Pokémon GO, all the events of April: shadow Zapdos, raids and free items
Pokémon GO, all the events of April
A new month is about to begin, and if you're a Pokémon GO Trainer, you know what that means: there are tons of new events coming up! Let's find out together the busy agenda prepared by Niantic.In April, first of all, you will have to hunt down Giovanni and save Zapdos Shadow from his clutches. If you haven't done so yet, we recommend that you complete Team GO Rocket's latest special quest "Big Trouble At High Altitude", in order to get a Super Rocket Radar, very useful for tracking down the boss. The object will also be up for grabs in a timed search that will be available from Thursday 1 April 2021 to 23:59 on Thursday 8 April 2021.
During the Extraordinary Discovery meetings (active from 22:00 on April 1st at the same time as May 1st) you will find male Frillish, while in the 5-star Raid and Megaraid there will be the following Pokémon in evidence:
5-star raid
The Totem Shape of Tornadus will make its debut on Tuesday 30 March 2021 at 10:00 and will restart on Tuesday 13 April 2021 at 10:00; Landorus's Totem Shape will make its debut on Tuesday 13 April 2021 at 10:00 and will restart on Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 10:00; The incarnation forms of Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus will appear starting Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 10:00. With a little luck, you may encounter them in their chromatic forms!Megaraid
MegaHoundoom, MegaManectric and MegaAbomasnow will appear until Sunday 4 April 2021 at 10:00; A surprise mega-evolved Pokémon will appear in megaraids on Sunday 4 April 2021 at 10:00 and will continue to appear for the rest of the month; MegaGengar and MegaManectric will appear from 10:00 on Monday 5 April 2021 to 10:00 on Tuesday 20 April 2021; MegaVenusaur and MegaAbomasnow will appear starting Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 10:00. A Raid Hour event will take place every Wednesday in April from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm, which will showcase the Pokémon that will appear in five-star raids during the week. You will earn extra XP by completing five-star raids during Legends Season.Featured Pokémon Hours will also take place in April, every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm, with ever-changing protagonists and special bonuses:
Tuesday 6 April 2021: Buneary, double the amount of candy by transferring Pokémon; Tuesday, April 13, 2021: Mankey, double the amount of XP by evolving Pokémon; Tuesday, April 20, 2021: Grimer, double the amount of stardust by catching Pokémon; Tuesday, April 27, 2021: Finneon, double the amount of XP when catching Pokémon. Community Day in April will be dedicated to Snivy, and will take place from 11:00 to 17:00 on Sunday 11 April. By evolving Servine (Snivy's evolved form) within two hours of the event ending, you will receive a Serperior who knows Root Tree.
It's not over yet! Many other events are also planned, including:
Scent of spring: from Sunday 4 April 2021 until Thursday 8 April 2021 there will be a spring themed event with Chansey, Blissey and Happiny wearing flower crowns, Egg themed surprises and more; Rivals Week: Rival Pokémon will be presented from Tuesday 13 April 2021 to Sunday 18 April 2021, including some that will make their debut in Pokémon GO; Environmental Awareness Week: From Tuesday, April 20, 2021 to Sunday, April 25, 2021, Pokémon like Grimer, Trubbish, and more will appear more often in the wild; Friendship day: Saturday 24 April. Finally, we conclude this long roundup by reporting that every Monday in April in the shop will be available a one-time free offer that will include a remote raid ticket and other items. In the meantime, you can dedicate yourself to the Climate Week event with Rayquaza.
Analysis: Here are the ‘Pokemon Go’ events to prioritize for April 2021
Spring is strongly in the air for “Pokemon Go” during April, and Niantic is capitalizing on that with a series of nature-specific events. The celebration for the month sound more interesting and coherent than what kicked off the Season of Legends.
The biggest thing trainers can do to prepare for April is finish the fight against Giovanni and rescue Shadow Articuno. If they don’t do it by the end of March, they’ll miss out on the opportunity to catch it. THat’s because players will have to go through the whole rigmarole again in April. Players will have to continue to battle Team Go Rocket to rescue Shadow Zapdos this time around.
Once players save these Pokemon, it’s best not to purify them. The Shadow forms are rarer and more useful than the purified ones. Interesting observation: The monikers of each of the Pokemon have Spanish numbers embedded within the names — Artic-uno, Zap-dos and Mol-tres. It could explain the order, in which they’re being released.
DON’T MISS THE COMMUNITY DAYThe important event for the month is likely the “Pokemon Go” Community Day. It stars Snivy, which is the first starter Pokemon in more than a year. Being one of the pocket monsters that you can start with in the Unova region, Snivy will be especially useful in several cases including the Great and Ultra leagues in PvP. I wrote about how big this is earlier in the week.
Community Day runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 11
INTERESTING EVENTSApril kicks off with a Team Go Rocket Timed Research running from midnight April 1 to 11:59 p.m. April 8. This is a good way to jump start the quest line to get that Shadow Zapdos. It will also help players who are trying to reach level 45. The tasks to hit that bar focus on battling Team Go Rocket, and there will be plenty of chances to fight during this week.
Spring into Spring runs from April 4 to April 8 and features a few costumed Pokemon. The event coincides with Easter, and because of that, the pocket monsters available are themed for the holiday. That includes Chansey, Blissey and Happiny — all Pokemon focused on eggs. They’ll have flower crowns for this round and the best part is that they can be shiny. The variants with the flower crowns are expected to be highly sought-after and one of the more useful creatures in the game. That Pokemon line is full of top gym defender.
Along with that, players can expect other spring- and Egg-themed Pokemon. I suspect players will find Togepi, Buneary and Bunnelby to show up. That’s speculation on my part. Out of those, Togepi and Buneary can be shiny with the latter possibly having more value.
Rivals’ Week runs from April 13 to April 18. The event isn’t about rival trainers, but instead focused rivalries among pocket monsters. This could mean more Pokemon that have a natural adversarial relationships may show up. This is pure speculation and examples of potential rivalries but Heatmor and Durant have a predator and prey tie in respectively. Magmar and Electabuzz are seemingly counterparts. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan seem to be natural sparring partners. Solosis and Gothita can be seen as parallels to each other, according to Bulbapedia. The best part about this event is that some new pocket monsters will be making their debut in “Pokemon Go.”
Sustainability Week runs from April 20 to April 25 and appears to have a theme focused on Earth Day, which is April 22. Pokemon such as Grimer and Trubbish will be appearing more in the wild. I suspect Koffing and its Galarian form shouldn’t be too far behind. This is a good opportunity to catch a shiny Grimer and may be clean up the environment from these Pokemon.
Friendship Day will be held April 24. I’m expecting players to get a boost to friendship levels and perhaps expanded trade distance. Perhaps it will feature Pokemon with a symbiotic relationship or come in pairs such as Volbeat and Illumise.
Lastly, the end of April hints at a “snappy” event and that’s likely a reference to the release of “New Pokemon Snap” on Nintendo Switch. I expect some event focused on taking pictures with photo bombs being important. I’m curious to see if Niantic will incorporate the Illumina phenomenon into the game to create another variant.
RAIDS ARE HO-HUMAs expected, the legendary raids will be focused on the rest of the Forces of Nature. The Therian formes will be around for a while and Niantic will likely mix it up during the weekends with fresh raids after the initial rush to get a high-stat version of these legendary Pokemon. Here is the schedule:
Therian Forme Tornadus will run from 10 a.m. March 30 to 10 a.m. April 13. Visually, it’s the most interesting of the three Therian formes but its stats aren’t as great. They are more balanced.
Therian Forme Landorus will make its debut from 10 a.m. April 13 to 10 a.m. April 27. This is the one to go after. It has a stat boost to attack making it better than its Incarnate Forme. Plus, it also looks cool.
Finally, the Incarnate Formes of the Forces of Nature will return from 10 a.m. April 27 and will likely last the rest of the month. This is a chance to get a shiny version of the legendary pocket monsters if you may have missed them the first time around.
More interesting is that players will be getting a new Mega Evolution Pokemon on April 4. The new Mega Evolution will hang around until the end of the month. It also happens to be Easter during its debut. My money is on Mega Lopunny. The normal- and fighting-type Pokemon does fit the theme.
DECENT SPOTLIGHT HOURSThe Pokemon for Tuesday’s Spotlight Hours aren’t too exciting. Three of the four can be shiny Pokemon but many aren’t super useful aside from one. I would focus on these three:
Buneary will be the star of April 6. This could be worthwhile depending on if Mega Lopunny is the mysterious Mega Evolution coming out on Easter. Either way, double transfer candy makes this a must for those looking to cull Pokemon and increase storage.
Grimer will be the focus of April 20’s spotlight hour and that kicks off Sustainability Week. Players have a chance to catch a shiny Grimer and get double stardust while they’re at it. Grimer is also actually useful in some teams and cups.Mankey will be abundant on April 13. The reason players should catch this Pokemon is that it can be shiny. It has a decent usefulness in Go Battle League depending on the cup. The bonus for the event isn’t all that great. Getting twice the XP for evolving is somewhat useful but takes up valuable resources.
RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH TO FILL OUT THE DEXApril’s Research breakthrough isn’t as exciting as Gible, but it will be good for players looking to fill out their Pokedex and compete in Go Battle League Male Frillish will be making the rounds this month. It was previously a Pokemon one could only get as a reward for Go Battle League. The Ghost- and Water-typing makes this Pokemon rather unique and its moveset and stats as Jellicent make it a smart pick for Great and Ultra leagues.
Of course, this is a quick overview and Niantic is bound to update April’s events with more details. As it gets closer to those dates, expect to see information released.
