It’s time to welcome 2023 (according to the Gregorian calendar)! For Pokémon GO, that means it’s time to party wearing party hats and plenty of glitter. For this year’s event, a new Costumed Pikachu debuts (wearing a top hat), and New Year’s 2022 Hoothoot can finally evolve into a snazzy Costumed Noctowl. Previous party hat-wearing Pokémon will be back too, so here’s your chance if you missed out on Costumed Raticate, Nidorino, Gengar, Wobbuffett, and more the last time they were around!
Get all the details for Pokémon GO’s New Year’s 2023 event with our guide below:
Pokémon GO’s Season of Mythical Wishes – New Year’s 2023
Begins: Saturday, December 31st, 2022 at 8 p.m. your local time.
Ends: Wednesday, January 4th, 2023 at 8 p.m. your local time.
Pokémon debuts – Costumed Pikachu and Noctowl
Happy New Year! Celebrating 2023 in style are Pikachu wearing a party top hat and Noctowl wearing a New Year’s outfit. Pikachu will be sporting a black top hat with a blue and silver ribbon accent and gold stars. Trainers who previously caught Hoothoot wearing a New Year’s outfit will be able to evolve them into Noctowl (wearing the same sparkly gold top hat and bow). If you missed out on this Costumed Hoothoot before, don’t worry as they’ll be back during the event.
Additional Costumed Pokémon will be returning for the event too (mainly those wearing various party hats). These Costumed Pokémon include the following: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Raticate, Nidorino, Gengar, Hoothoot (mentioned and pictured above), Pichu (pictured above), Wurmple, and Wobbuffet.
Going forward, these Pokémon will be referred to as “Costumed” rather than the exact outfit they are wearing.
Event Bonuses
- 1/2 Hatch Distance when Eggs are placed in an Incubator during the event period
- 1/4 Hatch Distance for the first three (3) Eggs hatched during the event using the Pokémon GO Egg hatching widget.
- The 1/4 Hatch Distance bonus will not stack with the 1/2 Hatch Distance bonus.
- The widget is available on iOS and Android devices. Read up on how to activate this feature via Niantic’s Support site.
- A festive firework effect will light up the skies in-game.
Event Boxes
- Trainee Box (400 PokéCoins): 1 Premium Battle Pass, 1 Super Incubator, and 1 Egg Incubator.
- Expert Box (900 PokéCoins): 10 Premium Battles Passes, 1 Star Piece, 1 Lure Module, and 1 Lucky Egg.
- Explorer Box (1,850 PokéCoins): 10 Super Incubators, 10 Egg Incubators, and 5 Incense.
Wild Encounters
- The following Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild: Costumed Pikachu*, Costumed Hoothoot*, and Costumed Wurmple*.
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
Eggs
The following Pokémon will be hatching from Eggs that are obtained during the event:
- 7 km Eggs
- 1-Egg Rarity: Costumed Pichu*, Cleffa*, Igglybuff*, Togepi*, Tyrogue*, Smoochum*, Elekid*, Magby*, Azurill*, and Wynaut*.
Note: Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might hatch a Shiny one!”
Raids
The following Pokémon will be appearing in Raids:
- One-Star Raids: Costumed Bulbasaur*, Costumed Charmander*, Costumed Squirtle*, Costumed Pikachu*, and Costumed Hoothoot*.
- Three-Star Raids: Costumed Raticate*, Costumed Nidorino*, Costumed Gengar*, and Costumed Wobbuffet*.
- Five-Star Raids: Reshiram* and Kyurem* (See Additional Notes).
- Mega Raids: Mega Steelix* and Mega Glalie* (See Additional Notes).
Additional Notes:
- Pokémon marked with an * means that “If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny one!”
- While Kyurem* is not listed on the New Year’s 2023 event page, it was previously announced that this Pokémon would be available in Raids until Sunday, January 1st, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.
- Kyurem*’s featured attack, Glaciate (Charged Attack), is also active.
- Reshiram* will be available after the event (in Raids), until Tuesday, January 10th, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.
- While Mega Glalie* is not listed on the New Year’s 2023 event page, it was previously announced that this Pokémon would be available in Raids until Sunday, January 1st, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.
- Mega Steelix* will be available after the event (in Raids) until Tuesday, January 10th, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.
Featured Attack for Reshiram
Reshiram will know the attack Fusion Flare (Charged Attack) when caught from Five-Star Raids between Sunday, January 1st, 2023, at 10 a.m. to X, January X, 2023 at 10 a.m. your local time.
Fusion Flare’s (Charged Attack) stats are as follows:
- Trainer Battles: 90 power
- Gyms and Raids: 140 power
Collection Challenge – New Year’s 2023 Collection Challenge
A New Year’s-themed Collection Challenge will be active during the event. Trainers who complete it will earn an additional medal to their Elite Collector medal and Stardust.
A complete list of what Pokémon will be needed to complete the challenge and how to obtain them (catching or evolving) will be added here once the event is live.
- Catch: Costumed Hoothoot and Costumed Pikachu.
- Evolve: Costumed Hoothoot into Costumed Noctowl.
- Completion Reward: 2,023 Stardust
Field Research Tasks
There will be event-exclusive Field Research Tasks available and the rewards include Stardust. 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 associated rewards will be added here once the event is live.
- Task: Hatch an Egg
- Reward: 1,000 Stardust
- Task: Hatch 2 Eggs
- Reward: 2,023 Stardust
Stickers
There will be an assortment of event-themed stickers featuring Costumed Pikachu, Costumed Hoothoot, Costumed Noctowl, and Costumed Wurmple. You can get them by spinning PokéStops, opening Gifts, and/or purchasing them from Pokémon GO’s in-game shop (with PokéCoins) during the event.
Avatar Items
New avatar items themed after celebrating the new year will be released during this event. They will be available for purchase (with PokéCoins) via the in-game shop. These avatar items will still be available to purchase after the conclusion of this event.
The new avatar items are the following: Pikachu Party Hat and Party Popper Pose.
More Pokémon GO guides
Looking for more help with Pokémon GO? Check out our other guides!
Pokémon GO’s Season of World of Wonders’ 2024 Pokémon Europe International Championships event guide
Leave a Comment
Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
