Pokemon Go October Events: Halloween 2020, Giratina Raids, Shedinja Breakthrough, And More

October has officially arrived, and that means a slew of new events to look forward to in Pokemon Go. Developer Niantic has outlined some of the activities it has planned for the hit Pokemon mobile game this month, and they include the return of more Legendary Pokemon, a special Limited Research questline, the annual Halloween celebration, and more. Here's a rundown of all the biggest activities that are happening in Pokemon Go in October 2020.

October Special Research Breakthrough: Shedinja

Niantic is rolling out a new set of Field Research tasks and rewards starting October 1, and there will be a new Research Breakthrough encounter as well. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough next month, you'll get a chance to catch the Bug/Ghost Pokemon Shedinja.

Legendary Raids

Niantic is bringing more Legendary Pokemon back to Raids in October. Throughout the month, you'll have another chance to encounter the Legendary birds Zapdos and Moltres in five-star Raid Battles, as well as Origin Forme Giratina. Niantic also teases that a "special Raid boss" will appear during Pokemon Go's Halloween 2020 event. You can see the full Raid schedule below:

• September 25 - October 2: Zapdos
• October 2 - 9: Moltres
• October 9 - 23: Origin Forme Giratina

Fashion Event

To celebrate The Pokemon Company's collaboration with fashion brand Longchamp Paris, Pokemon Go is hosting a fashion event from October 2-8. Throughout the week, "fashionable" Pokemon--such as Smoochum wearing a bow and Kirlia and Shinx wearing top hats--will hatch from 7 km eggs and appear in Raids. You'll also find the following Pokemon more frequently in the wild:

• Mareep
• Skitty
• Roselia
• Kricketot
• Croagunk (wearing a backwards cap)
• Blitzle
• Cottonee
• Minccino
• Gothita

On top of that, exclusive Field Research tasks will be available during the event as well, and you'll have your first chance to find and catch Shiny Kricketot. The fashion event runs until 10 PM PT on October 8.

Pokemon Spotlight Hours

Every Tuesday evening in October, Niantic will spotlight one specific Pokemon and bonus for one hour. These spotlight events will all run from 6-7 PM local time. You can see the full schedule below:

Date	Spotlight Pokemon	Special Bonus
October 6	World Cap Pikachu	2x catch XP
October 13	Original Cap Pikachu	2x catch Candy
October 20	Shuppet	2x transfer Candy
October 27	Duskull	2x evolution XP

Autumn Event

Niantic is celebrating the arrival of fall with an autumn event from October 9-12. Throughout the weekend, fall-themed Pokemon like Oddish, Vulpix, Bayleef, Seedot, and others will appear in the wild much more often than normal, and you'll have your first chance to encounter the Gen 5 Pokemon Deerling in the game. Berries will also get a little boost during the event. Not only will they be twice as effective when you feed them to your Buddy Pokemon, you'll earn twice the normal amount of Candy when you catch a Pokemon after feeding it a Pinap Berry. You'll also get more berries than usual when you spin the Photo Disc at PokeStops and Gyms.

October Limited Research

Niantic is hosting a special Limited Research event on Saturday, October 10. From 8 AM to 10 PM local time, special Field Research tasks will be available, and completing them will lead to encounters with Meowth's Kanto, Alolan, and Galarian forms. Timed Research tasks will also be available during the event, as will a special box that contains Incense, Pinap Berries, and Lucky Eggs.

October Community Day

October's Community Day is set for Saturday, October 17. This month's featured Pokemon will be Charmander, which was the runner-up in Niantic's recent Community Day poll. If you can evolve the Fire-type starter all the way into its final form, Charizard, up to two hours after the event ends, it'll learn the Dragon-type Fast attack Dragon Breath.

Halloween 2020 Event

Pokemon Go's annual Halloween celebration returns from October 23 to November 3. Throughout the event, various Ghost-type Pokemon will appear more frequently than normal in the wild and in Raid Battles. A couple of new monsters will debut as well: costumed versions of Gengar and Sableye, as well as Galarian Yamask.

In addition to the increased Pokemon spawns, the Legendary Pokemon Darkrai will return to five-star Raids, and there will be a Halloween-themed Special Research quest line that will lead to encounters with Spiritomb. Mega Gengar will also begin appearing as a Mega Raid boss.

Beyond that, there will be two mini-events as part of the Halloween 2020 celebration. First, Niantic is holding a "Catch Mastery" event focused on Ghost-type Pokemon on October 25. Then, on Halloween itself, the studio will host a special Raid Day that features Alolan Marowak. Finally, players will receive twice the usual amount of Candy for catching and transferring Pokemon throughout the entire Halloween event.