Pokémon Go Anniversary Event: 5 Things To Know

Marking a year Pokémon Go's launch, Niantic’s anniversary event went live Thursday and will run till 4 p.m. EDT on July 24th.

To celebrate the occasion, the company is offering many new features such as a new Pikachu and a special anniversary box to trainers globally.

The company will sell a limited Anniversary Box during the event. The gift set includes six Incubators, six Max Revives, 20 Ultra Balls and two premium Raid Passes for 1200 coins.

“To celebrate Pokemon GO’s one-year anniversary, Niantic and The Pokemon Company today revealed that from now through July 24, Trainers will be able to find and catch Pikachu wearing Ash’s famous hat from the Pokemon animated series. A new featured store item, the Anniversary Box, which contains Incubators, Max Revives, Ultra Balls and a Raid Pass, will also be available for a limited time through the in-game shop at a discounted price ,” the company said on its blog Thursday.

Read: Pokémon Go First Anniversary: 5 Weird Incidents That Happened While Playing The Game

This is a welcome incentive for users, as without the offer just 20 Ultra Balls would cost that much. In case you are not investing money, then it could take at least six days just to collect 280 Poké coins, since Niantic has imposed a maximum 50 coins a day rule.

The game is also offering a Pikachu wearing a birthday hat, while Pikachus discovered in the wild would be wearing Pokémon trainer Ash’s hat from the series.

The event had some glitches while starting and Niantic had to post on its Twitter account late Thursday it was “working as quickly as possible to resolve an issue delaying the start of the anniversary event.”

It was followed by a tweet saying “Pikachu wearing Ash’s famous hat from the Pokémon animated series are now appearing around the world."

The company is also expected to reveal Shiny Pokémon including Pikachu, Magikaro and Gyarados as part of the event.

Niantic will also hold its first game-themed fan festival in Chicago on July 22. The company is selling the tickets on its website since June 19. It is expected to introduce the legendary Pikachu pocket monster at the event.

The company has had a roller coaster ride during its first year. It went viral since its launch in July last year, with many players going large distances to capture elusive Pokémon. The game had been downloaded 650 million times by January and is currently nearing a billion downloads. The company has held many in- game events in the past in order to retain player interest in the game, with varied degrees of success.

Read: Pokémon Go News: Niantic CEO John Hanke Announces 3 New Updates For 2017 As Game Reportedly Crosses 650 Million Downloads

While the initial buzz is gone, Pokémon Go still stands on its own as an augmented reality game that motivates players to get up and move and traverse distances to explore Pokémon nests and capture Pokémon.