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Pokémon Go celebrates third anniversary with tons of in-game events

Shiny Alolan Pokémon, extra Raid Premier Balls, and more

Niantic
Julia Lee (she/her) is a guides producer, writing guides for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Genshin Impact. She helped launch the Rift Herald in 2016.

To celebrate Pokémon Go’s third anniversary, there will be a plethora of in-game events to celebrate.

Starting on June 28 at 4 p.m. ET, players will be able to encounter Shiny Alolan Pokémon like Sandshrew, Vulpix, Meowth, Geodude, and more. There will also be avatar items added to the shop that let you replicate the look of your favorite team leader.

Until July 6 at 4 p.m. ET, Pikachu with party hats will also be photobombing Go Snapshot pictures you take, just like how they did for April Fools. Pichu hatched from 7 km eggs will also have a snazzy party hat.

Until Sept. 2 at 4 p.m. ET, raids will drop extra Premier Balls to let players get more chances to snag raid Pokémon; Stardust trades will be discounted by 25 percent; and there will be new Special Research tasks catered to helping players get back into the game. The tasks will only be available to players over level 10, so if you’ve never touched Pokémon Go, now is the time.

In the featured art for this event, you can see Mime Jr., a Sinnoh region baby Pokémon that has yet to be released in the game. Its evolution, Mr. Mime, is a regional Pokémon, only available in Europe. That being said, it’s unknown whether or not Mime Jr. will come from eggs like the rest of the baby Pokémon or if it’ll be another exclusive locked to Europe.

There also seem to be some Team Rocket grunts hiding behind a tree, which points to recent datamines by Chrales, a Pokémon Go fan known for mining out patches. The datamines imply that players will be able to battle Team Rocket members who are “invading” in some way, but the details about all that are still unclear.

The starter Pokémon from the Unova region, Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy, also appear in the image, a strong hint that Gen 5 Pokémon are coming to Pokémon Go soon.

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