Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, Niantic Labs, pokemon, pokemon go, spotlight hour

February 2021 Spotlight Hour & Breakthrough Details In Pokémon GO

Niantic has announced their Research Breakthrough and Spotlight Hours for Pokémon GO in February 2021. This one may take some planning and strategic gameplay to optimize, so let's dive in.

In their announcement for their February 2021 events, Niantic posted the following Spotlight Hour choices for every Tuesday at 6 PM local time to their Pokémon GO blog:

Tuesday, February 2, 2021: Ekans will be in the spotlight, and you'll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.

Tuesday, February 9, 2021: Miltank will be in the spotlight, and you'll earn twice the Stardust for catching Pokémon.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021: Luvdisc will be in the spotlight, and you'll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021: Pikachu will be in the spotlight, and you'll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.

Not only do we have a month of entirely Shiny-capable Spotlight Hours, but it's nice as a longtime player to look at these bonuses and see how, with the addition of Levels 41 through 50, Niantic has enriched Pokémon GO by making XP matter again. For a long time, there was a lack of clarity as to how XP would be involved in an increase in the level cap, and now, with the GO Beyond initiative fully rolled out, it feels like Niantic did this right.

They also revealed the month's Research Breakthrough reward:

From Monday, February 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, March 1, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT −8), you'll encounter Snorlax in Research Breakthroughs.

Currently, Snorlax is not available in its Shiny form but we know that it will be released on or before the Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto. My advice here is to plan your Breakthrough claims in a manner that will see you receive Breakthrough rewards that maximize your chance at getting two Shiny Snorlax while also helping gameplay. For example, if you plan to claim your Breakthrough on February 20th, not only will you have two Shiny Snorlax checks in the month, but you will also be able to use that Snorlax catch on the 20th for your Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto Collection Challenge. Also, events like remote Safari Zones and GO Fest 2020 have had increased Shiny rates only during the event, so what better way to up your chances of a Shiny Snorlax than strategically planning your Breakthrough for a time during the 20th when the event is active?

Good luck out there, fellow trainers!

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