‘Pokémon GO’ Update: Dates For Trainers To Catch Pikachu With Festive Hat Announced

As part of the Pokémon Day celebration, The Pokémon Company has decided to give Pikachu a new hat. Since the Santa Hat Pikachu that appeared in-game during the holiday season proved to be successful, the marketing firm now wants to mimic that success by accessorizing Pikachu with a new head covering.

Just this past Tuesday, The Pokémon Company announced on the official Pokémon website the imminent arrival of Festive Hat Pikachu in Niantic Labs’ famous iOS and Android mobile gaming apps. Trainers who want to obtain the special edition Pikachu needs to watch out for two dates: Feb. 26, since this will mark the start of the event, and March 6, the date that signals the end of the celebration. All in all, Trainers will have nine days to catch the special edition Pikachu.

Throughout the course of the nine-day period.Trainers will encounter Pikachu wearing a Festive Party Hat in the wild. When they do, they are advised to catch this creature since the Party Hat will stay on it forever. This means the Festive Hat will remain even when the nine-day celebration has passed. Hopefully, this special head covering will stay even when the Pikacku is evolved to Raichu, just like how it was with Santa Hat Pikachu and Santa Hat Raichu.

For those who are still unaware of the Pokémon Day celebration, it simply commemorates the launch of the first Pokémon game, entitled “Pocket Monsters Aka and Midori” in Japan way back in February 1996. Although it's supposed to be a one-day event, The Pokémon Company decided to extend it to nine days.

The Pokémon Company appears to be very serious with how Niantic celebrates holiday events. Late last year, Trainers saw special changes being imposed on Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s, as per Heavy. The same things are now being expected for this year’s holidays, and it’s clear how Niantic wants to start the streak with the Pokémon Day.

The announcement of the Festive Hat Pikachu comes days after the Gen 2 Update for “Pokémon GO” was rolled out. With the new update, several features of the game have been modified, alongside the introduction of more than 80 new Pokémon from the Johto Region to the augmented reality game.