Pokemon Go: Zekrom debuts in five-star raids, Solstice and Bug Out events return - more in June

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson Former News Editor

Published on May 30, 2020

Pokemon Go plays have plenty to look forward to in June.

Niantic has posted what Pokemon Go players can expect in June, starting with the month's Research Breakthrough encounter.

Starting Monday, June 1, and running through July 1, the encounter will be Ant Pit Pokemon Trapinch with bonus Trapinch Candies.

On June 16, Zekrom will make its debut in the game in five-star raids. In addition, there will be Raid Hour events featuring Zekrom every Wednesday while it’s in five-star raids.

Here's the schedule:

Wednesday, June 17, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time
Wednesday, July 1, 2020, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time

The solstice-themed event and the Bug Out event will also return next month. The solstice event will run from Friday, June 19 through Wednesday, June 24. The Bug Out event will run June 26-July 1.

Both events will start at 8am local time on the starting date, and finish up at 10pm local time on the ending date.

More details on both events will be provided closer to launch.

Trainers who completed all four Timed Research lines will now be able to participate in the Throwback Challenge Champion 2020 Special Research. Be sure to visit Professor Willow to rediscover Pokemon originally found in the Unova region and meet Pokemon originally discovered in the Galar region as they make their Pokemon Go debut.

If you complete four sets of tasks during this Special Research, you will earn five Rare Candies, reward encounters with Galarian Meowth, Galarian Stunfisk, and Genesect, and Professor Willow’s glasses as an avatar item. This particular Special Research isn’t time-limited and can be unlocked and completed at any time.

Those who couldn’t complete all Timed Research lines will be able to purchase a ticket for the Throwback Challenge Celebration 2020 Special Research in the shop.

If you already have access to the Throwback Challenge and purchase a ticket for the Throwback Challenge Celebration 2020 Special Research in the shop, you’ll receive a version of the challenges with the following changes: each time you would’ve earned a reward encounter with a Pokemon, you instead will earn 10 Candies for that specific Pokemon, and you’ll earn Stardust instead of Professor Willow’s glasses.

All Trainers can still participate in an event taking place during the same time period. In this event, Galarian Stunfisk will be appearing in the wild, and you can hatch Galarian Meowth, Galarian Zigzagoon, Galarian Darumaka, and Galarian Stunfisk from 7 km Eggs.

Finally, during June, Spotlight Hour will take place every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time except for June 2, and each hour will spotlight a different Pokemon and special bonus. The schedule is below.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020: There will be no Pokemon Spotlight Hour.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020: Patrat will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokemon.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020: Numel will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokemon.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020: Clefairy will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokemon. If you’re lucky, you might encounter Shiny Clefairy.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020: Kricketot will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokemon.

Don't forget: Pokemon Go will see some downtime when the servers go offline for maintenance on June 1, and it is expected to last seven hours.