Niantic has plenty in store for Pokemon Go Players in February

Pokemon Go February Research Breakthrough and events have been outlined by Niantic Labs.

Pokemon Go players should be prepared for some fun encounters, events, bonuses, and research this coming February.

The month will kick off with a Research Breakthrough encounter on February 1, and it will run through March 1. During this time, you will encounter Snorlax in Research Breakthroughs.

There will be plenty of Pokemon available in five-star and Mega Raids during the month too, some of which are going on now.

The following Legendary Pokemon will be appearing in five-star raids throughout February:

• Entei will be appearing in five-star raids until Sunday, January 31, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
• Raikou will be appearing in five-star raids from Sunday, January 31, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
• Suicune will be appearing in five-star raids from Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
• Latias and Latios will be appearing in five-star raids from Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. local time.
• Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo will be appearing in five-star raids from Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. to Monday, March 1, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. local time. In addition, the following Mega-Evolved Pokemon will be appearing in Mega Raids.
• Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom will be appearing in Mega Raids from Tuesday, January 19, 2021, through Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
• Mega Pidgeot, Mega Ampharos, and a surprise Mega-Evolved Pokeémon will be appearing in Mega Raids from Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. through Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. local time.
• Mega Venusaur, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Blastoise will be appearing in Mega Raids from Saturday, February 20, 2021, through Monday, March 1, 2021. Each week in February will also include a Raid Hour event on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. local time featuring the Pokemon currently active in five-star raids.

During the month of February, Spotlight Hours will take place every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time, and each hour will spotlight a different Pokemon and special bonus. You will find the schedule below.

• Tuesday, February 2, 2021: Ekans will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokemon.
• Tuesday, February 9, 2021: Miltank will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokemon.
• Tuesday, February 16, 2021: Luvdisc will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokemon.
• Tuesday, February 23, 2021: Pikachu will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokemon.

From Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, February 7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time, Team Go Rocket Grunts will be appearing with previously unseen Shadow Pokemon on their teams.

If you’re lucky, you may encounter a Shiny Shadow Pokemon by defeating a Team Go Rocket Leader. The event kicks off on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. and runs to Sunday, February 7, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Features

• Team Go Rocket Grunts will be turning the following Pokemon into Shadow Pokemon: Swinub, Nosepass, Aron, Spheal, Lileep, Anorith, and more.
• Team Go Rocket Grunts will also have different teams of Pokemon during the event and after its conclusion.
• Defeat Team Go Rocket Leaders during the event for a chance to receive a Team Go Rocket Leader Gift sticker.
• Be on the lookout for Pokemon like Golbat, Koffing, Ariados, Qwilfish, Sneasel, Houndour, Nuzleaf, Stunky, Skorupi, and Venipede appearing more often in the wild.
• Qwilfish, Larvitar, Corphish, Absol, Skorupi, Sandile, Scraggy, Pawniard, Vullaby, and Deino will be hatching from Strange Eggs during and after the event.
• The following Pokemon will be appearing in raids.
  • One-star raids: Alolan Meowth, Alolan Grimer, Gligar, Sneasel, Shinx, and Klink.
  • Three-star raids: Nidoqueen, Ariados, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Absol.
  • Five-star raids: Raikou and Suicune will both be appearing at different times.
  • Mega Raids: Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom.
• Event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research will be available.
• The Team Go Rocket–themed Timed Research that begins during the Johto Celebration event will continue during this event and will reward an encounter with the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh that knows the exclusive attack Earthquake.
• Keep a lookout for more invaded PokeStops and Team Go Rocket balloons than usual.

Bonuses during this event will see half Egg Hatch Distance when an Egg is placed inside an Incubator.

February Community Day is coming too, so don't forget that on February 7, 2021, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time the February floral Community Day with Roselia will take place. Evolve Roselia during the event or up to two hours afterward to get a Roserade that knows both the Charged Attack Weather Ball (Fire-type) and the Fast Attack Bullet Seed.

The Lunar New Year event returns on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, and will run until Sunday, February 14, 2021. During this time, you will encounter red Pokemon to celebrate the Year of the Ox.  A special Mega-Evolved Pokemon will also be appearing in Mega Raids for the first time at the start of this event. More details are promised soon.

You can also celebrate Valentine’s Day in the Valentine’s Day-themed Love Cup. From Monday, February 8, 2021, to Monday, February 15, 2021, compete in the cup in the Go Battle League and form a team using Pokemon that are red or pink and with a max CP of 1,500 to enter. No Legendary or Mythical Pokemon may be included on your team.

From Sunday, February 14, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time, the annual Valentine’s Day event will be held. You can look forward to some Pokemon making their Pokemon Go debut as well as exclusive avatar items. More details are coming soon.

Also, don't forget about the Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto going on until February 20.  In the ticketed version of this Pokemon Go event, you’ll choose between the Red Version or Green Version of the event, and each will feature version-exclusive Pokemon. You will be completing event-exclusive Special Research, and testing your Pokemon-collection skills, and trading with a friend who can choose the other version will be important, just like it was in Red and Green.

During the Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto, the first 150 Pokemon originally discovered in this region will be available as Shiny Polemon – some for the first time ever. You will be able to encounter these Pokemon after the event is over.

There will be a special Kanto-themed celebration event and Raid Day at the end of February to close out the Season of Celebration.

Finally, each week in February, a different  PokeCoin bundle will be featured in the shop. Here's what to expect:

• From February 1: 1 PokeCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: 20 Poke Balls, a Remote Raid Pass, and a Rocket Radar.
• From February 8:  1 PokeCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: eight Incense, 16 Razz Berries, and 10 Pinap Berries.
• From February 15: 1 PokeCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: a Remote Raid Pass, 20 Poke Balls, 10 Great Balls, and five Ultra Balls.
• From February 22:  1 PokeCoin bundle featuring the following items will be available: 20 Poke Balls, a Remote Raid Pass, five Incense.

Quality-of-life updates are also in the works. Soon, you will be able to view an image gallery showing off the PokeStop and Gym images that you and other Trainers have submitted. The feature will start rolling out over time and will go worldwide to Trainers level 38 and above toward the end of March.

Soon, you will also be able to capture the moment you level up in Pokemon Go without screenshotting. The level-up social share feature will be coming in February to players worldwide.

Niantic also said that soon, you’ll be able to transfer Legendary and Mythical Pokemon when selecting multiple Pokemon by enabling the functionality in the game settings.

Sounds like a busy month is coming your way.