When will Pokemon Go Fest 2020 timed research challenges be available to unlock the exclusive Pokémon?

A few weeks before Pokémon Go Fest 2020 happens, there will be a series of events leading up to all players in the game can join in on. They will be weekly activities revolving around the three teams in the game, and uncovering the secrets of a mythical Pokémon who will be making their appearance at the event.

Firstly, we do not have an exact date for when these research challenges will be available, but we do know it will happen three weeks before the Pokémon Go Fest 2020 event, which takes place from July 25 to 26. Given the Pokémon Go Fest date, we can estimate it will be sometime during the first week of July. While we have a reliable estimate, we do not have an exact date. 

These weekly events will likely work similarly to the Throwback Challenges that happened throughout May 2020. These events allowed players to capture region-specific Pokémon, while also completing various challenges. These Throwback Challenges tasks were available for a short time a week. We can expect a similar time-limit for the ones leading up to Pokémon Go Fest 2020. All three of the in-game teams, Mystic, Instinct, and Valor, will need to work together to complete these challenges. All of the challenges will follow a linear story of Professor Willow discovering hints of a new mythical Pokémon, with the conclusion happening over the weekend of the Pokémon Go Fest 2020 event. 

Completing these challenges unlock highly-sought-after Pokémon for the big event weekend. We will likely receive additional information about these Pokémon during the event or leading up to it. The more challenges players complete by working together, the more available Pokémon we can expect to see during Pokémon Go Fest 2020.

The ones leading up to the event will be available for everyone, but it does not make Pokémon Go Fest 2020 open to all players. You will still need to buy a ticket to participate in the event. There will be 75 unique Pokémon available during it. These weekly challenges should provide a brief glimpse at these upcoming Pokémon, along with the alluded mythical one Niantic has yet to unveil.