Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.
It's another busy week, with multiple overlapping events - which include the return of Mega Rayquaza and Sunday's Go Fest raids - and a couple of new debuts in the form of an anticipated legendary shiny and, just when you thought we were done, yet another costumed Pikachu.
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 (20th to 26th July)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
What to know about this week
Here's what jumps out to me this week:
There's two new debuts
For completionists, the highlights of the week are a new Pikachu (Professor Willow's assistant costume) and the debut of a new shiny (Gen 7 legendary Solgaleo).
The costumed Pikachu debuts as part of a Tuesday-only event in Field Research, Timed Research, and Snapshots - but if you miss out, it'll be in raids until Monday, 27th July.
Solgaleo, meanwhile, will debut during Wednesday's raid refresh and will stick around until the following Wednesday. If you fancy the shiny (and with the spectacular red shade, it's going to be hard to resist) then the Raid Hour Wednesday evening might be your best bet.
Mega Rayquaza is back
Saturday and Sunday's 'Ozone Ascent' features a free Rayquaza encounter and Meteorite item, helping you secure its powerful Mega Evolution. (A paid ticketed version offers both of these, plus some Mega Energy.)
How easy all this will be is currently unknown - my best guess is it'll require a grind, and / or a sizeable number of raid completions - but for those who have missed out on the Sky High Pokémon, and one of the game's strongest ever creatures, be sure to make the most of it.
Go Fest Global returns...
As part of a make up event that plagued the start of the day for some regions, Sunday will see a replay of Go Fest Global's Sunday raids - Mega Mewtwo Y, event bonuses and all. Originally announced for timezones up to the UTC+0, this has since been confirmed to appear for all players between 10am and 7pm local time, with up to 12 free raid passes up for grabs by spinning Gyms.
My original Go Fest Global raid schedule guide can offer a refresher on what to expect. As for myself, I won't be taking it nearly as seriously as the original weekend, but I plan to get a top up of extra Mega Mewtwo Y Energy while it's around.
...as does shiny Shaymin
Talking of re-runs, tucked towards the bottom of this blog post is news that Masterwork Research ticket 'Glimmers of Gratitude' will reappear in the shop on Tuesday, allowing you to get a shiny Shaymin for £4.99 / $4.99.
If you purchased it previously in 2024, you won't be able to get it again - but for everyone else, it's a rare opportunity to get a shiny mythical (after a lengthy series of tasks, of course).
Need Eevee Candy, XL Candy or shinies?
Finally, Thursday's Spotlight Hour features Eevee and a 2x Catch Candy bonus. Eevee has appeared a lot over the years, but with its many evolutions - several of which are pretty strong in the meta - it's always worth catching en masse when the opportunity arises.
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Here's a roundup of the biggest stories from the week:
- Just as we get over Go Fest (though you could argue with Sunday's makeup event, it's still ongoing), dates for Go Wild Area - the November equivalent - have been unveiled, with Mexico City and Sendai events also announced for those who fancy an in-person gathering:
Matthew Reynolds
- For those in London, there's a 'Summer Quest' event at Shoreditch's Box Park in August, where completing Timed Research gets you a free coffee on a first come, first served basis:
Pokémon GO
- For all players, there's been a flurry of event announcements: August kicks off with the return of Gigantamax Rillaboom; there will be a Smoochum and Magby Hatch Day; the Water Festival sees unreleased Pokémon Arrokuda, Barraskewda and Cramorant debut; and there'll be a Starmie Super Mega Raid Day, which sees Legends: Z-A's best new addition arrive towards the end of the month.
- After the 10th anniversary celebration in New York - which saw Pokémon Go hand out the game's first guaranteed hundo - it seems some of those in attendance are selling their Mewtwos for a tidy sum, which Scopely Explore would like to remind folks is against the terms of service. "Selling or sharing of accounts and Pokémon is strictly prohibited, and Trainers found doing so are subject to an immediate ban/account removal", a spokesperson told IGN.
One More Catch notes
During the week, I attended the Develop conference in Brighton to catch up with industry pals and be miserable in the heat that continues to plague these isles. Between that, and catching up on freelance work after doubling down on the site this past month, One More Catch is going to be on the quiet side until August, though I'm hoping to squeeze in one or two non-guides pages where time and energy allows.
Meanwhile, something I forgot to mention in last week's newsletter is that I was quoted in a BBC News piece for Pokémon Go's 10th anniversary! It's a pretty surreal turn of events to see One More Catch mentioned on the Beeb when the site didn't even exist six months ago, and you can read it here:
Laura Cress
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, 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!
