The next Spotlight Hour is coming up in Pokémon GO. This time you can farm a monster that can be very rewarding next week.
What is this event? Spotlight Hours are short, 60-minute events that take place every Thursday. At least one monster is featured, appearing in high numbers. The monster is accompanied by a bonus that is also active during the event.
The next Spotlight Hour will take place on August 20, 2026. Here you can find and catch Magikarp. Magikarp is from Generation 1 and can evolve into Gyarados, which also brings the Flying type. Gyarados also has a Mega Evolution.
Spotlight Hour on August 20, 2026 – Start and Bonuses
When does the Spotlight Hour start? As usual, the Spotlight Hour starts at 6:00 PM. After exactly 60 minutes, that is at 7:00 PM, the short event ends again.
What bonus is active? If you catch monsters during the event, you will receive double the amount of experience points.
Can you catch Shiny Magikarp? Yes. The Shiny variant of Magikarp is available in the game and can also be caught during the Spotlight Hour. However, you will need a good portion of luck, as the chance is not increased.
Is the Spotlight Hour worth it? If you evolve Magikarp into Gyarados, you will get a solid Water-type attacker. Even though the monster doesn’t make it onto the list of best attackers in Pokémon GO, it can still strengthen your team if you are not doing too well here yet.
Additionally, Mega Gyarados will be available in Mega Raids starting Wednesday, August 26, 2026. The Spotlight Hour is therefore the perfect opportunity to already collect some candies for the attacker. Because compared to the normal variant of Gyarados, the Mega Evolution is still one of the best Water-type attackers and also very strong as a Dark-type attacker.
You can also use the candies if you recently took the opportunity and caught Dyna-Magikarp.
In the battle leagues, you should rather skip using Magikarp and Gyarados. Both monsters can’t score well here.
If you use Lucky Eggs during the event, you can earn quadruple the amount of experience points for each catch. Thus, you can gain some additional experience points if you take advantage of the Spotlight Hours.
How about you? Will you take advantage of the Spotlight Hour? Feel free to let us know in the comments. If you want to get an overview of what the current month brings in Pokémon GO, take a look at our overview with all events in August 2026 in Pokémon GO.
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