Pokemon Go 2018 Halloween Special Research: A SuperParent Guide to Spiritomb

For Halloween, Pokemon Go has been updated with a spooktacular in-game event, which gives players the chance to capture Ghost- and Dark-type Pokemon originally seen in the Sinnoh region of the Pokemon universe (also known as Generation 4, from the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl video games).

As part of this event, a new storyline of Special Research tasks has also been introduced, asking players to help Professor Willow determine the cause of some eerie occurrences around his lab before time runs out.

This questline is called “A Spooky Message,” and it contains three parts to complete. If you’ve played through the quests that allow you to capture Mew and Celebi, this questline works in much the same way, but you’ll need to be quick to finish it in time (unlike the other quests, which are, as far as we know, permanent).

Here’s a complete guide to finishing the tasks in this frightfully fun new story.

A Spooky Message Part 1

• Catch 10 Ghost-type Pokemon
• Make 8 Great Throws
• Use 108 Berries to Help Catch Pokemon*

Rewards: An encounter with Duskull for completing the first task, 1,080 experience points for completing the second task, and an encounter with Lickitung for completing the third task. When all three tasks are completed, you’ll receive 10 Poke Balls, 1,080 Stardust, and eight Silver Pinap Berries.

*This might sound like a daunting task, but here’s a tip: If you toss a Berry at a Pokemon before attempting to capture it, and the capture attempt fails, throw another Berry at the Pokemon before throwing another Poke Ball. This will allow you to use multiple Berries on the same Pokemon, which should speed up this process.

A Spooky Message Part 2

• Catch 10 Dark-type Pokemon
• Spin 8 PokeStops You Haven’t Visited Before*
• Catch 108 Pokemon

Rewards: An encounter with Misdreavus for completing the first task, 1,080 expeirence points for completing the second task, and an encounter with Spiritomb for completing the third task. When all three tasks are completed, you’ll receive 10 Poke Balls, 1,080 Stardust, and eight Silver Pinap Berries.

*This task can be pretty tricky, depending on where you live and how thorough you are while playing Pokemon Go. It can be pretty hard to remember every PokeStop you have and haven’t visited in the 2+ years that Pokemon Go has been available, so you might find it easiest to travel to another town and spin PokeStops there.

Whether you decide to travel or stick close to home, a website called Pokemon Go Map can help you find PokeStops in areas you may not frequently visit. You can enter your location (a zip code will work), and view all of the PokeStops and Gyms in that area on an interactive map. That way, you can see all of the PokeStops nearby (or in another town), and you’ll know exactly where to go once you leave the house.

A Spooky Message Part 3

• Three Automatically Finished Tasks*

Rewards: 1,080 experience points for turning in each of the three tasks; 18 Spiritomb Candy and 1,080 Stardust for turning in all three tasks.

*Part 3 of this Special Research series is full of free prizes for you to collect. You don’t need to do anything other than tap the tasks to turn them in and collect your rewards.