For the second straight year, Pokémon Go Fest is worldwide, meaning anyone can purchase a digital ticket and participate from the comfort of their homes and neighborhoods. Last year’s tickets cost $14.99, but this year’s will be just $5, and it gives you access to two full days of Pokémon catching on July 17 and 18.
This year’s festival is themed around music. Most Pokémon Go players don’t have the sound on when they’re out in the wild, tracking down rare critters to add to their collections, but you’ll want to turn it on this year, as longtime Pokémon music producer Junichi Masuda put together new tracks just for this event. In a blog posting, Niantic details two of the songs. One is a “rock-and-rolling track for Pikachu Rock Star fans,” and the other is a “high-energy electro-pop song for Pikachu Pop Star stans.” At the fest, you’ll have the chance to catch newly outfitted Pikachus that represent the rock and pop star forms.
Similar to last year’s event, the day of catching unfolds across rotating habitats. Every hour a different habitat comes online with different spawns. For instance, for the jungle habitat, you can catch a Aipom, Froakie, Scyther, and other critters that fit the theme. For the Cave, Roggenrola, Deino, and the Galarian Stunfisk will spawn. You’ll need to play all day (from 10 to 6) to catch everything that the fest has to offer.
Day two shifts the focus to raids, but all of Pokémon from day one will still be around to catch. We don’t know which Pokémon will be in the raids, but there’s a good chance we’ll see a new one given the secrecy. We’ll also likely add a new Pokémon to our Pokédex by completing the festival’s mission, which has typically been of the Mythical variety.
New shiny variations of Pokémon will also be a part of the mix. This year, shiny Unown F, Throh, Sawk, Whismur, Chimecho, Audino, and Tympole are making their debuts. I can’t wait to see what other surprises unfold over these summer days of catching.