Pokemon Go Sinnoh Celebration event: Shiny Riolu and Hippopotas released

The first Pokemon Go of February event starts today as numerous Gen 4 species will be appearing more frequently as part of the Sinnoh Celebration.

“In appreciation of all the great Pokemon that we’ve befriended that were originally discovered in the Sinnoh region, we’re happy to announce a Sinnoh region celebration event!” The official Pokemon Go blog revealed. The event lasts for the duration of this weekend, February 7, 8am local time to February 10, 10pm local time.

More Generation 4 spawns

The species, which were first seen in the popular Pokemon Diamond & Pearl games, will be appear more frequently in the wild and Raid Battles. Which Pokemon they are though, weren’t specified.

At this point trainers are very familiar with the Gen 4 starters – Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup – as each of them have headlined their own Community Day. While these Pokemon weren’t named specifically, they will almost certainly be among those we see during the event.

Sinnoh species exclusive to 7km eggs

Specific Pokemon were named for 7km eggs however, which include, and are not limited to, Budew, Combee, Bronzor, Gible, Riolu, Hippopotas, and Mantyke.

Guarantee yourself a Cranidos

There will also be event specific field research to complete which will, surprise surprise, reward encounters with species from the Sinnoh region. Other field research tasks will reward Sinnoh Stones.

The most notable Pokemon you can find in these tasks is Cranidos, which is just in time to battle Tornadus as its evolved form, Rampardos, is an excellent counter to it.

The task in question to find Cranidos is “Sinnoh Celebration: Use a Sinnoh Stone to evolve a Pokemon.” Of course, just like other field research tasks you can complete it as many times as you want. So find yourselves a PokeStop that is distributing and use it to your heart’s content.

Lots of shinies to find

Perhaps the most exciting part of the event though, is the chance to capture either shiny Riolu or shiny Hippopotas. These shiny variants have yet to be seen in Pokemon Go and this weekend will present as good of an opportunity as any to get your hands on them.

The announcement didn’t state where exactly you can find them but given similar previous events you should be able to encounter them in any of the wild, Raid Battles, egg hatches or reward encounters.

• Read More: At what CP should you bother to catch each species in Pokemon Go?

Riolu is a particular fan favorite among Pokemon fans and will be in contention to win the 2020 Pokemon of the Year award. However, many trainers are hoping Riolu, along with other popular species such as Pikachu and Eevee, don’t win the award so the spotlight can be shone on other ‘mons.

Other shinies you may find during the event are Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Buneary, Bronzor, Budew, Bonsly and Gible. The Land Shark Pokemon is particuarly rare, so trainers will welcome the opportunity for increased Gible spawns, as well as the chance to get hold of the powerful Garchomp.

There may be no bonuses included in this particular event but there will be plenty of species for Pokemon Go trainers to go searching for over the weekend.