Pokemon GO Team GO Rocket event: date & time, Raikou & Suicune raids

Team GO Rocket is celebrating in a mysterious new Pokemon GO event, and we’ve got a complete rundown on everything from the starting time to the specific Pokemon up for grabs.

There are plenty of Pokemon GO events to keep on top of at the moment but none are quite as secretive as the Team GO Rocket celebration. We have no idea why there’s a cause for celebration, but we do know what to expect from the festivities.

Everything from your typical Pokemon GO event is featured throughout, along with a few surprises. The expected raids are here in full force, rare Pokemon will be more common throughout the event, and of course, there are a few exclusive items to get your hands on as well.

However, you’ve only got a short window to claim all the goodies and figure out why Team GO Rocket is even celebrating. Here’s everything you need to know.

Team GO Rocket celebration event features

Niantic

A number of rare Pokemon will be easier to find throughout this event.

Keeping in line with other major Pokemon GO events, this limited-time celebration comes with a better chance of finding select Pokemon. Golbat, Koffing, and Ariados to name just a few, will be appearing far more frequently throughout this event.

Moreover, Pokemon like the Corphish, Absol, and Skorupi will be hatching from rare Strange Eggs. If you’re trying to fill out your Pokedex there’s no better time to hunt down some of these elusive Pokemon. 

The full list of features for the brief Team GO Rocket celebration event can be seen below:

• Golbat, Koffing, Ariados, Qwilfish, Sneasel, Houndour, Nuzleaf, Stunky, Skorupi, and Venipede appearing more often in the wild.
• Qwilfish, Larvitar, Corphish, Absol, Skorupi, Sandile, Scraggy, Pawniard, Vullaby, and Deino will be hatching from Strange Eggs during and after the event.
• Event-exclusive Field Research and Timed Research will be available.
• The Team GO Rocket–themed Timed Research that begins during the Johto Celebration event will continue during this event and will reward an encounter with the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh that knows the exclusive attack Earthquake.

Team GO Rocket celebration event raid details

As you would have guessed, raids play a huge role in this particular event as well. From one-star raids all the way through to mega raids, there’s something for everyone here.

• Read More: How to complete the Johto Challenge in Pokemon Go

Select Pokemon will be present in these limited-time raids so you can further build out your collection by tracking down the most challenging additions of them all. The full list can be found below.

• One-star raids: Alolan Meowth, Alolan Grimer, Gligar, Sneasel, Shinx, and Klink.
• Three-star raids: Nidoqueen, Ariados, Umbreon, Tyranitar, and Absol.
• Five-star raids: Raikou and Suicune will both be appearing at different times. 
• Mega Raids: Mega Venusaur, Mega Ampharos, and Mega Houndoom.

Team GO Rocket celebration event start date and time

Niantic

Team GO Rocket are taking over Pokemon GO.

The Team GO Rocket celebration is almost upon us. The mysterious event won’t be around for long, however, so you’ll have to make the most of it while it’s around.

• Read More: 10 best Electric-type Pokemon of all time

This particular celebration begins on Tuesday, February 2 at 10 AM in your local time and runs through until Sunday, February 7 at 8 PM local time.

So you’ve only got a few quick days to get on top of the event and collect as much as possible. In the meantime, there’s also plenty of five-star raids to keep you occupied outside of this event in February.