Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, regigigas, Solstice Event

The Solstice Event 2021 Begins Today In Pokémon GO

The annual Solstice Event begins today in Pokémon GO. This is a mini-event that will usher in the release of Regigigas in Tier Five raids, with this powerful Pokémon remaining as the boss once the event is over. Let's get into the details.

Here's everything happening in this event, according to the official Pokémon GO blog:

Date + Time: Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, June 20, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. local time

Features Regigigas is coming to five-star raids! From Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Thursday, July 1, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time, you can encounter Regigigas in five-star raids. If you're lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!

This might actually reinvigorate the raid scene, which keeps going back and forth between bursts of activity and then long stretches of disinterest. Pokémon GO is struggling a bit to find the balance of raid rotations now that remote raiding has dramatically increased the pace at which people can raid. Regigigas is special, though, as it has until now been Ticketed Research and EX Raid-exclusive. This is both its first wide release as a Tier Five raid boss and its Shiny release, which means a larger number of trainers will be approaching these raids for the first time.

Trainers globally will be able to encounter Lunatone, Solrock, Spheal, and more in the wild. If you're lucky, you might encounter Snorlax! Trainers in the northern hemisphere will be able to encounter the following Pokémon in the wild: Yanma, Chimchar, Summer Form Deerling, and more. If you're lucky, you might find a Shiny Yanma! Trainers in the southern hemisphere will be able to encounter the following Pokémon in the wild: Snorunt, Snover, Winter Form Deerling, and more. If you're lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Snorunt!

The major takeaway here is that there's not really anything new being offered. No new species release, no Shiny release. This is a low-key event, so the focus might be more on raiding Regigigas than taking advantage of the above spawns.

One thing to note is the "If you're lucky, you might find a…" language. This is normally reserved for new Shiny releases. In the past, we have seen Niantic use this in a different way, though, for Shinies that have already been released like Yanma and Snorunt here. There was a stretch of events with Lotad and Cubone where they were the "If you're lucky…" spawns and they had a somewhat boosted Shiny rate for the event. While there is no indication beyond that previous pattern, it's worth keeping an eye on those spawns if those are Shinies that you're interested in.

The following Pokémon will be appearing in raids in the northern hemisphere: Alolan Marowak, Yanma, Petilil, and more. The following Pokémon will be appearing in raids in the southern hemisphere: Lapras, Piloswine, Snorunt, and more. The following Pokémon will be appearing in raids worldwide: Lunatone, Solrock, Klink, and more.

A raid rotation split by hemisphere is certainly uncommon, but nothing that hasn't been done before. The last time we saw this was the Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie feature where the Legendaries were in raids but locked to their region. During that raid rotation, players could access raids in other regions via invites. However, there's nothing in these featured that are as exclusive as Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie were, so I can't imagine out-of-region remote invites being as much of a hot ticket as they were during that event.

Take a few snapshots for a surprise!

Pokémon GO trainers playing in earlier timezones have confirmed the photobombing Pokémon to be Solrock and Lunatone.

Bonuses Lunatone and Solrock will be appearing in the wild around the world during the event. Afterwards, Lunatone will be appearing exclusively in the eastern hemisphere, and Solrock will be appearing exclusively in the western hemisphere.

This Lunatone and Solrock switch is expected at this point, so at least now we can prepare with this information as to which Pokémon is ending up in which hemisphere. Now, players who need one of these Shiny but not the other can grind a bit harder during the event if their goal Shiny is leaving their hemisphere at the end of the event.

Your Buddy will be eager to help you on your adventures! During the event, they'll give you gift items and Poké Balls more frequently. The walking distance required to earn hearts with your buddy will be halved.

Best of luck, fellow Pokémon GO trainers!

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