Pokémon is celebrating 25 years and they’re making it a year long celebration! Pokemon Cards returning to McDonalds and a new Pokemon Snap game are just some of the exciting things we know about. And now Pokemon Go is joining in on the celebrations with an entire event focused on where it all started: Kanto!
The event will take place Saturday, February 20, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time and will see Event-specific research, the return of Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo in Raids with new exclusives moves, as well as an increase in Trade Range to 40km for the following week. Though if you decide to buy a ticket for the event, the bonuses skyrocket as all 150 Pokemon originally discovered in Kanto will be available in Shiny! “But what about the Pokemon #151?” you’re probably wondering.
Those who buy a ticket for the event – Red or Green version, which we’ll discuss more in the next section – will receive a special event research story that culminates in a special (unnamed) encounter. Once that Story event is complete, a secret second Quest will unlock. This second quest was designed to take a longer period of time and will have quite a few challenges. Though, those who complete it will be rewarded with a Shiny Mew!
Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto – Pick Your Version:
Many have often said that the most important question in any Pokemon game is ‘Which Starter will you choose?’. Though there is an equally important – if not more difficult question one must make first: Which Version will you be getting? This is a tradition that has continued since the original Red and Green versions were first released in Japan; and to honor that beginning, the Pokemon Go: Kanto event will similarly come in both a Red and Green version for players to choose between.
Like all ‘versions’ in Pokemon, there won’t be any gameplay/ story differences – unless a secret ‘Yellow’ version gets released later lol – but rather the differences will be based on which Pokemon you can and can’t obtain. The version exclusives you remember from childhood will remain the same (ie: Ekans in Red, Sandshrew in Green/ Blue); but there will be added differences this time around as each version will have an improved chance of Shiny variants. It’s far too confusing to list them all out; but thankfully Reddit user u/jshen130 posted a helpful chart on TheSilphRoad Reddit page.
Though remember, the versions only affect “IMPROVED” chances as every Kanto Pokemon will be available as a Shiny during this event, regardless of version.
Tickets can be purchased in the in-game store. For more details on this event, feel free to check out the full release notes on the Pokemon Go website. Happy Hunting!
