Pokémon GO players are in for a treat soon, as players will be rewarded with special bonus events. In a Pokémon GO blog post discussing the game’s global challenge, Niantic highlights player successes. These successes revolve around tasks within the game given to players by Professor Willow during Pokémon GO fest.
To thank players for completing these challenges, Niantic and The Pokémon Company are giving players an Ultra Bonus, which consists of three weeks of special events and unique weekly bonuses. The Ultra Bonus that players have unlocked will start with week one beginning on September 2 at 1PM PST. This will run until September 9 at 1PM PST.
Week two will begin right where week one leaves off. So, it will start on September 9 at 1PM PST, and it will continue until September 16. Finally, on September 16 at 1PM PST the third week of the Ultra Bonus will start and will end on September 23 at 1PM PST.
Niantic would not share all of the details for these events but it did mention a few pieces of information. Inside of week one, players will have the opportunity to hatch Pokémon that have never been available from eggs or raids. This means players will want to be out and about to see if they can stumble upon these Pokémon.
In addition, players will be able to work on their Johto Pokédex during their exploration. For week two, players are getting a chance to face off against a mythical Pokémon in raids. Which one it will be is still a mystery so Niantic likely wants it to be a surprise. Pokémon from other parts of the world are also supposed to be “joining the celebration.” This could mean that certain Pokémon usually only available in specific regions will be available for that week.
With week three, it seems players are getting another chance at region-specific Pokémon. Niantic states that Pokémon which may have escaped players before in their part of the world can be added to the Kanto Pokédex if players are able to find them. This is a big deal for the major collectors, as it cuts out having to travel to far away locations.
Players will also want to keep an eye out for unusual Pokémon in the wild as well as “noteworthy opponents” in raids. All of this shapes things up to make the game even more exciting during this three-week period. Players who don’t want to miss out on the best stuff will want to participate for the unique bonuses at the very least. In just a few short days (on August 20), Niantic is also sharing more information about the Ultra Bonus event.
While the Ultra Bonus event is still a couple of weeks away, a handful of bonuses are available right now for players to kick things off. For the next week, players will get three times the amount of Catch Stardust and Hatch Stardust. Players who complete raids will also get 3,000 Stardust per raid completion, so there’s more incentive to go out and do them.
There are two final bonuses that will be available during this week. For the entire week Star Pieces will last an hour instead of the usual 30 minutes. There will also be a chance for players to encounter Suicune in raids on Saturday, August 17 between the hours of 4PM and 7PM local time.