‘Pokémon Go’ Winter Event
'Pokémon Go' is hosting a Winter Event through Jan. 4, and it adds a bunch of new Gen 3 Pokémon. This article recaps the latest on Star Pieces, eggs, evolutions and more. 'Pokémon Go' is available now on Android and iOS. The Pokémon Company/Niantic

Pokémon Go’s Winter Event has officially begun, so there’s lots of discovery happening within the community. We’ll use this article to recap the latest news regarding Star Pieces, the new Pokémon, egg hatching and evolutionary tactics. Most of the details mentioned here should be accurate until at least Jan. 4, 2018.

WHAT’S A STAR PIECE?

A Star Piece is a brand new item added in Pokémon Go’s latest update. Per its in-game description, the fairly cheap item offers 50 percent additional Stardust for 30 minutes. The effect continues whether the player is online or offline, and it stacks onto other bonuses involving weather. The item can be purchased from the shop individually or in bundles of eight and 25.

WHO ARE THE NEW POKÉMON & WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THEM?

  • Lotad (Evolutions include Lombre and Ludicolo): Can hatch from a 5 km egg
  • Carvanha (Sharpedo): Can be hatched from a 5 km egg
  • Wailmer (Wailord): Requires a massive 400 candies to evolve and can hatch from a 2 km egg.
  • Luvdisc: Can be hatched from a 2 km egg
  • Feebas (Milotic): Evolves with 100 candies plus a walking requirement of 20 km. Can hatch from a 10 km egg
  • Relicanth
  • Corphish (Crawdaunt): Can hatch from a 5 km egg
  • Spheal (Sealeo, Walwrein): Can hatch from 2 km, 5 km egg
  • Snorunt (Glalie): Snorunt exists in a shiny form.
  • Delibird: Offers a bonus of 250 Stardust when caught. It’s unclear if this Pokémon is exclusive to the Winter Event or if it’ll remain when it ends.
  • Barboach: Can hatch from a 2 km egg
  • Santa Hat Pikachu (Pichu, Raichu): Can hatch from a 2 km egg and offers bonus of 250 Stardust when caught

Trainers are still trying to figure out max CP values for the permanent new additions to the game, so it may take a while before we have a full report on which of these monsters is best for combat. As a general rule of thumb, however, all your high evolutions and party members that function well in the handheld games will also be fairly powerful in Pokémon Go.

The aforementioned Stardust bonus also appears to apply to all Pokémon that have the new quick move called Present. The present is likely that extra Stardust, and it stacks on top of other bonuses offered by the new Star Piece item.

TRANSFER BUGS

At the time of writing trainers may be experiencing a bug that forces you to the top of your Pokémon list after every transfer or rename. Niantic is working to solve the problem as we speak.

POSSIBLE RAID BOSSES

While nothing has changed with regard to Raid bosses yet, the art for the Winter Event implies Kygore might be up for capture by the time the festivities conclude. In the past it has taken raid bosses a little extra time to appear, so that could also be the case this time.

That’s all we know for now, but we’ll do our best to update this article with new info as it arrives.

The Pokémon Go Winter Event is planned to run through Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. EST.

What are your thoughts on the Winter Event so far? Has Gen 3 brought you back to Pokémon Go? Tell us in the comments section!

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