Here's a look at some of the events taking place in May 2021.
As we head into a new month, there are lots of new events and updates to look forward to in Pokemon Go, with some events featuring new Pokemon that haven’t been available to capture before.
Grab your calendars. Here’s a preview of what’s happening in May.
From May 1 at 1 p.m. PT until June 1 at 1 p.m. PT, you’ll earn an encounter with Galarian Ponyta each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough. As a reminder, you’ll achieve a Research Breakthrough each time you complete at least one Field Research task on seven separate days (it doesn’t have to be seven days in a row).
During the month of May, Giovanni will have Shadow Moltres on his team. If you’ve yet to complete the Team Go Rocket Special Research called “The Higher They Fly,” you can complete this Special Research to receive a free Super Rocket Radar that you can use to challenge Giovanni and capture Shadow Moltres. Check out our guide to see what these Special Research tasks ask you to do.
If you’ve already completed this Special Research storyline, you’ll be able to finish new Timed Research tasks during the Luminous Legends X event to receive another Super Rocket Radar.
Five different Pokemon will be featured in Legendary Raids throughout the month of May. Here’s the breakdown:
A “surprise” Mega-Evolved Pokemon will be featured in Mega Raids in May. Here’s the schedule:
Each Wednesday in May, a Raid Hour event will take place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time. During each event, Raids will appear more frequently than normal. These Raids will feature the Pokemon currently available to battle in Tier-5 Raids.
A Spotlight Hour event will take place each Tuesday in May from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time. During each event, one Pokemon will appear more frequently than normal in the wild and a special in-game bonus will be active. Here’s the schedule of Spotlight Hour events for May:
May’s Community Day event will take place on May 15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time. Niantic, the developer of Pokemon Go, hasn’t announced the featured Pokemon or any other event details as of this writing.
Update (04/29/2021): Niantic has announced that Swablu will be the featured Pokemon during May’s Community Day event. Check out our coverage for more details.
Each Monday in May, a free item bundle will be added to the in-game shop containing a Remote Raid Pass and other items. You’ll have one week to claim each bundle.
So far, there are three major events taking place in May: the New Pokemon Snap celebration, the Luminous Legends X event, and the Luminous Legends Y event. In a news post, Niantic said “additional weekend events” will take place “throughout May,” so keep checking back with SuperParent, as we’ll bring you the details about these events as soon as they’re revealed.
Which one of these events are you most looking forward to? Let us know on Twitter at @superparenthq.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
