Pokemon Go Rivals Week event: Research tasks, bonuses, how to get Skrelp and Clauncher
Absolutely everything you need to know about Pokemon Go Rivals Week.
The Pokemon Go Rivals Week event is here, with Niantic and The Pokemon Company dropping fresh content into the game. It's all themed around iconic critters who've got some serious beef with each other.
As the official announcement blog tells us: "Some legends arise from the power of friendship—while others arise from fierce rivalries!"
If you're wondering what this fresh content drop means for your Pokemon Go experience, keep on reading for all the essential information on Rivals Week.
What is Pokemon Go Rivals Week?
As part of the Season of Legends series of content, Rivals Week is described in the official announcement as "an event celebrating rivalries between Pokémon."
Skrelp and Clauncher will appear in Pokemon Go for the first time, as part of Rivals Week. And you'll also see Therian Forme Landorus popping up in five-star raids, which is another first.
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When does Pokemon Go Rivals Week start and end?
Pokemon Go Rivals Week began on Tuesday 13th April 2021 at 10am local time, wherever you are in the world. It will end at 8pm local time on Sunday 18th April 2021. Pedantry fans will note that it's actually a bit shorter than a week. So you won't want to waste any time!
Patch Notes: What's new in the Pokemon Go Rivals Week update
In the official announcement blog, the developers from Niantic shared some further details about what exactly Rivals Week entails. See the bullet points below, in the words of Niantic:
- Skrelp and Clauncher will be making their Pokémon GO debuts. They’ll be appearing in the wild, in raids, and in encounters after you complete Field Research tasks.
- Therian Forme Landorus is also making its Pokémon GO debut. Encounter the Abundance Pokémon in five-star raids.
- Enjoy the Rivals’ Week challenge in the Global Challenge Arena. All Trainers around the world can work together to win Raid Battles and unlock a 2× Catch Stardust bonus for the duration of the event.
- Pokémon known for their rivalries will be appearing more often in the wild, such as Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Makuhita, Meditite, Zangoose, Seviper, and more.
- The following Pokémon will be hatching from five kilometre Eggs throughout the event: Machop, Tyrogue, Elekid, Magby, Makuhita, Meditite, Zangoose, and Seviper.
- Rivalries will continue in raids as well. Pokémon like Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Zangoose, Seviper, and more will be appearing in raids.
- Enjoy event-exclusive Field Research tasks that will lead to encounters with rival Pokémon, such as Skrelp and Clauncher, as well.
Pokemon Go Rivals Week research tasks, Global Challenge and bonuses
To find the Rivals Week research tasks in your game, head to the research area and click on 'Today' in the menu along the top. You might need to scroll down a bit to see the new stuff.
You'll notice that there is a Global Challenge occurring right now, with quite a lofty target: players around the globe are trying to reach the goal of battling, collectively, in 40,000,000 raids. There is a timed bonus for taking part in this Global Challenge: if that goal is met, players who took part will be rewarded with two Catch Stardust items.
As for the individual pieces of Field Research, The Silph Road on Reddit has rounded them up like so:
- Catch three Fighting-type Pokémon (reward: 1x Revive, 3x Super Potion or 2x Hyper Potion)
- Catch six Fighting-type Pokémon (reward: Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan encounter)
- Catch 15 Fighting-type Pokémon (reward: Zangoose or Sepviper encounter)
- Win in the Go Battle League (reward: 20x Lopunny Mega Energy)
- Win a Raid (reward: Skrelp or Clauncher encounter)
Are Skrelp and Clauncher shiny, and how do you catch them?
With much noise being made about Skrelp and Clauncher's arrival in Pokemon Go, you might be wondering about how to catch them and whether they're shiny.
The bad news is, these new critters are not currently shiny, and you can only catch non-shiny standard versions of them in the game (as far as we know).
You can catch either of them out in the wild, or you might be lucky enough to spot them in one-star raid battles near you.
If you really can't find a Skrelp or a Clauncher, it's worth referring back to the aforementioned research tasks – if you win a raid as part of your research, you should be rewarded with a Skrelp or Clauncher encounter.
Pokemon Go bug turns new critters invisible
Around the web today, we've seen reports of Skrelp and Clauncher being impossible to spot in Pokemon Go. For some players, these newly-added creatures are literally invisible – this is not a handy feature when you're trying to catch 'em all!
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Thankfully, the developers from Niantic are aware of the issue and they've shared a workaround on Twitter. You can see the company's statement below.
If you get struck by the mysterious case of the invisible Skrelp and Clauncher, then, you know what to do – simply update your app to the latest version, and you should be able to spot these new additions next time you open up the game.
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Authors
Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.
