It's that time again! Many of us are dreaming of a White Christmas in the coming days, and basically all of us dream about the end to 2020. To celebrate this final push for the year, Niantic is giving us one final event to enjoy, one with a distinctly Holiday-oriented theme and feel. It's time to truly celebrate the Season of Celebration, as this could very well be our last event of 2020 for Pokemon Go!
2020 Holiday Event
| Event Start | Event End |
|---|---|
| December 22, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. local time | December 31, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. local time |
- Event-exclusive field research with special Ice Type encounters
- Players will be able to hold up to 40 gifts and open up to 45 gifts per day
- Holiday stickers will be available from Pokestops, Gifts, and the Pokemon Go shop
- Event exclusive boxes will be available in the shop
- Special bonuses will be available at select times (See below)
- Exclusive AR Mapping tasks will be available
- Exclusive winter avatar items will be available
- Specific Pokemon will be appearing in holiday costumes
- Ice Types will begin appearing in the wild more frequently, including the release of the Ice Type Pokemon Vanillite!
- Ice Types will hatch from 5k Eggs more frequently
- Ice Types appear in raids more frequently
Limited Bonuses
| Bonus | Bonus Start (Local time) | Bonus End (Local time) |
|---|---|---|
| 2x Raid XP | ecember 22, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. | December 23, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. |
| 2x Catch Candy | December 24, 2020, at 12:00 a.m | December 25, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. |
| 2x Star Piece Duration | December 26, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. | December 27, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. |
| 2x Lucky Egg Duration | December 28, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. | December 29, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. |
| 2x Catch Stardust | December 30, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. | December 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. |
Special Weekend Winter Event
We also have a currently unannounced weekend event coming for the final weekend of 2020. We'll post more details when it's been revealed!
| Event Start | Event End |
|---|---|
| December 26, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. local time | December 27, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time |
The Vanillite Family's Release
Arguably, the headliner for this event is the release of Vanillite and its evolutionary counterparts for the first time. Many players will be hunting these pure Ice Type Pokemon to add them to their Pokedex, but do they have value beyond this?
PvE Performance
With Frost Breath and Blizzard, Vanilluxe is the only member of this family with any sort of potential PvE viability... but it really doesn't have any. Its attack stat is far too low to be viable, leaving it nothing more than a painfully mediocre dex filler with no niche to call its own.
PvP Performance
With a mix of powerful and expensive charged moves and a fast move that provides below-average energy gain compounded by somewhat more attack oriented stats, a lack of meaningful coverage and the worst single-type defensively speaking, Vanilluxe isn't going to be a meaningful Pokemon in the PvP meta. Vanillish has it a bit better off in terms of stats and moves, but it's still unlikely to make waves outside of super-specific cup restrictions in the future.
Full Announcement
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Celebrate Pokémon GO Holidays 2020 with holiday- and ice-themed Pokémon!
Trainers,
The Pokémon GO Holidays event is back! Look forward to costumed Pokémon, an Ice-type Pokémon never before seen in Pokémon GO, event-exclusive Field Research, winter-themed avatar items, and a blizzard of bonuses!
Date + Time
Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. to Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. local time
Features
- Pokémon in holiday costumes: Pikachu, Delibird, and Cubchoo wearing new holiday-themed costumes will appear in Pokémon GO!
- Pokémon appearing in the wild: Delightful Ice-type Pokémon will be appearing more frequently in the wild, such as Spheal, Snover, and more! Vanillite, the Fresh Snow Pokémon, will be making its Pokémon GO debut!
- Pokémon hatching from Eggs: Seel, Swinub, Smoochum, Snorunt, Snover, and Vanillite will be hatching from 5 km Eggs!
- Pokémon appearing in Raid Battles: Alolan Sandshrew, Dewgong, Jynx, Sneasel, Swinub, Walrein, Cubchoo, and Cryogonal will be appearing in raids! If you’re lucky, you might even encounter a Shiny Jynx! Don’t forget—Mega Abomasnow will be appearing in Mega Raids and will be even more powerful throughout the event.
- Event-exclusive Field Research: Enjoy event-exclusive Field Research tasks that will reward you with the chance to encounter Pokémon like Vanillite and Cryogonal!
- Winter-themed avatar items coming to the shop: To help you dress up for the holiday season, you can look forward to the Greedent Sweater, Whimsicott Earmuffs, Winter Boots, and Winter Coat avatar items!
- Get holiday-themed stickers from PokéStops, Gifts, and the shop! You can find stickers featuring Alolan Vulpix, Croagunk, Whimsicott, and more during the event. You won’t be able to get these stickers after the event is over, so get them while you can!
- Event-exclusive boxes will be available in the shop during the event! Check out the in-game shop for more details!
- Event-exclusive AR Mapping task rewards: Complete AR Mapping tasks to earn Abomasnow Mega Energy and encounter Snorunt.
Bonuses
Take note, Trainers! You’ll benefit from different bonuses throughout the event.
From Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. to Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. local time
- Open more Gifts each day: For the duration of the event, the number of Gifts you can open daily will increase to 45.
- Carry more Gifts: For the duration of the event, the number of Gifts you can carry in your Item Bag will increase to 40.
From Tuesday, December 22, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. to Wednesday, December 23, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time
- 2× Raid XP
_From Thursday, December 24, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. to Friday, December 25, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time _
- 2× Catch Candy
From Saturday, December 26, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. to Sunday, December 27, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time
- 2× Star Piece duration
From Monday, December 28, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. to Tuesday, December 29, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time
- 2× Lucky Egg duration
From Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at 12:00 a.m. to Thursday, December 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. local time
- 2× Catch Stardust
Warm up with a special winter weekend event!
During the final weekend in December (and 2020!), you can look forward to a special winter event.
Date + Time
Saturday, December 26, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. to Sunday, December 27, 2020, at 10:00 p.m. local time
Features
- Regice returns to raids! Did you miss out on catching a Regice the last time it was appearing in raids? This is your chance to catch the Iceberg Pokémon!
- Event-exclusive AR Mapping task rewards: Complete AR Mapping tasks to earn Incense and more.
- Pokémon attracted to Incense more frequently: Delibird, Snorunt, Spheal, Snover, Cryogonal, and Cubchoo.
Please be aware of your surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt in to receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.
—The Pokémon GO team
