Niantic is planning to serenade Pokémon Go players with the sounds of ringing in the new year. But with these specific featured Pokémon, players may find themselves asleep and unable to partake in the festivities when their songs begin.
For the first event of 2024, Ninatic is inviting a number of Pokémon that were first discovered in the Kanto region to celebrate, as well as a handful of other creatures that are a bit more elusive outside of event periods. The New Year’s 2024 event is scheduled to begin on Jan. 1 at 10am local time and last until Jan. 3 at 8pm local time, complete with various bonuses and spawn changes for players to indulge in.
This time around, Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff wearing large blue-plaid bows are taking the main stage in the celebration, complete with their Shiny forms—if players can discover them during the event. Jigglypuff wearing a ribbon, as well as New Years Hoothoot, Bronzor, and Darumaka are set to appear more frequently in the overworld and will also appear in paid Timed Research, which will be available for purchase from the in-game shop.
Pokémon that were featured in previous New Year’s events wearing celebratory attire—including Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Hoothoot, Wurmple, Raticate, Nidorino, Gengar, and Wobbuffet—will star in themed Raids up to three-star difficulty.
Meanwhile, Party Hat Pichu and a plethora of other baby Pokémon will be joining the Egg pool for the event. These Eggs will be a bit easier to hatch thanks to decreased hatch distance requirements that are set to be included for all players during the event.
Outside of these few select Pokémon spawns, many of which have been featured in events over the past several months, this New Year’s celebration appears to be much smaller in scope as Niantic prepares other events leading up to Pokémon Go Tour: Sinnoh in February. Notably, the New Year’s 2024 event continues the unpopular trend of including paid Timed Research, which must be completed during the event duration and will disappear afterward if left uncompleted—something fans have been vocally dissatisfied with.
