to complete the following:
    • Pokémon GO Fest Dortmund Attendees – Complete 1 Million Research Tasks to unlock 3x Catch XP
      
    • Team Instinct – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 1-Hour Lucky Eggs
      
    • Team Valor – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 3x Hatch XP
      
    • Team Mystic – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 2x Raid XP
  • Blanche’s Stardust Research Challenge: August 5 – August 12 and required trainers to complete the following:
    • Pokémon GO Fest Yokohama Attendees – Complete 1 Million Research Tasks to unlock 3x Catch Stardust
      
    • Team Instinct – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock Guaranteed 3,000 Stardust Per Raid
      
    • Team Valor – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 3x Hatch Stardust
      
    • Team Mystic – Complete 15 Million Research Tasks to unlock 1-Hour Star Pieces
      
• June 12: Cresselia Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour upon Cresselia’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Cresselia raids.
• June 13: Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago 2019 – The first Pokémon GO Fest of the year begins in Chicago, allowing attendees to explore Grant Park again! This was the location of the first Pokémon GO Fest back in 2017. There was Special Research available at this event which allowed trainers to discover and awaken Jirachi. Unown with the letters spelling “WAKEUP!” would spawn as well. Plus lucky players would encounter the teal-colored shiny Horsea all around the world! Strange people adorned with Black uniforms with a red R on their shirt would also photobomb your photos in the area. The park was split into multiple locations:
  • The Spooky Woods – Located in the northern area of the park, with spooky spawns like Sableye, Murkrow, and even Drifloon. Absol would spawn in the wild in this location for the first time ever in Pokémon GO.
  • The Winter Forest – Located just south of the Spooky Woods, this location housed Ice Pokémon like Swinub, Lapras, and Sneasel. Like Absol, Alolan Vulpix and Alolan Sandshrew would spawn in the wild for the first time ever!
  • Buckingham Fountain – Located in the center of the park, attendees could see the beautiful fountain and find Water type like Krabby, Clamperl, and Wailmer.
  • The Fairy Garden – Located just south of Buckingham Fountain, players would of course find Fairy Pokemon like Clefairy, Snubbull, and Marill. As a special treat, Mawile would spawn in the wild in this location for the first time in Pokémon GO!
  • The Sandy Desert – Located in the southern area of the park, players would find Pokémon like Bronzor, Sandshrew, and Cacnea here.
  • The were special locations between the Spooky Woods and Winter Forest and the Fairy Garden and Sandy Desert where the Unown letters, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, and Flower Crown Eevee and Pikachu would spawn more frequently.

• June 18: Spark’s Candy Research Challenge Rewards – Due to everyone’s efforts globally, special bonuses began from June 18 – June 25. These bonuses were 2x Catch Candy, a guaranteed Rare Candy from raids, 1/2 Hatch Distance, and 2x Hatch Candy. Also as a special bonus, a Raikou Raid Day would occur on June 29.
• June 19: Kyogre Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour upon Kyogre’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Kyogre raids.
• June 26: Kyogre Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour upon Kyogre’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Kyogre raids.
• June 28:
  • Third Anniversary Event – To celebrate the Third Anniversary of Pokémon GO, a bunch of special bonuses would occur. To start off, Pikachu wearing a Party Hat would make its return in Photobombs like Smeargle. Pichu wearing a Party Hat was available again in 7km eggs. And on top of that, every single Alolan Pokémon would see their shiny release! Whether in eggs, wild, or raids, you can obtain any of their shiny variants now. Also as extra bonuses, trade stardust would be decreased and everyone could deal extra damage against raid bosses until September 2nd.
  • Jump-Start Special Research – A Special Research began which would allow new and old players who had just picked them game back up to get a nice jump start on their accounts! This special research gave plenty of XP and useful items to help players get a nice edge. Plus during the research, you would get a guaranteed Shiny Eevee! If this was not started by September 2nd, you would not be able to begin it.
• June 29: Raikou Raid Day – Due to the efforts of everyone during Spark’s Candy Research Challenge, this raid day was unlocked. From 4 PM to 7 PM in your local timezone, Raikou would be on every single gym and everyone would get 5 free raid passes. Lucky players would also encounter a shiny, orange Raikou!

July: Dortmund GO Fest makes its Debut!

• July 3: Groudon Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour upon Groudon’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Groudon raids.
• July 4: Pokémon GO Fest Dortmund – The second Pokémon GO Fest of the year begins in Dortmund, allowing attendees to explore Westfalenpark again! This was the location of a Safari Zone last year in 2018. There was Special Research available at this event which allowed trainers to discover and awaken Jirachi. Unown with the letters spelling “WAKEUP!” would spawn as well. Plus lucky players would encounter the bright blue male Nidoran all around the world! The strange characters from Chicago GO Fest also made an appearance in photobombs here. The park was split into multiple locations:
  • The Steel Factory – Located in the Western area, you could find Pokémon that you may find around factories like Aron, Beldum, and Bronzor. You could also find wild Mawile here!
  • The Mysterious Woods – Located in the Northeastern area of the park, you could encounter Pokémon that you could see roaming around in strange forests like Pinsir, Caterpie, and Pineco.
  • The Boat Lake – Located just South of the Mysterious Woods, you would see Pokémon here that you may see on a beach or near ports, or lakes and ponds! Some of these Pokémon were Omanyte, Kabuto, and even Dratini.
  • The Rocky Terrain – Located in the most Eastern area of the park, this location housed Pokémon you’d see in deserts or mountainous areas. Some special Pokémon you’d find here were Geodude, Onix, and Aerodactyl.
  • In special areas dotted around the park, like in Chicago, you’d find the Unown letters, Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, and Flower Crown Eevee and Pikachu.

• July 6: Pokémon GO’s Third Anniversary – Today marked the day that Pokémon GO turned 3 years old!
• July 9: Candela’s XP Research Challenge Rewards – Due to everyone’s efforts globally, special bonuses began from July 9 – July 16. These bonuses were 3x Catch XP, 1-hour long Lucky Eggs, 3x Hatch XP, and 2x Raid XP. Also as a special bonus, a Entei Raid Day would occur on July 14.
• July 10: Armored Mewtwo Raids – To commemorate the release of the movie “Mewtwo Strikes Back EVOLUTION” in theaters in Japan, special raids featuring Mewtwo wearing special armor from the movie could be fought. These Mewtwo had different stats from regular Mewtwo.
• July 14: Entei Raid Day – Due to the efforts of everyone during Candela’s XP Research Challenge, this raid day was unlocked. From 4 PM to 7 PM in your local timezone, Entei would be on every single gym and everyone would get 5 free raid passes. Lucky players would also encounter a shiny, dark-masked Entei!
• July 17: Armored Mewtwo Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour for Armored Mewtwo occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Armored Mewtwo raids.
• July 19:
  • New PvP Move Minigames – To make the PvP scene more interesting, special minigames were introduced for the charged attacks when battling.
  • New Appraisal System Live – A special appraisal system was released, attempting to eliminate IV scanners, giving players the ability to see their Pokémon’s stats. Using a star system, players would know roughly what their Pokémon’s IVs were. Plus this introduced a new filter that players could use. 0*, 1*, 2*, 3* and 4*. 4* would show you any 100% IV Pokémon that you have.
• July 21: Mudkip Community Day – The delightful Water type Mudkip would have increased spawns from 4 PM – 7 PM in your local timezones. If you evolved Marshtomp into Swampert up to an hour after the event ended, you could get a powerful Swampert with the Water type move Hydro Cannon. Players would be able to get 3x Catch XP from catching during the event. As always, Mudkip’s shiny variant was released, giving players a chance to find a precious, pink-purple Mudkip!
• July 22:
  • ONE PIECE Tie-In – In Japan, a ONE PIECE statue was be placed in Kumamoto, Japan with special Pokéstop featuring art from Eiichiro Oda of ONE PIECE. This was held to help support the Kumamoto city in Japan rebuild after an earthquake in 2019 and to celebrate both Pokémon GO’s third anniversary and ONE PIECE’s 22nd. Lucky trainers could also encounter the shiny variant of this extremely exclusive Pikachu!
  • Team GO Rocket – The evil organization Team GO Rocket has begun taking over the world of Pokémon GO after failing in Alola in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. These shady, mysterious figures can be found invading Pokéstops, which you can tell due to the Pokéstop getting a discolored black color and starts twitching. If you go to one of these Pokéstops, you will be ambushed by a Team GO Rocket Grunt and you can battle them. If you defeat them, they will leave behind one of their Pokémon for you to catch…
  • Shadow Pokémon and Purified Pokémon – Along with the release of Team GO Rocket, Pokémon with a dark aura, known as Shadow Pokémon can be encountered upon the defeat of a GO Rocket grunt. These Pokémon have their heart shut closed by artifical means, causing them deep pain. It is up to you to help them! You can purify them and open their heart, resulting in a Purified Pokémon. These Pokémon are raised to level 25 and their IV’s are raised upon purification. They will also know the exclusive charged move, Return. Shadow Pokémon have the move Frustration.
• July 24: Armored Mewtwo Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour for Armored Mewtwo occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Armored Mewtwo raids.
• July 25:
  • A Troubling Situation Special Research – Special Research having you delve into Team GO Rocket’s plans begins, having you defeat GO Rocket Grunts, Catch Shadow Pokémon, and Purifying them.
  • Team GO Rocket Invasion – A special event due to Team GO Rocket’s sudden appearance begins, with Pokémon typically associated with Team Rocket appearing in the wild, in raids, and in eggs. Lucky players also may find a blue shiny Koffing, a green Zubat or Ekans, or even a pink Sneasel!
• July 28: Team GO Rocket Takeover Hour – Team GO Rocket hosted a livestream with a countdown timer. Once it hit zero, they took over the official Pokémon GO Twitter. They revealed that they planned to take over the entire world in timezones, from 4 PM to 5 PM in each timezone, every single Pokéstop would become invaded by GO Rocket.
• July 29: Pokémon Storage Increase – Due to popular demand, along with some players needing space for the newly released Shadow and Purified Pokémon, Pokémon Storage was increased to 2500!
• July 31: Rayquaza returns to Raids – As a special surprise and from VERY popular demand, the Dragon and Flying type Rayquaza descended from the Ozone Layer for trainers to challenge in raid battles! To MANY trainer’s excitement, the shiny variant was released giving everyone a month to get that Jet Black shiny Rayquaza!

August: Yokohama GO Fest… and Pikachu?!

• August 1:
  • Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Portugal.
  • More Pokémon fall under Team GO Rocket’s Influence, increasing the Pokémon you could encounter from defeating grunts. These Pokémon that were added are as follows: Poliwag, Grimer, Muk, Drowzee, Hypno, Cubone, Scyther, Magikarp, Houndour, Houndoom, and Ralts.
• August 3: Ralts Community Day – Ralts would spawn in increased numbers from 4 PM to 7 PM in their local timezones. Players would be able to encounter Ralts in it’s shiny Blue variant as well! If a Kirlia was evolved into a Gardevior or Gallade up to an hour after the event ended, it would get the exclusive Psychic attack Synchronoise. The special event bonuses for the event were 1/4 Hatch Distance and 3-hour Lures.
• August 5: Gifts Event – A special gift-themed event would begin. This event allowed trainers to carry up to 20 gifts at a time and open up to 30 gifts a day! Plus eggs obtained from the gifts that were opened would be 2km eggs with Pokémon available in 7km eggs. Lucky trainers would be able to hatch a shiny Bonsly!
• August 6:
  • GO Fest Yokohama – The third Pokémon GO Fest of the year begins in Yokohama, allowing attendees to explore several different parks! This was the location of the a Safari Zone last year in 2018. There was Special Research available at this event which allowed trainers to discover and awaken Jirachi. Unown with the letters spelling “WAKEUP!” would spawn as well. Plus lucky players would encounter the shiny soft blue Poliwag all around the world! This time, what appears to be the boss of the shady characters from Chicago and Dortmund appeared here in photoboms. The parks were split into several locations:
    • Water Habitat – In this area of the parks, you could find Water type Pokémon like Shellder, Psyduck, and Poliwag.
    • Flying Habitat – In this area of the parks, you could find Flying type Pokémon like Yanma, Murkrow, and even Togetic!
    • Ice Habitat – In this area of the parks, you could find Ice type Pokémon, such as Lapras, Swinub, and Snowy Castform! Making a return, Alolan Vulpix and Alolan Sandshrew could be encountered in the wild too!
  • Pikachu Outbreak Week – As a tie-in with an event that happens yearly in Japan, a special event also began, where a Pikachu wearing a previously released hat would spawn in the wild. The hats changed every day, and a few shiny variants were released for the Pikachu. Summer Hat Pikachu could be encountered shiny for the first time in the game. The Pichu shiny variant for the Ash Hat and Summer Hat were also available in eggs.
• August 7: Rayquaza Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour upon Rayquaza’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Rayquaza raids.
• August 13: Blanche’s Stardust Research Challenge Rewards – Due to everyone’s efforts globally, special bonuses began from August 13 – August 20. These bonuses were 3x Catch Stardust, guaranteed 3000 Stardust from raids, 3x Hatch Stardust, and 1-hour Star Pieces. Also as a special bonus, a Suicune Raid Day would occur on August 17.
• August 14: Rayquaza Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour upon Rayquaza’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Rayquaza raids.
• August 15:
  • Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in The Philippines.
  • Adventure Sync V2 goes live in New Zealand and Australia – This feature would allow the game to send you push notification when there is a Pokémon that you do not have registered.
• August 17: Suicune Raid Day – Due to the efforts of everyone during Blanche’s Stardust Research Challenge, this raid day was unlocked. From 4 PM to 7 PM in your local timezone, Suicune would be on every single gym and everyone would get 5 free raid passes. Lucky players would also encounter a shiny, blue-veiled Suicune!
• August 20: A Thousand Year Slumber Special Research – To kick off the Ultra Unlock reveal, special research for Jirachi began globally. This gave everyone else who hadn’t gone to any of the GO Fests their chance to get Jirachi. And those who had completed the research at one of the events could get Jirachi candy to power up their Jirachi.
• August 21: Rayquaza Legendary Dinner Hour – The third Dinner Hour upon Rayquaza’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Rayquaza raids.
• August 23: Water Festival 2019 – The Water Festival returns for a splash for the third year in a row. There was an increase in Water type Pokémon in the wild, eggs, and raids. Kingler and Crawdaunt gained access to a new attack, Crabhammer. Two of the special bonuses would be 2x Hatch Candy and if your buddy was a Water type, Buddy Distance would be halved for it. Lucky trainers could have a chance to encounter a shiny Carvanha and Barboach. And from 6 PM to 7 PM in your local timezone on August 28, Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit would be able to challenge in Tier 5 raids for an hour for a Legendary Dinner Hour.
• August 27:
  • Adventure Sync V2 goes live in the Americas – This feature would allow the game to send you push notification when there is a Pokémon that you do not have registered.
  • Due to an issue where some PvP battles would last too long and time out, an extra 30 seconds was added to PvP Battles.
• August 28: Lake Trio Legendary Dinner Hour – A special Dinner Hour for the Lake Trio occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit raids in their respective regional locations.
• August 29: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Sweden.

September: Leaves Upon the Autumn Breeze

• September 1: Rayquaza Legendary Dinner Hour – The fourth Dinner Hour upon Rayquaza’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasting for one hour, featuring Rayquaza raids.
• September 2: Ultra Bonus Week #1: Johto Journey – The first week of the Ultra Unlock from the Global Challenge. Pokémon from the Johto Region would spawn in increased numbers, along with Entei, Raikou, and Suicune returning to raids. Unown would be available in 10km eggs, available in the letters U, L, T, R, and A. Egg distance would also be halved. Lucky trainers could encounter shiny Sentret and Gligar.
• September 4: Entei, Raikou, and Suicune Legendary Dinner Hour – The Dinner Hour upon the Legendary Beast’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring raids for the Legendary Beasts.
• September 5: More Pokémon fall under Team GO Rocket’s Influence, increasing the Pokémon you could encounter from defeating grunts. These Pokémon that were added are as follows: Venonat, Venomoth, Oddish, Gloom, Psyduck, Growlithe, Abra, Hitmonchan, Larvitar, and Turtwig.
• September 6: Pokéstop Removal Lawsuit Goes Into Effect – A finalized settlement goes into effect, where if requested, Niantic must remove any Pokéstops or Gyms within 40 meters of said location if requested. Niantic must include a warning that indicates not to trespass, and even observe park hours.
• September 9: Ultra Bonus Week #2: Global Challenge and Global Hatches – The second week of the Ultra Unlock from the Global Challenge. All of the Kantonian Regional Pokémon would become available in 7km eggs globally along with all of their shiny releases. Their availability in eggs would last until the 23rd. Absol, Mawile, Alolan Vulpix, and Alolan Sandshrew also spawned in the wild for the very first time in Pokémon GO giving players all over the globe a chance to encounter these Pokémon outside of eggs and raids. All four of Deoxys’ forms would also become available in raids. Egg distance would also be halved.
• September 11: Deoxys Legendary Dinner Hour – The Dinner Hour upon Deoxys’ return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring raids for all four of Deoxys’ forms.
• September 12: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Turkey.
• September 15: Turtwig Community Day – Turtwig would see it’s spawn rate increased from 11 AM to 2 PM in your local timezone. If you evolved Grotle into Torterra up to two hours after the event ended, you would obtain a Torterra with the Grass move Frenzy Plant. The special bonuses for this event was 3x Catch Stardust and 3-hour Lures. Shiny Turtwig would also see its release.
• September 16:
  • Ultra Bonus Week #3: A Unova Unveiling – The third and final week of the Ultra Unlock for the Global Challenge would begin. To commemorate the hard work of the trainers all over the globe, everyone would see the release of the first wave of Gen V! We would see brand new regional Pokémon, the new starters, and some new shinies! Patrat and Lillipup would see their shiny release in the wild and Klink would as well in Tier 1 raids. And once again, egg distance was halved.
  • Mewtwo Returns to Raids – As an extra bonus, Mewtwo would also return to raids and have access to a brand new powerful Psychic attack, Psystrike. Along with this, trainers would be able to encounter Mewtwo in its green shiny variant as well! These Mewtwo were exceptionally powerful, due to having Tier 6 stats, unfortunately making them very hard to defeat with smaller groups which sparked controversy.
• September 20: Safari Zone in Montreal, Canada – Located in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Hélène Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada got to house its first real-world Pokémon GO event. The Safari Zone featured Pokémon that were themed around speed and racing. Lucky trainers all over the globe would get a chance to find a shiny blue Yanma.
• September 21: Hokkaido Vulpix event – Due to Vulpix and Alolan Vulpix being named embassadors for a railway in the city of Hokkaido, a promotional event would begin near the railway stations. Trainers in the area would see an increase in Vulpix spawns along with Alolan Vulpix in the wild.
• September 25:
  • Global Spawn Point Reshuffle – For the first time in Pokémon GO, the spawn points all over the globe were reshuffled, giving many areas that had little to no spawn points plenty of them. Granted, it came with a price. Many locations that had huge clusters would see their decrease and some of those places were almost entirely cleared out, making many people upset. It forced trainers to step out of their comfort zones, and influenced them to explore their neighborhoods once more, to find more places to play and hunt.
  • Altered Giratina Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour upon Altered Giratina’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Altered Giratina raids.
• September 26: World Tourism Day – A partnered event by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation would begin. An event focused around trading and exploring. This event would feature 1/4 Stardust Trade Cost, along with all of the regional Pokémon in 5km eggs in their respective regions. Mime Jr would also finally see it’s release in Pokémon GO, but exclusively in Europe. Zangoose and Seviper would also be available in their opposite regions as Field Research rewards. Also lucky trainers in Europe would be able to hatch shiny Mime Jr. and trainers globally would be able to encounter and hatch shiny Zangoose and Seviper.
• September 27: Adventure Sync V2 goes live in Europe – This feature would allow the game to send you push notification when there is a Pokémon that you do not have registered.

October: A Spooky Development

• October 3:
  • Safari Zone in Taipei, Taiwan – For the second year in a row, the Safari Zone would see it’s return in the city of Taipei. This time, the event took place in Metropolitan Park. Trainers would be able to walk around the event and complete local Field Research for free, as this event was not ticketed. Lucky trainers all over the world could find shiny green Oddish.
  • Madrid Games Week in Madrid, Spain – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
  • Stardust Blast 2019 – The Stardust Blast event would make its return, giving everyone a chance to farm some crazy dust. Everyone would be able to benefit from 2x Hatch Stardust, 2x Catch Stardust, 2x Stardust from Team GO Rocket Battles, and guaranteed 2000 Stardust from raids.
• October 4: MAG 2019 in Erfurt, Germany – A Sponsored Mini Event featuring increased Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup spawns, along with double stardust and 4-hour lures.
• October 5: Mewtwo makes its return to EX Raids for a limited time. These Mewtwo from EX Raids regain access to the move Shadow Ball and gives everyone a chance at getting a shiny Mewtwo with the powerful move! This lasted until November 12th.
• October 8: Mewtwo Legendary Dinner Hour – Due to an issue in September with the Dinner Hour, a makeup Dinner Hour for Mewtwo occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Mewtwo raids.
• October 9: Altered Giratina Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour upon Altered Giratina’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Altered Giratina raids.
• October 12: Trapinch Community Day – Featured increased Trapinch spawns from 11 AM to 2 PM in your local timezones. Trainers would be able to enjoy 3x Catch XP during this window. If you evolved a Vibrava into Flygon up to two hours after the event ended, you would get a strong Flygon with the Ground move Earth Power. And as always, trainers could spot a dark, swamp green Trapinch crawling around.
• October 16: Altered Giratina Legendary Dinner Hour – The third Dinner Hour upon Altered Giratina’s return occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Altered Giratina raids.
• October 17:
  • Halloween Event – Once again Halloween spread its exciting influence to Pokémon GO with a spooky spectacular scene! In the spirit of the holiday, Ghost and Dark Pokémon would once against haunt the world, but with special appearances of Pikachu donning a Mimikyu costume in the wild, Bulbasaur wearing a Shedinja hat, Charmander with a Cubone hat, and a Squirtle wearing a Yamask hat in raids. Lucky trainers would be able to encounter all of these four costumed Pokémon in their shiny varaints. And these variants are uncapable of evolution. The Gen V Pokémon, Yamask would also see its debut in the wild. It was later confirmed that this Pokémon is a Halloween event exclusive Pokémon. Lucky trainers would be able to encounter its shiny variant as well. And once again making its return from last year, everyone could complete the “A Spooky Message” Special Research to encounter Spiritomb. Along with all of those bonuses, everyone could enjoy 2x Catch, Hatch, and Transfer Candy. Also special avatar items to celebrate the event were released into the shop.
  • Darkrai comes to raids to haunt the world of the living as an extra feature of the Halloween event. Trainers could challenge Darkrai, but like Mewtwo, it would be a challenge due to having Tier 6 stats instead of Tier 5 stats.
  • More Pokémon under Team GO Rocket’s influence, increasing the Pokémon you could encounter from defeating grunts. These Pokémon that were added are as follows: Weedle, Kakuna, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lapras, Mareep, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Trapinch, Cacnea, Shuppet, and Duskull.
  • Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Canda.
• October 19:
  • Miyagi, Japan Lapras Event – For a small tie-in event with Lapras being selected as the embassador for the Miyagi Prefecture, Lapras would have an increased spawn rate within the prefecture.
  • Moltres Raid Day Makeup in Japan – Due to the massive earthquakes in Japan in September of 2018, the Moltres Raid Day had been cancelled. Well after over a year, the event was finally rescheduled and occurred, giving players in Japan a way to finally get their own shiny Moltres from raids. These Moltres would have access to their event-exclusive move Sky Attack.
• October 23: Darkrai Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour for Darkrai occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Darkrai raids.
• October 25: Pokéstop Submission beta goes live in Belgium.
• October 30: Darkrai Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour for Darkrai occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Darkrai raids.

November: Colossal Discoveries

• November 1:
  • A Colossal Discovery Tie-In Event – A special event began to celebrate the special research for “A Colossal Discovery”. Geodude, Magnemite, Swinub, Aron, and Spheal would begin to spawn for the research. Also along with this, egg distance would be halved and lucky trainers would encounter shiny Skarmory!
  • Registeel, Regice, and Regirock come back to raids thanks to the event leading up to the “A Colossal Discovery” research. They would also be shiny for the first time ever.
• November 2: “A Colossal Discovery” Special Research – A special paid event would begin. From 11 AM to 7 PM in your timezone, the special research would begin, allowing trainers to complete tasks to lead up to encountering Regigigas. This was a paid early access, allowing trainers to catch Regigigas early before it would come to EX Raids later that month. This event costed $7.99 USD (or equal to in your own currency). If trainers did not complete the quests, the objectives would change a few days later, making it easier for trainers to complete.
• November 4: Cobalion, a member of the Swords of Justice trio comes to raids, being the first Gen V legendary to make its appearance in the game.
• November 5:
  • More Pokémon under Team GO Rocket’s influence, increasing the Pokémon you could encounter from defeating grunts. These Pokémon that were added are as follows: Sandshrew, Bellsprout, Magnemite, Porygon, and Wobbuffet.
  • Mysterious Components start to drop from defeating Team GO Rocket grunts. If you collect six of these, they will combine into a Rocket Radar.
  • Arlo, Cliff, Sierra start terrorizing the world of Pokémon GO. These powerful trainers are Team GO Rocket Admins, who will take over certain Pokéstops every day, and the only way to find and battle these trainers are with the use of a Rocket Radar, which is cunsumed upon defeating these admins. Lucky trainers would also encounter Shiny Shadow Pokémon from these trainers. Sierra would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Sneasel, Arlo would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Scyther, and Cliff would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Meowth.
• November 6: Cobalion Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour for Cobalion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Cobalion raids.
• November 7:
  • “Looming In The Shadows” Special Research begins, allowing trainers to complete the first of many monthly special researches allowing them to hunt down and defeat the Team GO Rocket Leader, Giovanni. Upon defeat, trainers will get a chance to capture Shadow Articuno.
  • Team GO Rocket Disruption Event – Due to the “Looming In The Shadows” Special Research, a special event begins, having increased spawns for Koffing, Ekans, and Meowth, and Pokémon related to Team Rocket in raids. Lucky trainers could also encounter shiny Meowth in the wild!
• November 13:
  • Niantic Wayfarer and Pokéstop Nominations Worldwide – Finally, Level 40 trainers all over the globe would gain the ability to submit potential Pokéstop locations for their communities. And with Niantic Wayfarer, players can vote on potential Points of Interest for all of Niantic’s games.
  • Cobalion Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour for Cobalion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Cobalion raids.
• November 15: Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield release for the Nintendo Switch, allowing people to finally explore the Galar Region, encounter many new species of Pokémon, and meet many new friends and rivals.
• November 16:
  • Chimchar Community Day – From 11 AM to 2 PM in your local timezone, players would see Chimchar’s spawn rate increased. Players would be able to enjoy 1/4 hatch distance along with 3-hour lures while they hunt for Chimchar. Up to two hours after the event ended, if you evolved Monferno into Infernape, you would get an Infernape with the exclusive Community Day move Blast Burn. Plus lucky trainers would encounter a shiny, pink Chimchar.
  • Galarian Weezing Raid Hour – As a surprise, as soon as Chimchar Community Day ended in each region, from 2 PM to 3 PM in your timezone, every gym had a Galarian Weeing raid to celebrate the release of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. After this event ended, Galarian Weezing would continue to appear in Tier 4 raids.
• November 18: Regigigas makes its EX Raid debut. EX Raids starting today would host Regigigas raids, allowing players to add the Colossal Pokémon to their Pokédexes.
• November 19: Supereffective Week – A special event geared towards encountering Pokémon that are more useful against Team GO Rocket grunts and leaders would begin, seeing special Pokémon that are more likely to be effective counters against GO Rocket. Potions and Revives would also be easier to obtain from Pokéstops, 2x Stardust from Trainer Battles, along with a guaranteed Charged TM from Tier 3 or higher raids. Plus, John Hanke’s favorite Pokémon Tentacruel would finally become shiny in Pokémon GO. Lucky trainers could encounter shiny Tentacool!
• November 20: Cobalion Legendary Dinner Hour – The third Dinner Hour for Cobalion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Cobalion raids.
• November 22: Item Bag and Pokémon Storage Upgrade – Due to many players pleas with Niantic, the Pokémon Storage would be upgraded to 3000 and Item Bag Storage upgraded to 2500.
• November 24: Increased GO Rocket Activity – A two-hour event would begin from 11 AM to 1 PM in your timezone, featuring Team GO Rocket taking over every single Pokéstop in your area. Special Field Research could also be found during this time period, along with GO Rocket photobombs.
• November 26: Terrakion comes to raids, being the second member of the Swords of Justice trio to make its way to Pokémon GO. This powerful Rock and Fighting type would give players a very nice asset to use in raids against future Flying or Bug type bosses.
• November 27:
  • Friend Fest – A special friend-themed event would begin in Pokémon GO increasing spawns for family-themed Pokémon like Nidoran, Doduo, Magnemite, and more. Players would also be able to enjoy reduced trade costs, deal more damage against raid bosses, and do up to two Special Trades per day.
  • Terrakion Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour for Terrakion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Terrakion raids.

December: A Winter Wonderland

• December 1: “A Challenging Development” Special Research – The second of many monthly Special Researched to hunt down and defeat Giovanni begins, giving players a chance to take him down and catch a Shadow Zapdos.
• December 4: Terrakion Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour for Terrakion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Terrakion raids.
• December 5: Evolution Event – A event with increased spawns of Pokémon that evolve in unique and special ways. Players would be able to encounter Pokémon like Sneasel, Burmy, and Magenmite with increased spawns in the wild. Special Pokémon like Togetic, Ralts, and Scyther would also appear more frequently in raids. Pokémon with these special conditions also would see increased hatches in eggs. There were also special field research quests that would award evolution items. Lucky players would also encounter shiny Burmy.
• December 7: Evolution Raid Day – From 11 AM to 2 PM in your local timezone, every single gym in your area would have a Kanto Starter or Kanto Starter evolution raid on it. Along with this, every single raid boss during this three-hour period would also have a chance to be shiny! This would make the first time trainers could encounter shiny Ivysaur, Venusaur, Charmeleon, Charizard, Wartortle, and Blastoise. Lucky trainers would also be able to find them shiny in the wild during this period, if they were lucky enough to have a spawn in the area.
• December 11: Terrakion Legendary Dinner Hour – The third Dinner Hour for Terrakion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Terrakion raids.
• December 14: Community Weekend – Like in 2018, another special weekend began to celebrate all of the year’s past Community Days. From 9 AM to 9 PM in each timezone each day, all of 2019’s Community Day Pokémon would be available in the wild and all of 2018’s Community Day Pokémon would be available in raids. If you evolved any Pokémon into their final evolutions during this event, you would obtain the final evolution with its exclusive Community Day move. Also from 11 AM to 2 PM in your timezone, players would be able to enjoy 2× Catch Stardust, 2× Catch XP, and 1/2 Egg Hatch Distance during these hours. Along with all of this, certain Pokémon would be featured each day, and they are as follows:
  • December 14 – All day, Community Day Pokémon from the first half of 2018 and 2019 would be in eggs, and from 11 AM to 2 PM in your timezone, Totodile, Swinub, Treecko, Torchic, Slakoth, and Bagon would appear with increased numbers.
  • December 15 – All day, Community Day Pokémon from the second half of 2018 and 2019 would be in eggs, and from 11 AM to 2 PM in your timezone, Mudkip, Ralts, Trapinch, Turtwig, and Chimchar would appear with increased numbers.
• December 16: Egg Pool Shakeup – A long needed egg shakeup occured, removing many species from egg pools, and moving some around. Along with this, shiny Gible snuck its way into the wild.
• December 17: Virizion, the final member of the Swords of Justice trio comes to raids.
• December 18:
  • Virizion Legendary Dinner Hour – The first Dinner Hour for Virizion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Virizion raids.
  • Buddy Adventure – A brand new feature that allows you to interact with your buddy goes live. It allows you to feed, pet, and play with your buddy in AR. Like the friends feature, you can have multiple levels of friendship with your buddy. It adds features that your buddy can do such as finding items, unvisited Pokéstops, giving little souvenirs, and even a CP boost for your buddy. Plus your buddy will follow you on the map if you’ve fed it!
• December 20:
  • Lugia & Ho-Oh Raid Weekend – For one weekend only, Lugia and Ho-Oh returned to the raid scene to join Virizion. This gave trainers who missed out previously a chance to catch these powerful legendary Pokémon along with chances at shinies!
  • Shared AR Buddy Experience Live – This feature began rolling out, allowing trainers to form groups to play with each others buddies at once by scanning QR codes. A shared AR experience amongst multiple individuals.
• December 24: Holiday Event 2019 – The Holiday Event once again rings its way in to Pokémon GO! Pokémon wearing Christmas and winter costumes would appear, such as Pikachu in the wild with a winter beanie, a Pichu in 2km and 7km eggs, and Raichu in raids. Stantler wearing bells would also be available in the wild, 7km eggs, and raids. Alolan Sandshrew and Alolan Vulpix would also have increased hatch rates from 7km eggs. Cubchoo would see its release in Pokémon GO along with Cryogonal on Glacial Lures. Cliff, Arlo, and Sierra also gain access to a new set of shadow Pokémon and the Pokémon you could encounter change, but can be shiny. Sierra would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Absol, Arlo would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Bagon, and Cliff would give trainers a chance to encounter Shiny Shadow Stantler. Along with that, more Pokémon under Team GO Rocket’s influence, increasing the Pokémon you could encounter from defeating grunts. These Pokémon that were added are as follows: Delibird and Snover. Along with all of that, the costumed Pikachu, Pichu, and Stantler can all be shiny and Snover would also see its shiny release. You could also open up to 30 gifts a day, hold up to 20, and get a free single use incubator every day from a spin. Special holiday themed avatar accessories also became available in the in-game shop. And finally, a bunch of special bonuses would take place throughout the event and they are as follows:
  • December 24-25: 2x Catch and Transfer Candy
  • December 26-27: 2x Catch Stardust
  • December 28-29: 2x Catch XP
  • December 30 – January 1: 1/2 Egg Distance
• December 25: Virizion Legendary Dinner Hour – The second Dinner Hour for Virizion occurred starting at 6 PM in trainer’s local time zones and lasted for one hour, featuring Virizion raids.
• December 28: Winter Weekend Event – From 11 AM to 7 PM in your timezone, a special winter weekend event would begin. Glacial lures would last for two hours with increased Lapras, Cryogonal, Delibird, and more spawns. If you evolved an Eevee into Glaceon during this time period, it would have access to the move Last Resort. And Regice would return to raids for this time period, along with two extra free raid passes during the duration of the event.

And now it’s time! Take a look at the amazing infographic by OrangeHeart for the year! It’s really long, but has a lot of information! Enjoy!

Wow, this year had a LOT going on! Did you guys attend any of the real-world location events? Is there anything you would have changed about anything that happened this year? Let us know in the comments below! Here’s to another amazing year!

Did you enjoy reading up on this year? Check out our reviews of the last three years in Pokémon GO’s History!