December 2019 in Pokémon GO will be really big. Niantic announces the upcoming events and closes the year with a big bang: They show new Pokémon and Shinies.
What has been announced? They revealed all the events that are yet to come this month. There is also the announcement of Virizion, the upcoming raid boss.
In the huge Christmas event, there will be new Pokémon from the 5th generation, many potential Shinies, new costume Pokémon, and a lot of bonuses.
Virizion in the legendary raids
When does Virizion come? The legendary Pokémon will replace Terrakion, which will still be available in raids until December 17th at 10 PM. Right after that, Virizion will take over and will be available until January 7th.
What kind of Pokémon is Virizion? It belongs, just like Cobalion and Terrakion, to the Swords of Justice. It is a dual-type Grass and Fighting Pokémon.
You will find an in-depth analysis of Virizion and its strengths soon on MeinMMO.
Raid Weekend with Lugia and Ho-Oh
When does the event start? On the weekend before Christmas, you will have another chance to encounter Lugia and Ho-Oh. They will appear from December 20th at 10 PM to December 23rd at 10 PM.
What happens in this event? Such raid weekends have occurred before. During this time, you will find more of these legendary Pokémon in raids. Virizion will also continue to appear in raids.
Whether the total number of legendary raids will be increased remains to be seen. However, it has been the case in similar events.
Massive Christmas event brings Petznief and Frigometri
Pokémon GO is known for its large Christmas events, and this year will be no different.
When does the event run? From December 24th at 12 AM until January 1st at 11:59 PM local time, this event will take place. So you will be accompanied by this event for the entire Christmas period.
Changes to the Pokémon: Many spawns, new Pokémon, and monsters in special costumes await you. Here’s the overview:
- Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu with beanies, and Damhirplex with a bell around its neck will appear.
- Ice Pokémon like Botogel, Schneppke, or Sniebel will appear more frequently in the wild.
- For the first time, the Ice Pokémon Petznief will appear in the wild.
- From 7 km eggs, you will hatch Pokémon like Alolan Sandshrew, Alolan Vulpix, Pichu, and Damhirplex.
- In raids, you will find Raichu with beanies and Damhirplex with a bell.
- From Glacier lure modules, you will encounter the Ice Pokémon Frigometri for the first time.
- Special field research will include Pikachu with beanies, among others.
- New Crypto-Pokémon, such as Botogel, will appear in Pokémon GO.
- New avatar items will be available in the shop.
- Shiny Damhirplex with a bell and Shiny Shnebedeck will be available in Pokémon GO for the first time.
What are these new Pokémon? Petznief and Frigometri both belong to the 5th generation. They were already strong candidates for the Christmas event prior to the announcement.
Petznief evolves into Siberio. Frigometri has no evolution.
What does Pikachu with beanies look like? This Hat Pikachu was found in the code almost a year ago. Now, it appears for the first time in the wild. It wears a winter hat.
How do the Shinies look like? Damhirplex will be easy to spot. It is green instead of brown. Shnebedeck has blue arms instead of green arms.
Whether there will also be Shiny Pikachu with beanies this time is still unclear. Niantic has not yet provided any information on this.
These bonuses are available: The Christmas event not only changes the spawns but also the bonuses. Throughout the event, the following bonuses will be available:
- Twice as many gifts can be opened per day (40 gifts per day)
- Twice as many gifts can be carried (20 at a time)
- There will be one Egg Incubator available daily, but it only holds for one egg
In addition to these bonuses, there will be more bonuses that are available only on 2 days during the event. These include:
- December 24th and 25th: Double candy for trading and catching
- December 26th and 27th: Double stardust for catching
- December 28th and 29th: Double XP for catching
- December 30th to January 1st: The hatch distance is halved
Winter Weekend Event on the Last Saturday
When does this event run? On the last Saturday of the year, there will be another special event lasting 8 hours. On December 28th, it will take place from 11 AM to 7 PM.
What will be in the event? During this event, much will revolve around Ice Pokémon. The following bonuses await you:
- Glacier lure modules will be active for 2 hours and attract Pokémon like Botogel, Lapras, or Petznief.
- Glaceon will learn the move Last Resort if evolved at the Glacier lure module during the 8 hours.
- Regice will return to Pokémon GO during these 8 hours and will be available in level 5 raids.
- During the event, you will receive 2 free raid passes. So, on that day, you can receive 3 free passes.
Which event is your highlight? What are you looking forward to the most?
