Pokémon GO’s Season of Hidden Gems’ Dark Flames event guide

A new event approaches in Pokémon GO! Dark Flames, as the name implies, is centered around Fire- and Dark-type Pokémon. Trainers will get a branching Timed Research and Collection Challenge to complete during the event, along with two notable Pokémon GO debuts – Turtonator and Mega Sableye. (For more details about Pokémon GO’s Season of Hidden Gems and its many events, you can check out our overall Season of Hidden Gems guide hub.)

Now, check out what’s happening during the Dark Flames event with our guide below:

 

Pokémon GO’s Season of Hidden Gems – Dark Flames

Begins: Thursday, June 29th, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.

Ends: Sunday, July 2nd, 2023 at 8 p.m. your local time.

 

Pokémon debuts – Turtonator and Mega Sableye

 

 

Turtonator* and Mega Sableye* are finally available in Pokémon GO!

• Turtonator*: You can obtain Turtonator* only if you defeat ’em in Three-Star Raids and can catch ’em during the reward catch encounter OR get a specific Field Research task. Along with its debut, Turtonator’s* Shiny version will also be available.
• Mega Sableye*: To have your own Mega Sableye*, you’ll need to gather 200 Sableye Mega Energy via defeating Mega Sableye* in Mega Raids. Once acquired, you can Mega Evolve any Sableye you’ve caught.

 

Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”

 

Event Bonuses

• Additional 25% XP for completing raids.
• Three additional Candies for completing raids (Candy type is based on the Pokémon challenged in Raids).
• Trainers level 31 and above will receive one additional Candy XL for completing raids.
• Team GO Rocket Grunts using Fire-type and Dark-type Pokémon will appear more frequently at PokéStops and in balloons.

 

Also, depending on your choice in a branching Timed Research, you’ll also activate one of the following bonuses:

• Incense is more likely to attract Fire-type Pokémon (excluding Daily Adventure Incense).
• Incense is more likely to attract Dark-type Pokémon (excluding Daily Adventure Incense).

 

Event Boxes

If any special event boxes or bundles are released during the event, they’ll be listed here once the event is live.

• Special Box (95 PokéCoins, purchase limit 1): 1 Egg Incubator and 1 Lucky Egg.

 

Wild Encounters

• The following Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild: Vulpix*, Houndour*, Poochyena*, Galarian Zigzagoon*, Carvanha*, Numel*, Stunky, Litwick*, and Litten.
  • If you’re lucky, you might encounter the following Pokémon: Houndoom* and Sableye*.

 

Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”

 

Raids

Standard and Shadow Raids will be active during the event.

 

Standard Raids

The following Pokémon will be appearing in Raids:

• One-Star Raids: Sneasel*, Darumaka*, Scraggy, and Deino*.
• Three-Star Raids: Alolan Marowak*, Flareon, Umbreon, and Turtonator*.
• Five-Star Raids: Heatran* (See Additional Notes).
• Mega Raids: Mega Sableye* (See Additional Notes).

 

Shadow Raids

The following Pokémon will be appearing in Raids:

• One-Star Shadow Raids: Growlithe*, Abra, Mareep, and Starly.
• Three-Star Shadow Raids: Gligar*, Sneasel*, Throh (See Additional Notes), and Swak (See Additional Notes).
• Five-Star Shadow Raids: Not announced (See Additional Notes).

 

Additional Notes:

• Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
• Standard Raids:
  • Heatran* will be available after the event (in Raids), until Thursday, July 6th, 2023, at 10 a.m. your local time.
  • Mega Sableye* will be available after the event (in Raids), until Thursday, July 6th, 2023, at 10 a.m. your local time.
• Shadow Raids:
  • One- and Three-Star Shadow Raids will be available daily.
  • Five-Star Shadow Raids will be available on weekends (Saturday and Sunday), unless otherwise stated by Niantic.
  • Three-Star Shadow Raids:
    • Throh is a regional exclusive and will be appearing in Three-Star Shadow Raids that take place in the Americas and Africa.
    • Swak is a regional exclusive and will be appearing in Three-Star Shadow Raids that take place in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
  • Five-Star Shadow Raids:
    • For June, Shadow Articuno was only appearing in Five-Star Raids on weekends. These dates have since passed.
    • A Pokémon for Five-Star Shadow Raids has yet to be announced for July. It’s speculated that it would be Shadow Zapdos. If so, there’s a chance that Shadow Zapdos would appear in July starting on the 2nd weekend.

 

Featured Attack for Heatran

Heatran will know the attack Magma Storm (Charged Attack) when caught from Five-Star Raids between Thursday, June 29th, 2023, at 10 a.m. to Thursday, July 6th, 2023, at 10 a.m. your local time.

Magma Storm’s (Charged Attack) stats are as follows:

• Trainer Battles: 65 power
• Gyms and Raids: 75 power

 

Timed Research – Dark Flames

A branching Timed Research quest (that will probably be called Dark Flames) will be active during the event. Regardless of what route is chosen, all will give Trainers 1 Premium Battle Pass, 15,000 XP, and other item rewards. The only differences are which event bonus will be active and what Pokémon are featured as catch reward encounters. Trainers may only pick one of the two:

• Incense is more likely to attract Fire-type Pokémon (excluding Daily Adventure Incense).
• Incense is more likely to attract Dark-type Pokémon (excluding Daily Adventure Incense).

 

A complete list of tasks for all routes and the rewards will be shared here once the event is live.

 

 

Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”

 

Field Research Tasks

There will be event-exclusive Field Research Tasks available and the rewards include the following Pokémon encounters: Alolan Meowth*, Alolan Grimer*, Alolan Marowak*, Magmar*, Sneasel*, Litwick*, and Turtonator*. These Field Research Tasks can be found when spinning PokéStops (and acquired if you have an open slot in your Field Research menu) when the event is active.

A complete list of tasks and rewards will be shared here once the event is live.

 

• Task: Catch 5 Fire-type Pokémon
  • Reward: Magmar* OR Litwick*Encounter
• Task: Catch 5 Dark-type Pokémon
  • Reward: Alolan Meowth* OR Alolan Grimer* Encounter
• Task: Win a Raid in under 60 seconds
  • Reward: Alolan Marowak* OR Sneasel* Encounter
• Task: Win 3 Raids
  • Reward: Turtonator* Encounter

 

Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”

 

Collection Challenge – Dark Flames

A special, event-exclusive Collection Challenge will be available. Depending on which Time Research path you chose, you’ll be given a corresponding Collection Challenge (i.e.: one centered around Fire-type Pokémon or one focused on Dark-type Pokémon). According to Niantic, this Collection Challenge will reward Trainers with 5,000 XP and 100 Houndoom Mega Energy (it’s unclear if an addition to the Elite Collector medal will also be rewarded). A complete list of what Pokémon must be caught/traded/evolved and the associated rewards will be added here once the event is live.

 

Collection Challenge: Fire-type Pokémon

• Pokémon to catch: Litten, Vulpix, Houndour, Numel, and Galarian Zigzagoon.
• Pokémon to evolve: Vulpix into Ninetails, Numel into Camerupt, and Torracat into Incineroar.
  • Completion Reward: 5,000 XP and 100 Houndoom Mega Energy.

 

Collection Challenge: Dark-type Pokémon

• Pokémon to catch: Poochyena, Carvanha, Houndour, Stunky, and Litwick.
• Pokémon to evolve: Poochyena into Mightyena, Carvanha into Sharpedo, and Torracat into Incineroar.
  • Completion Reward: 5,000 XP and 100 Houndoom Mega Energy.

 

More Pokémon GO guides

 

Looking for more help with Pokémon GO? Check out our other guides!

 

 

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