Pokemon Go Lunar New Year Event Now Live, Adds Mega Gyarados And More

Pokemon Go's Lunar New Year celebration has returned from February 9-14. This year's event will feature a line of Timed Research tasks revolving around Tauros, as well as increased spawns of red-colored Pokemon and other in-game bonuses.

Throughout the Lunar New Year event, Krabby, Goldeen, Magmar, Magikarp, Tepig, and other red-colored Pokemon will appear in the wild more frequently than usual. Gyarados will also be appearing, and you'll have a chance to encounter a Shiny red Gyarados.

In addition to the wild Pokemon spawns, Pokemon that are based on animals associated with Lunar New Year--such as Ekans, Rattata, Torchic, Ponyta, and others--will be hatching from 5 km eggs throughout the event. You'll also have a chance to encounter the following Pokemon in Raid Battles:

• One-star Raids: Meditite, Carvanha, Duskull, Skorupi, and Darumaka
• Three-star Raids: Miltank, Octillery, Blaziken, Camerupt, and Absol

Those aren't the only Raid bosses that will be available during the Lunar New Year event. The Legendary Eon Pokemon Latios and Latias will also return to five-star Raids from February 9-20, while Mega Ampharos, Mega Pidgeot, and the debuting Mega Gyarados will be featured in Mega Raids during the same timeframe.

Finally, Niantic will offer a variety of in-game bonuses throughout the Lunar New Year event. Gifts you receive from friends will contain more Poke Balls than usual, and you're more likely to become Lucky Friends with other players. On top of that, Pokemon you receive in trades are more likely to become Lucky. To take advantage of that bonus, Niantic is increasing trading distance to 40 km for the event.

In other Pokemon Go news, Latios and Latias are back in five-star Raids for a limited time, while the game's annual Valentine's Day event returns from February 14-18. As part of this year's event, players will have their first chance to get the Gen 5 Pokemon Munna and Musharna in the game. You can see all the other big February events happening in Pokemon Go in our roundup.