Pokemon Go Halloween update: Start date, Galar Region teasers, Runerigus

Excitement is building for Pokemon Go Halloween 2020, as Niantic have finally revealed the long awaited details for the event.

One thing is for certain, this year’s spooky season is going to be a little different for everyone.

We may not see as many children on the streets, or people dressed up to celebrate the holiday, but it’s really a time for developers of video games to push the boat out for those reasons.

If you weren’t expecting much from Pokemon Go this year, think again. Here’s everything you need to know.

When is the Pokemon Go Halloween update coming out?

Pokemon Go always goes big for the Halloween event. This year, looks like it is no different.

Last year, developers kicked off proceedings on October 17. It starts a little later for 2020, on Friday, October 23. It will last for 10 days until Tuesday, November 3.

Pokemon Go Halloween teaser

On October 18, Pokemon Go on Twitter revealed a big teaser for the event.

• Read More: Pokemon Go: How to defeat Arlo (October 2020)

Yamask, which evolves into Runerigus in the Galar Region, features in a short promo video, emerging from the smoke.

As suspected, it has now been confirmed that Galarian Yamask will feature. It will be part of the Halloween 2020 Special Research, A Spooky Message Unmasked. It isn’t clear whether this will be the only way to get it.

October Research Breakthrough encounter

Between October 1 and November 1, Shedninja will be available as the October Research Breakthrough encounter in Pokemon Go.

October Legendary Raid Boss schedule

Three Legendary Raid Bosses were confirmed for October, though some have already been and gone.

In a blog post, referencing further additions to the list, Niantic said: “Stay tuned for details about a special Raid Boss that’ll be available to challenge during our Halloween event! Each week in October, there’ll be a Raid Hour event on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. local time featuring that week’s Legendary Raid Boss in five-star raids.”

• Zapdos in five-star raids: Friday, September 25 (1PM) to Friday, October 2 (1PM. PDT (GMT −7).
• Moltres in five-star raids: Friday, October 2 (1PM) to Friday, October 9 (1PM. PDT (GMT −7).
• Origin Form Girantina: Friday, October 9 (1PM) to Friday, October 23 (1PM PDT (GMT −7).

We now know that the next featured Raid Boss will be Darkrai. The Pitch-Black Pokemon will presumably feature for the entirety of the event.

There had been speculation that the ‘special’ Raid Boss would be something more exciting, such as Galarian forms of the Kanto birds. This hasn’t materialized, though.

Of course, the annual Halloween event will have plenty of other things to look forward to as well:

• Ghost-type Pokemon featuring more frequently in the wild, Raids and hatching in eggs
• Gengar and Sableye wearing costumes
• Spiritomb can be encountered in certain Field Research Tasks and in Special Research – you can even find its Shiny form if you’re really lucky
• Take a snapshot for a ‘spooky’ surprise
• 2x Transfer Candy and 2x Catch Candy