Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.
After a lot of change and new debuts between a new season and 'Mega Finale' event - some expected, some less so - things feel a little more settled this week. There's an anime crossover event mid-week with a unique spawn mechanic and a big PokéStop focus, a new Dynamax and Mega Evolution to catch, and a mystery Spotlight Hour on Thursday. (Any ideas?)
So here's a snapshot of everything coming to Pokémon Go in the days ahead, the biggest opportunities available, and a roundup of Pokémon news and site updates you may have missed.
Events in Pokémon Go this week (14th to 20th September)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
What to know about this week
Here's what jumps out to me in the days ahead:
Three new debuts this week
For completionists, there's three new Pokémon debuting throughout the week:
- Dynamax Rhyhorn (from Max Monday)
- Charmander wearing Friede's goggles ('Pokémon Horizons: The Series Celebration' event from Wednesday 16th at 10am)
- Mega Staraptor ('Mega Staraptor Super Mega Raid Day' on Saturday 19th between 2pm and 5pm)
Dynamax Rhyhorn will be available all week, but most accessible on Monday; end evolution Rhyperior will be a strong Ground-type attacker, but doesn't quite match the power of Dynamax Drilbur, which you'll likely have one or two of by now.
Elsewhere, Charmander wearing Friede's goggles will be pretty easy to find, appearing in the wild, Field Research, regular Lures and the event Go Pass. There's also a Charizard wearing Friede's googles in three-star raids - alongside Meowscarada, Skeledirge and Quaquaval - plus Pikachu wearing Cap’s hat in one-star raids too.
Finally, Mega Staraptor is a strong Flying-type attacker - ranking fifth overall, or third if you discount Shadow Pokémon - but with Mega Rayquaza and its Dragon Ascent move still head and shoulders above everything else, it's more for filling out the 'dex than anything else.
Everything listed above can be shiny, by the way.
Wild spawns changing twice a day
The 'Pokémon Horizons: The Series Celebration Event' - which is rolling out on Wednesday for when a special Pokémon Go-themed crossover episode airs in Japan - sees wild spawns rotate every 12 hours:
- 5am to 5pm: Fidough, Wattrel and more, with a chance of encountering Chansey
- 5pm to 5am: Eevee, Hatenna and more, with a chance of encountering Rockruff
Otherwise, Charmander wearing Friede’s goggles can also spawn, plus there's a rare chance of encountering Pikachu wearing Cap's hat as well.
PokéStops will be a big draw
Two changes to PokéStops this week: one is that there will be a new Showcase each day (and at different locations each time, according to the blog post), and that there's an increased chance of encountering Kecleon. (If you still have the 'Wish Granted' Special Research in your quest log, now's the time to finally get through it.)
A mysterious Spotlight Hour
At the time of writing, the Spotlight Hour for Thursday is listed as a question mark. We likely won't know more until the day of the event, but there's a strong chance it'll be for Charmander wearing Friede's goggles costume.
Either way - there's 2x Catch Stardust to take advantage of.
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Here's a roundup of stories from the week:
- Arguably the biggest news of the week is the decision to reduce Pokémon Go's Team Go Rocket balloons to just one spawn per day.
- Usually, adjustments to features are communicated in some fashion ahead of time, whereas this appears to be downgraded on the quiet, and had to be picked up by the community instead.
- It has since been officially confirmed through the Scopely Explore Support X account, calling the change "an intentional adjustment", and that the frequency may increase during Taken Over weeks and other events. It has, understandably, not gone down well with players.
Matthew Reynolds
- Another controversial change is the expansion of the small pool of rare Pokémon in the weekly Research Breakthrough to a selection of over 60 possible encounters (and counting). Leekduck has the full set, with more being discovered as the week goes on.
- Why this has happened is unknown. Speculation on my part, but it's possible Scopely Explore didn't want to update the pool each season and has opted for a wider selection in its place, which seems to be a pattern with various other changes this year (such as the more generalised PokéStop Showcase categories).
- In officially announced news, a bunch of events have been announced for the start of October. It begins with a 'Harvest Festival' event featuring shiny Applin and a branching research task involving its apple evolution items; there will be a Gigantamax Cinderace Max Battle Day; and Indonesia is getting a region-specific 'Patterns of the Wild event'.
Pokémon GO
- Elsewhere, Go Wild Area 2026 has been fully unveiled. Beyond the return of Mighty Pokémon and Safari Balls, it'll focus on Steel- and Dragon-types, with the debut of Dynamax Dialga, Dynamax Palkia and a Machamp with a modern jacket costume being the biggest draws. Legendaries Latias and Latios will also be attracted to Incense for those with a ticket.
- Meanwhile, for the Sendai and Mexico City legs the weekend before, Hisuian Sliggoo and Hisuian Goodra are making their game-wide debut, and appear to be an in-person event exclusive.
- Pokémon Champions saw a big update mid-week: Season M-6 introduced Regulation M-C, which added 24 new Pokémon and six new Mega Evolutions to the roster. There was also a new Mystery Gift code, too.
Matthew Reynolds
- Following last week's news that Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward was stepping down, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund appears to be considering merging the group (which includes Pokémon Go developer Scopely Explore) with the recently-acquired Electronic Arts. Bloomberg has the scoop, with extra context for the rumoured move over at Mobilegamer.biz.
- What this means in practice is unknown - but it'll see Pokémon Go under the same roof as EA Sports FC, Madden and, of course, Codemasters' Dizzy series.
Dinesh Nair and Cecilia D’Anastasio
One More Catch notes
Following the Mega Finale weekend, I wrote a piece about the struggle of not wanting to waste valuable in-game resources on anything less than the 'perfect' Pokémon:
Matthew Reynolds
I also posted a guide for how to get Maschiff - who is around until 8pm on Tuesday this week:
Matthew Reynolds
And looking ahead to midweek, new free-to-play creature collecting game Aniimo is launching on PC and consoles. Here's when it drops in your region:
Matthew Reynolds
That's the end of this week's newsletter! As usual, we wrap with a reminder that you can subscribe to One More Catch for bonus articles, extra site functionality such as ad-free browsing, and as a way to show your support for the newsletter and site in general.
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Hope you have a great week!
