Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.
It's time for a packed few days of events and new debuts. The 'Harvest Festival' event headlines with a branching quest and more ways to get Apples for evolving Applin, which also sees a shiny debut, before it turns into a 'Taken Over' event from Friday. There's also a rare Sunday event in the form of World Space Week, with - you guessed it - yet another Pikachu costume to grab.
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 (28th September to 4th October)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
If you want to see what's coming for the rest of the month, see this Pokémon Go upcoming events schedule.
What to know about this week
Here's what jumps out to me in the days ahead:
Applin yourself (apply yourself? Does this work?)
The 'Harvest Festival event on Tuesday has a lot going on - including an increased chance of encountering shiny Smoliv - but it's really all about Applin.
Beyond the debut of a shiny, there are a few new ways to get Apple items required to evolve Applin into one of three evolutions: Apples can be found in a branching Flapple, Appletun or Dipplin Timed Research quest with a choice of each Apple type (the best to pick at a glance? The one you have the least of!), plus in Mossy Lure Modules and the event Go Pass.
If you're like me and have yet to do an Applin evolution, now's the week to do so, assuming they're in steady a supply as the event description suggests. And, if you have each evolution already, then it's time to stock up for when you have enough shiny Applin to evolve.
Credit: Scopely Explore / The Pokémon Company
Taken Over returns - as do 'regular' balloons
The 'Harvest Festival' event has a 'Taken Over' component from Friday, so use it to gather some Super Rocket Radars (remember, with the Giovanni Special Research no more, these only appear in the Go Pass) and to TM away Frustration.
The event description also mentions that "Team Go Rocket will appear more frequently at PokéStops and in balloons", meaning the recent controversial change to balloons appearing once a day will be reversed - albeit temporarily, and likely partially (will it return to four times per day again? We'll see!).
Matthew Reynolds
A rare Sunday event (and a new in-person experience across Europe)
After Saturday's 'Gigantamax Cinderace Max Battle Day' is a rare Sunday event as 'World Space Week 2026' begins.
As with the Summer Quest and National Trust events earlier this year, all players will receive Timed Research with an Astronaut Pikachu encounter, but there is more if you visit science-themed locations across the UK and Europe in person. While the game-wide event lasts a week (until Sunday, 10th October) the in-person component goes on until April, so you have plenty of time to visit one if you like.
Pokémon GO
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Here's a roundup of news from the past week:
- October's full event slate got revealed since the last newsletter, so here's a look at everything at a glance (and if you were wondering, the Go Pass for October features a Lucky Trinket and Kyogre encounter):
Credit: Scopely Explore / The Pokémon Company
- There's been a few more event announcements for October, too, including news that unreleased Pokémon Bramblin is to debut during the Fall Marathon event on 13th October, while 17th October sees a Sandile Hatch Day.
Pokémon GO
- For those in India, the 'Festival of Light' event is in November, with the return of Pikachu wearing a saree and kurta:
Pokémon GO
- Looking much further ahead, next year's Pokémon Go Tour is coming to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Los Angeles, California between 19th and 21st February (and not Hawaii, despite the event's Alola theme), with a Global stint a week later between the 27th and 28th February 2027:
Pokémon GO
- In wider Scopely Explore news, attendees at London's Japan Matsuri event on Sunday, 4th October can collect an exclusive Decor Pikmin and in-game postcard, and get some real-world items including a smartphone lanyard and hat.
- Finally, Aniimo launched on mobile devices on Wednesday, and in case you missed them, there are new codes to redeem for players on all platforms:
Matthew Reynolds
One More Catch notes
I've had a week away in Cornwall (my first holiday in 18 months - such is the freelance life!) where I've done my best to switch off while also making good use of the quiet countryside to rack up an alarming number of PokéStop Showcase wins:
Well, that’s a first
— One More Catch (@onemorecatch.site) 2026-09-18T20:04:22.183Z
As a result, the site has been quieter than normal. A quick shout out to Jessica Orr for holding the fort with Aniimo walkthrough updates while I've been out!
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!
