Pokemon Go Unova event: date & time, raids, Shiny Snivy, Burn Drive Genesect

Pokemon Go is kicking off the new year in style with an event that celebrates all things Unova, including an increased chance of catching a Shiny Snivy.

2021 will see the wildly-popular Pokemon franchise celebrate its 25th anniversary with some extra-special events including a Pokemon Go Tour celebration of the region that started it all, Gen 1’s Kanto, in February.

In the build-up to the 25th-anniversary event, Niantic have announced that there will be a weekly celebration of other regions in the game to increase anticipation and give fans more content to enjoy.

First up is Unova, which made its debut in 2010’s Pokemon Black & White on the Nintendo DS.

Pokemon Go Unova event features

The Unova celebration event brings a number of exciting features with it. Like other events, there will be certain Pokemon that appear more frequently, including the Gen 5 starter trio Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott.

• Read More: How to get a Shiny Mew in Pokemon Go

There will also be an increased chance to catch a Shiny Snivy in the game, which is good news for trainers looking to add a rare version of the beloved grass-type Pokemon to their collection.

You can see the full list of features below:

• Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Lillipup, Herdier, Blitzle, Roggenrola, Drilbur, Scraggy, Tympole, Venipede, Trubbish, Gothita, Solosis, and Ferroseed will appear more frequently in the wild.
• Lucky trainers might experience a Shiny Snivy encounter.
• Roggenrola, Sewaddle, Petilil, Emolga, Karrablast, Joltik, Elgyem, and Shelmet will be hatching from 5km Eggs.
• Event-exclusive Field Research tasks will reward players with Stardust and lead to encounters with Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, and Ferroseed.
• Collection Challenges are a new feature that will appear in the Today View to make the Pokemon Go experience even more exciting.

Pokemon Go Unova event raid details

A number of Pokemon will be appearing in raids during the event, including Mega Charizard Y and Mega Blastoise. See the full list below:

• One-star raids: Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Timburr, Dwebble, and Klink
• Three-star raids: Herdier, Tranquill, Excadrill, and Amoonguss
• Five-star raids: Genesect holding a Burn Drive
• Mega raids: Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Abomasnow

The appearance of Genesect holding a Burn Drive is an especially exciting prospect for trainers, as this version of the bug-and-steel-type Mythical creature has never appeared in Pokemon Go before.

It will make its Technoblast attack fire-type instead.

Pokemon Go Unova event start date and time

The Unova event kicks off in the Pokemon Go app on Tuesday, January 5, 2021, at 10 AM local time and runs until Sunday, January 10, 2021, at 8 PM local time.

• Read more: Pokemon Go players fed up with “lazy” Pikachu hat

That means you’ve got six days to stock up on any Unova Pokemon you’re missing, do your best to catch a Shiny Snivy, and complete any challenges the game brings your way.

Niantic have also announced that the following week will celebrate the Sinnoh region from Tuesday, January 12, 2021, to Sunday, January 17, 2021. There will be more information on that soon.