Team Rocket & more ready to make February exciting in Pokémon GO

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As usual, details have been posted about what to expect in Pokémon GO during the upcoming month. You can find the notes below from the official blog:

February Research Breakthrough encounter

From Monday, February 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, March 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8), you’ll encounter Snorlax in Research Breakthroughs.

Featured Pokémon in five-star raids and Mega Raids

The following Legendary Pokémon will be appearing in five-star raids throughout February.

    • Entei will be appearing in five-star raids from Tuesday, January 16, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, January 31, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

    • Raikou will be appearing in five-star raids from Sunday, January 31, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

    • Suicune will be appearing in five-star raids from Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

    • Latias and Latios will be appearing in five-star raids from Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. local time.

    • Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo will be appearing in five-star raids from Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. to Monday, March 1, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. local time. In addition, the following Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids.

    • Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom will be appearing in Mega Raids from Tuesday, January 19, 2021, through Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

    • Mega Pidgeot, Mega Ampharos, and a surprise Mega-Evolved Pokémon will be appearing in Mega Raids from Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. through Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. local time.

    • Mega Venusaur, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Blastoise will be appearing in Mega Raids from Saturday, February 20, 2021, through Monday, March 1, 2021. Each week in February will also include a Raid Hour event on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. local time featuring the Pokémon currently active in five-star raids.

Pokémon Spotlight Hours

In the month of February, Pokémon Spotlight Hour will take place every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time, and each hour will spotlight a different Pokémon and special bonus!

    • Tuesday, February 2, 2021: Ekans will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.
    • Tuesday, February 9, 2021: Miltank will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.
    • Tuesday, February 16, 2021: Luvdisc will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.
    • Tuesday, February 23, 2021: Pikachu will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.

Team GO Rocket is back—and celebrating?

Time to find out why, Trainers! From Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, February 7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time, Team GO Rocket Grunts will be appearing with previously unseen Shadow Pokémon on their teams. If you’re lucky, you may encounter a Shiny Shadow Pokémon by defeating a Team GO Rocket Leader! For more information, be sure to check out the blog here.

February Community Day Featuring Roselia

Join us on Sunday, February 7, 2021, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time for a floral Community Day with Roselia. Evolve Roselia during the event or up to two hours afterward to get a Roserade that knows both the Charged Attack Weather Ball (Fire-type) and the Fast Attack Bullet Seed. For more information, be sure to check out the blog here.

Ring in the Year of the Ox with our Lunar New Year–themed event

Our Lunar New Year event is back! From Tuesday, February 9, 2021, to Sunday, February 14, 2021, encounter red Pokémon and celebrate the Year of the Ox! A special Mega-Evolved Pokémon will also be appearing in Mega Raids for the first time at the start of this event! Stay tuned for more details.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day

From Monday, February 8, 2021, to Monday, February 15, 2021, compete in the Valentine’s Day–themed Love Cup in the GO Battle League! Form a team using Pokémon that are red or pink and with a max CP of 1,500 to enter. No Legendary or Mythical Pokémon may be included on your team.

From Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time, join us for our annual Valentine’s Day event! You can look forward to some Pokémon making their Pokémon GO debut as well as exclusive avatar items. Stay tuned for more details.

It’s not too late to join Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto

Can’t-o wait to celebrate the Kanto region? Don’t forget to purchase your ticket for the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto event on February 20, 2021! For more details on this event, please check out the blog here.

There will be a special Kanto-themed celebration event and Raid Day at the end of February to close out the Season of Celebration.

Weekly 1 PokéCoin bundles

Each week in February, a different 1 PokéCoin bundle will be featured in the shop.

    • From February 1, 2021, a 1 PokéCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: 20 Poké Balls, a Remote Raid Pass, and a Rocket Radar.
    • From February 8, 2021, a 1 PokéCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: eight Incense, 16 Razz Berries, and 10 Pinap Berries.
    • From February 15, 2021, a 1 PokéCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: a Remote Raid Pass, 20 Poké Balls, 10 Great Balls, and five Ultra Balls.
    • From February 22, 2021, a 1 PokéCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: 20 Poké Balls, a Remote Raid Pass, five Incense.

Quality-of-life updates

We have some exciting quality-of-life updates coming in February, too!

You can look forward to an image gallery showing off the PokéStop and Gym images that you and other Trainers have submitted. This feature will roll out in different regions over time—starting with level 40+ Trainers in New Zealand on Tuesday, February 9, 2021—and will become available worldwide to Trainers level 38 and above toward the end of March 2021.

Ever wanted to capture the moment you level up in Pokémon GO to share with friends? Soon, you’ll be able to do just that—without screenshotting! The level-up social share feature will be coming in February to Trainers worldwide.

And last but not least, you’ll soon be able to transfer Legendary and Mythical Pokémon when selecting multiple Pokémon by enabling the functionality in the game settings. We hope this will make managing Pokémon storage a bit easier for those of you who have amassed especially large collections!

While that’s quite a bit to take in, there’s still more!

Team GO Rocket is celebrating—but why? It’s up to you to find out! Here’s what you can expect during the Team GO Rocket Celebration event.

Date + Time

Sources point to this event occurring from Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, February, 7, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Features

    • We’ve received word that Team GO Rocket Grunts will be turning the following Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon: Swinub, Nosepass, Aron, Spheal, Lileep, Anorith, and more.
    • Team GO Rocket Grunts will also have different teams of Pokémon during the event and after its conclusion.
    • Defeat Team GO Rocket Leaders during the event for a chance to receive a Team GO Rocket Leader Gift sticker.
    • Be on the lookout for Pokémon like Golbat, Koffing, Ariados, Qwilfish, Sneasel, Houndour, Nuzleaf, Stunky, Skorupi, and Venipede appearing more often in the wild!
    • Qwilfish, Larvitar, Corphish, Absol, Skorupi, Sandile, Scraggy, Pawniard, Vullaby, and Deino will be hatching from Strange Eggs during and after the event.
    • The following Pokémon will be appearing in raids.
      • One-star raids: Alolan Meowth, Alolan Grimer, Gligar, Sneasel, Shinx, and Klink.
      • Three-star raids: Nidoqueen, Ariados, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Absol.
      • Five-star raids: Raikou and Suicune will both be appearing at different times. Please see the February events blog for more info on the Raid Boss schedule in February.
      • Mega Raids: Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom.
    • Event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research will be available.
    • The Team GO Rocket–themed Timed Research that begins during the Johto Celebration event will continue during this event and will reward an encounter with the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh that knows the exclusive attack Earthquake!
    • Keep a lookout for more invaded PokéStops and Team GO Rocket balloons than usual!

Bonuses

    • Half Egg Hatch Distance when an Egg is placed inside an Incubator during the event.

Phew! I am personally thankful the half-distance for egg hatching is returning, if only for a bit. Let us know if you’re pumped for what’s in store for February in the comments below (click out of mobile AMP) or join us on Discord!