The birthday of Pokémon GO will be celebrated in just a few days for the 6th time. For this reason, Niantic is hosting an anniversary event. We at MeinMMO have looked into what spawns and bonuses you can look forward to and what new costumes and features await you.
What kind of event is this? On July 6, 2016, Pokémon GO celebrated its release, making it a perfect occasion for the developers to crown the birthday of the mobile game with a special anniversary event.
It will feature numerous spawns and Shinies, various bonuses, as well as new costumes and a distinctive weekend. Look forward to the following event highlights:
- Pikachu with a cake costume
- Charmeleon and Charizard with party hats
- Battle weekend with Team GO Rocket and new Shadow Pokémon
When does the anniversary event start? The birthday event for Pokémon GO starts on July 6, 2022, at 10:00 AM local time and runs until July 12, 2022, at 8:00 PM local time.
New Costumes for Pikachu, Charmeleon, and Charizard
As you know from such events, there will also be various Pokémon at the anniversary event that will dress up especially for you. Naturally, a new costume for Pikachu cannot be missed.
During the entire event, look forward to a Pikachu with a cake costume. And Glumanda has put on a party hat for you. For the first time, you can evolve the Fire-type Pokémon into Charmeleon and Charizard, also wearing party hats.
You can find the costumed Pikachu and Glumanda in the wild. Pikachu also appears as a raid boss in level 1 raids. You can also find Charizard with a party hat in the raids.
All Spawns for the Anniversary Event
During the anniversary event, you won’t just encounter the costumed Pokémon. In the wild, in raids, and in field research, numerous other Pokémon await you. With a little luck, you might even catch a Shiny. All Pokémon that you can find in their shiny form are marked with a star (*).
- Wild Spawns:
- Bulbasaur*
- Glumanda with a party hat*
- Squirtle*
- Pikachu with a cake costume*
- Machop*
- Ledyba*
- Trasla*
- Haspiror*
- Toxiped
- Igamaro
- Fynx
- Froxy
- Scoppel*
- Leufeo*
- Peppeck
- Knarksel
- Scampisto
- Egunana
- Grillmak*
- Pokémon in Raids:
- Level 1 Raids: Pikachu with cake costume*, Dratini*, Grillmak*, Unown E*
- Level 3 Raids: Venusaur*, Charizard with party hat*, Blastoise*, Tyranitar, Metagross
- Level 5 Raids: Zapdos*
- Mega Raids: Mega Charizard X (until July 7), Mega Charizard Y (from July 7)
- Pokémon from Field Research:
- Bulbasaur*
- Glumanda*
- Squirtle*
- Chikorita*
- Cyndaquil*
- Totodile*
- Treecko*
- Torchic*
- Mudkip*
- Chelast*
- Panflam*
- Piplup*
- Snivy*
- Emolga*
- Oshawott*
- Igamaro
- Fynx
- Froxy
- Rowlet
- Litten
- Popplio
All Bonuses for the Anniversary Event
In addition to the many spawns, you can of course also look forward to one or another bonus during the event. However, as of now (June 30), these are not yet complete, so you can improve them again. Pokémon GO changed the bonuses in 2022.
This year, you could not earn a special bonus event during the GO Fest, but you can secure additional bonuses for other events at the various GO Fests.
If the global challenge for the GO Fest in Berlin is completed, you can look forward to even more bonuses at the anniversary event. The following bonuses are available regardless:
- Event Field Research
- New avatar items in the in-game shop
- New stickers from gifts and PokéStops as well as in the in-game shop
- Battle weekend with Team GO Rocket and new Shadow Pokémon
The battle weekend with Team GO Rocket
What is this event? During the anniversary event, you can expect a mini-event in the form of a special battle weekend. The members of Team GO Rocket will be in the spotlight.
During this time, you will not only encounter the black balloons more frequently, but Giovanni, the big boss of Team GO Rocket, is also back with a new Pokémon. In addition, trainers who like to participate in the GO Battle League can also look forward to one or another bonus during this time.
The following bonuses will be available:
Rocket balloons spawn every 3 hourshas been improved by the bonus- with a charged TM, you can remove Frustration from Shadow Pokémon
- 20 battle sets per day in the GO Battle League
4x Stardust upon winning in the GO Battle Leaguehas been improved by the bonus- Special research on Giovanni
- Reward: a Super Rocket Radar
New Shadow Pokémon: Additionally, the members of Team GO Rocket have new Shadow Pokémon. Therefore, look forward to the following monsters:
- Shadow Latios
- Shadow Geodude
- Shadow Shinx
- Shadow Espurr
When does the battle weekend with Team GO Rocket run? The mini-event runs from July 9, 2022, at 12:00 AM local time until July 10, 2022, at 11:59 PM local time.
Bonuses for the Anniversary Event and Battle Weekend
What kind of bonus is this? Since you completed the global challenge during the GO Fest in Berlin, you can look forward to additional bonuses for the anniversary event and the battle weekend.
All bonuses for the anniversary event: Throughout the entire anniversary event, you can look forward to encounters with 3 additional Pokémon:
- Grillmak, now also available as Shiny, in the wild and in raids
- Unown E in raids, with a little luck you can catch it as Shiny
- timed research
- Encounter with Wash Rotom
All bonuses for the battle weekend: You have also earned additional bonuses for the battle weekend. The following are waiting for you:
- Rocket balloons spawn every 2 hours
- 2 mysterious parts after defeating Rocket Grunts
- double Stardust upon defeating Rocket Grunts
- double XP in the won raid
- one additional raid pass per day
- 5x Stardust as a reward for won battles in the GO Battle League
- chance for encounters with legendary Pokémon from rank 16 of the GO Battle League
- special event attacks when evolving Pokémon:
- Floral Statute: Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treecko, Chelast, Snivy
- Fire Spin: Glumanda, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Panflam, Floink
- Aqua Jet: Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip, Piplup, Oshawott
- Fire Breath: Glumanda
What do you think of the contents of the anniversary event? Are you excited to finally face Giovanni again? And what additional bonuses would you like? Feel free to share your thoughts here on MeinMMO in the comments and discuss them with other trainers.
In the coming weeks, a lot is going on in Pokémon GO. We will show you all events in July and which ones are particularly worthwhile.
