Pokémon Go Lunar New Year 2021 Event Guide
The rest of this guide will give a brief description of the different parts of the Lunar New Year 2021 event, as there are several parts in the works. We'll also link to more in-depth guides for each of them, which can be a good way for you to go through the basics of the event and know where to look to dig deeper.
When is the 2021 Lunar New Year event, how long does it last?
This will begin on Tuesday, February 9 at 10 a.m. local time, and will run until Sunday, February 14 at 13 p.m. local time. This should give you plenty of time to complete the special Timed Search tasks.
What types of Pokémon will appear more often?
As with most Pokémon GO events, there will be certain Pokémon that appear more often that match the theme of the event. For this particular event, the theme is pretty standard with red Pokémon appearing more often. This includes Krabby, Goldeen, Magmar, Magikarp, Miltank, Meditite, Tepig, and even the mention of Red Gyarados if you've been lucky enough to find a Gyarados in the wild and it ends up being brilliant.
What types of Pokémon will be in the eggs?
In addition to the spawns, there will be special themed eggs during the Lunar New Year event, especially with the 5 km eggs. During the duration of the event, you will find Pokémon based on the Lunar New Year in these 5 km eggs, which include Rattata, Ekans, Mankey, Ponyta, Mareep, Houndour, Miltank, Torchic, Bagon, Buneary, Tepig and Litleo .
What is Timed Research and what are the rewards?
We already have a complete guide dedicated to Timed Research Tasks and Rewards for you to read, but we'll also give a simple description here. It even has four stages to complete during the event, with most tasks requiring you to catch or evolve Fire-type Pokémon, as well as other things like sending gifts. There are various rewards, including encounters with Pokémon like Tauros and Miltank, although the most important here is that you can earn Gyarados Mega Energy from each of the levels, which has just been added to the game this week as well.
Can you get Tauros outside of the United States?
Up until this point, Tauros was a regional Pokémon exclusive to most of the United States that couldn't be obtained without trading or egg-based events. However, as the main star of this event and the Timed Research, those around the world can obtain Tauros just for completing parts of the new Timed Research.
What raids will be underway?
From the start of the Lunar New Year event, Suicune will leave five Star Raids and be replaced by two different Pokémon, Latias and Latios. These two will actually last longer than the event, as they will depart on Saturday, February 20 at 9 a.m. If you need help dispelling them, you can check out our guide to the best counters to eliminate Latias and Latios. These aren't the only Pokémon added to raids during this event, as the aforementioned Mega Gyarados will also be added to the raid pool. Since this is the first time that Mega Gyarados has participated in raids, we also have a guide with the best counters to take down Mega Gyarados as well. Mega Ampharos and Mega Pidgeot will also be present in Mega Raids during this time. In addition to these, the lineup for One Star Raids will include Meditite, Carvanha, Duskull, Skorupi, and Darumaka, while Three Star Raids will include Miltank, Octillery, Blaziken, Camerupt, and Absol.
Are there any GO Fight League special cups?
While not fully part of the 2021 Lunar New Year event, the Love Cup kicks off this week in the GO Battle League. This is limited to officially red or pink Pokémon in the Pokédex and below 1500 CP. You can read our guide to the best Pokémon for your team in the Love Cup if you want to be ready for the competition.
What are the bonuses?
The Pokémon GO 2021 Lunar New Year event also features a number of very important bonuses, with a major focus on interactions with friends and trading. For starters, gifts from friends will contain more Poké Balls than usual. You'll also have a better chance of becoming lucky friends by exchanging gifts and fighting in raids. Lucky trades themselves will also be more common. To enhance this experience, the commercial distance during the event has also been increased to 40 miles through Monday, February 15 at 13 p.m. PST.
That's it for our Pokémon GO Lunar Near Year Event 2021 guide. As you can see there is a lot to experience during this event, so make sure you don't miss it while it's still going on.
