By Gieson Cacho | [email protected] | Bay Area News Group
Niantic announced the second part of its Halloween 2024 event and the star of the spooky celebration is Gigantamax Gengar. The massive pocket monster will debut at 10 a.m. on Halloween and will be available through 8 p.m. Nov. 3.
Similar to the upcoming weekend debuts of Gigantamax Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise, this version of the Shadow Pokemon will be hard to defeat. It's a six-star Max Battle after all. This will be the time for Normal Pokemon with Dark moves such as Dubwool and Greedant to shine. Dynamax Gastly, which will launch in the first part of the event, beginning Tuesday, is also a good pick if you're looking to do damage, but it will likely be vulnerable to Gigantamax Gengar's moves. Best of all Gigantamax Gengar can be shiny.
"Pokemon Go's" Halloween 2024 Part II event is more focused on costumed Pokemon. Past pocket monsters with costumes will return such as Pichu, Gengar, Piplup, Pumpkaboo, Drifblim and Pikachu. These will be must-haves for collectors who may be missing them or their shiny versions. Meanwhile, Niantic is releasing two new costumed Pokemon with Froakie wearing a witch hat and Rowlet donning a top hat.All the costumed Pokemon can be shiny and players can evolve the new ones.
When it comes to regular wild encounters, players have the opportunity to grab Shuppet, Woobat, Inkay and their shiny variants, but the real prizes are Zorua and Phantump. These Pokemon are normally uncommon outside of seasonal events, and the shiny versions will be sought-after. To make sure that you don't miss a potential Zorua, make sure your buddy is something conspicuous like a legendary Pokemon or a shiny one.
As for other aspects of the event, players can find event Pokemon hatching out of 7km, but costumed Vulpix, Pichu, Froakie and Rowlet aren't too exciting. The raids will also feature more costumed Pokemon, but again, it's nothing to write home about with costumed Pikachu, Froakie, Rowlet, Gengar and Drifblim. Umbreon is the only Pokemon that doesn't have a costume. They can all be shiny as well.
Niantic will offer a Free Timed Research focused on Spiritomb running from 10 a.m. Oct. 22 to 8 p.m. Nov. 3. It's a rare opportunity to grab the Forbidden Pokemon, which rarely appears outside of spooky season. It can also be shiny. If players want more chances at Spiritomb and other Halloween-ish Pokemon, they can buy a Paid Timed Research that also includes a costume for players' avatars.
The only other way to access Spiritomb is through Field Research, but players will have to wade through other tasks that reward costumed Pokemon such as Pikachu, Vulpix, Piplup, Froakie and Rowlet. Morpeko is also available. That should also be a priority because after the event, the only way to catch on will be through Go Battle League.