Niantic wants Pokémon Go players to hang out and make new friends during the upcoming “Community Day” event.
Well over a year since Pokémon Go first launched, many fans still look back nostalgically on summer 2016, when every other person remotely familiar with Pokémon was running outside and playing Pokémon Go. Now, Niantic is introducing a new way for players to meet their fellow Pokémon Go players. Enter “Pokémon Go Community Day.”
Here’s how it works. Once a month, a special Pokémon will emerge on Pokémon Go Community Day for a couple hours. These Pokémon know an “exclusive move” and can be caught while special bonuses are active, like increased XP. While the event lasts for a very small window, the idea is to get players outside and make new friends during meetups, local events, and hang outs at public spaces.
As for the first Pokémon Go Community Day, Niantic is kicking off the event on Jan. 20 with Pikachu. Unlike Pikachus hanging out in the wild, this Pikachu knows Surf, which means grabbing it makes for quite the rare Pokémon in trainers’ collection. Niantic teases that double XP will be in effect while Pikachu is active, too, so the Community Day is a good excuse to break out Pokémon Go and wander around town, even if you’re not particularly looking for Pikachu.
If you’re interested in joining in on the Community Day fun, the full schedule for when Pokémon Go Community Day starts in each region is live. Here’s what it looks like:
- Asia Pacific: Jan. 20, 12pm to 3pm JST
- Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India: Jan. 20, 10am to 1pm UTC
- The Americas and Greenland: Jan. 20, 11am to 2pm PST
For more information, check out Niantic’s official blog post on the Community Cay. And before making any long-term Community Day plans, don’t forget to check if Pokémon Go will drop support for your Apple device sometime next month.
H/T MyNintendoNews
