You’ve probably stopped playing, but the new Pokémon Go Valentine’s Day event might just get you in the mood again.
There’s no denying that Pokémon Go took over the world when it launched last summer. But, since then we’re in major need of an update.
While we wait for all those wonderful Generation Two Pokémon to arrive, we’ve been feeding on the Pokémon Go special events.
And this special event is no different. Now’s a prime time to reignite your quest to catch ’em all once more.
Developer Niantic has launched a special Valentine’s Day-themed Pokémon Go event that celebrates all things… pink.
Here are the main ways the Valentine’s Day Pokémon Go update makes things great again:
More Candies For Everyone
If you’ve been playing since the beginning, you’re probably at the stage where you’re having to grind. Whether it’s hatching eggs or collecting rare candies through the buddy system, there’s plenty of grinding to be done.
But right now, things are a hell of a lot easier, thanks to double candy rewards.
You’ll get double the amount of candies for any Pokémon you catch, hatch or transfer, which is a ridiculously good incentive to go for a chilly winter walk.
Plus, your buddy Pokémon will find candies twice as fast, potentially making it a lot easier to nab the more elusive Pokémon, like Dragonite or Charizard.
Start Getting Lure Crazy
Lures, as you’ll know, are special items that you can slap on a PokéStop in order to attract additional Pokémon to that area for 30 minutes.
Well, Niantic has gone crazy and upped the duration of lure effects to a whopping six hours.
That means you can sit at your desk at work and have a lure on the nearest swipeable PokéStop whirring away all day. Then it’s just a case of watching the Pokémon roll in and catching them.
You can buy lures yourself via the in-app store, but they can get pretty pricey. Or, you can watch out for the telltale pink petals that float around PokéStops indicating that there’s a lure in place. Just piggyback off someone else’s lure then and nab yourself some Pokémon.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of mooching after all, as long as you give back every now and then with a lure of your own.
Getting Pink For Pokémon
Another perk of this special Pokémon Go Valentine’s Day event is the focus on pink Pokémon.
For the duration of the event, you’ll notice that pink Pokémon such as Chansey and Clefable will appear more frequently in the wild.
You’ll also have a higher chance of hatching Cleffa, Igglybuff and Smoochum from your Poké eggs than normal.
Cleffa and Igglybuff can be hatched from 2km eggs, whilst you’ll need a 10km egg for Smoochum.
As for the pink Pokémon you could encounter, here’s the full list of confirmed critters affected by the event and their usual rarity:
- Chansey (epic)
- Clefable (rare)
- Clefairy (common)
- Exeggcute (rare)
- Jigglypuff (uncommon)
- Porygon (mythical)
- Slowpoke (uncommon)
- Lickitung (very rare)
Don’t forget, the Pokémon Go Valentine’s Day event is a limited-time celebration. The perks are only available from 11 AM PST (7 PM GMT) on February 8 to 11 AM PST (7 PM GMT) on February 15.