Pokémon Go Rings in New Year With January Events

Pokemon Go is starting the new year with a host of new events!

The 2020s are here, and Pokémon Go is celebrating the new decade with the announcement of a bunch of new events. Get your walking shoes ready players, and be prepared to go outside to take part in the first events for the year.

The first significant new event for January is a new Team Go Rocket Special Research. Activating this new Special Research will allow players to fight against Giovanni again, and receive a new Legendary Shadow Pokémon – Shadow Moltres.

On Jan. 1, players will be able to participate in the first Research Breakthrough of the year. The Gen. 1 Pokémon Lapras will be the focus of the Research Breakthrough for January. Lapras is water and ice-type Pokémon that looks similar to classical imagery of the Loch Ness Monster. The Lapras that will be available in the Research Breakthrough will know the moves Ice Shard and Ice Beam. This will be the first time that a Lapras that knows those moves will be available since 2018.

The Lapras Research Breakthrough will begin on Jan. 1, at 1pm, and end on February 1, at 1pm PST.

Related: 10 Best Video Game Quotes of All Time

The next event is a new Adventure Sync Hatchathon. By walking a certain distance, players will be able to receive special rewards. Players who take part in January’s Hatchathon may be rewarded with extra Stardust, Rare Candies, and an Unova Stone. Pokémon wearing party hats can also be encountered by hatching eggs or meeting them in the wild.

The Adventure Syn Hatchathon will start on Thursday, Jan. 2, at 1pm PST. The event will end on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 1pm.

UPDATE: Serebii will later report that players will be rewarded with two times amount of Hatch Stardust and Hatch Candy during the Hatchathon. Wurmple with party hats will spawn more commonly in 2K eggs during the event, and Pichu with party hats will also spawn more common in 7K eggs. Party hat Pikachu can be encountered in the wild, while party hat Raticate and Wobbuffet can be appear in two-star raids.

Serebii Update: Further details for the upcoming Hatchathon event in Pokémon GO have been detailed. Details @ https://t.co/gDbXkHSvkT pic.twitter.com/otU3ISQKIf

— Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet) December 31, 2019

The Legendary Pokémon Heatran will also be returning to five-star Raids in January. Heatran was first introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and it is a fire and steel-type. Players could potentially encounter a shiny Heatran if they find it in the raids.

Heatran will begin appearing in raids on Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 1pm PST. The Legendary will stop spawning in raids on Feb. 4, at 1pm.

The Pokémon Go Blog also teased that more Unova Pokémon will be coming soon, though it is unknown if January is when players can expect to encounter these new Pokémon.