Max Monday is a weekly event where a specific Pokémon will appear across Power Spots at the same time in Pokémon Go.
Running between 6pm and 7pm local time every Monday, they're a great opportunity to easily battle and catch Dynamax versions of the highlighted Pokémon.
This page explains the Max Monday schedule for January 2026, how to best prepare for a Max Monday event, and everything we know about bonuses and shiny rate changes.
Max Monday schedule for January 2026
The following Pokémon will appear in January 2026's Max Monday events. which take place between 6pm and 7pm local time:
| Max Monday date | Pokémon | Can it be shiny? |
|---|---|---|
| 5th January | Drampa | Yes |
| 12th January | Caterpie | Yes |
| 19th January | Beldum | Yes |
| 26th January | Roggenrola | Yes |
Note that unlike Spotlight Hour or Community Day, these Pokémon will be in Power Spots before and after Max Monday: the event simply boosts their appearances for a limited time. This is handy for a bunch of reasons...
How to prepare and take advantage of Max Monday
Max Monday sees every Power Spot taken over by a specific Pokémon for an hour. This is useful because:
- If you're after a powerful version of that Pokémon, Max Mondays make it easier to catch more in a single concentrated session, meaning you're likely to find one with higher stats (IVs) faster.
- As well as rewarding regular Candy for that Pokémon, Max Battles are guaranteed to drop XL Candy, a rare resource that helps you power them to max CP.
- Max Battles are also a source of XP (the amount rewarded increasing in difficulty, with an extra 2,500 XP given for in-person battles) and Rare Candy.
To best prepare for a given Max Monday, you need strong counters for the Pokémon you are fighting, as well as enough Max Particles to cover the number of battles you wish to fight. This latter point takes some preparation if you want to do as many as possible for free.
Ideally, max out your Max Particles before Max Monday starts. Since there is a cap to how much you can gather each day, and that you can only collect Max Particles from individual Power Spots once per day, it's best to start at least a couple of days leading up to the event. Then, on the day itself, you can collect that day's free allocation after you start spending them during the event to keep the battles going. This all means can squeeze out as many free Max Particles as possible, and minimise the need to use items to top up your currency on the day.
Even with this method, if you're not willing to spend money on consumable items to keep playing, it's unlikely you'll play for the full hour - but you should still be able to get a handful of Max Battles under your belt before you run out of Max Particles.
Finally, know that the locations of Power Spots change every few days, so make sure you plan out an effective route that maximises the event ahead of time. And as with all events, make sure you prepare appropriately for the weather (especially during the winter, where it'll be dark and much colder by 6pm) and that you take refreshments with you.
Is there a Max Monday bonus or increased shiny odds?
Unlike Spotlight Hour or weekend events, there are no additional bonuses during Max Mondays. There are no increased shiny odds beyond the widely assumed odds of 1:128 that all Max Battles have (as discussed by The Silph Road subreddit here and here).
