Update: The Pokémon Go Water Festival Event is over! Don't worry, though, you can still capture Shiny Pokémon and there'll always be the next event
Pokémon Go has just announced a Water Festival in honor of World Water Day and various other international water conservation and awareness events. With it, you'll be getting increased water-type spawns for a week, including Lapras, Magikarp and Gyarados, Feraligatr, Blastoise, and more. Oh, and a Magikarp hat! (Seriously!)
New: Latest Pokémon Go Updates | Next Pokémon Go Event
Hot: Best movesets | Best Power-Ups | Find rares | Catch bonuses
Guides: Pokémon Go tips + tricks | Pokémon Go cheats
TL;DR: What should you do now, now, now?
- Catch Lapras to complete your Pokédex or try to get the best moveset and power up to destroy Dragonites on Gyms.
- Catch Magikarp to try to get a Shiny (gold) Magikarp, candy to evolve Gyarados, and your Fisherman gold medal.
- Catch Totodile, Croconaw, and Feraligatr to evolve a high stat Feraligatr with a great moveset, complete your Pokédex, and increase your Johto medal.
- Catch Squirtle, Wartotle, and Blastoise to evolve a high stat Blastoise with a great moveset, complete your Pokédex, and increase your Kanto medal.
- Catch and evolve any other Pokémon you might be missing for your Pokédex, and Kanto and Johto medals, including Omastar, Kabutops, Octillery, etc.
- Stock up on candy for Poliwag, Slowpoke, and Horsea for when you get King's Rock and Dragon Scale Evolution Items for Politoed, Slowking, and Kingdra.
- Catch and evolve any as many water-types as you need to get gold in the Swimmers medal and receive a 1.3x bonus towards catching all future water types.
What is this Pokémon Go Water Festival Event of which you speak?
Here's what Pokemon Go announced:
Get ready to make some waves in Pokémon GO! There's a global Water Festival in progress, and Magikarp, Squirtle, Totodile, and friends are looking forward to celebrating with you! Starting today at 1 P.M. PDT, you'll be more likely to encounter Magikarp, Squirtle, Totodile, and their Evolutions all around the world. Additionally, when you're out exploring areas where Water-type Pokémon more commonly appear, you'll have a greater chance to encounter several of the Water-type Pokémon originally discovered in the Johto region, and maybe... you might even encounter Lapras.Also, starting later today, you'll notice a new avatar wardrobe item—the Magikarp Hat!
When does it start and end?
Here are the official times:
- Start: March 22, 2017 at 1 p.m. PDT / 4 p.m. EDT
- End: March 29, 2017 at 1 p.m. PDT / 4 p.m. EDT
So, a week of water fun!
Do you have to be near water or water spawns to benefit from the increased rate?
Not so far! They're spawning pretty much everywhere.
The Valentine's event was frustrating for those outside Porygon or Chansey biomes so, the Water Festival event seems to have taken this into account and made everything more universal.
What are the water-type Pokémon of the Johto region?
The Johto region is where the Gen 2 Pokémon were introduced. So, the water-types include:
- Totodile
- Croconaw
- Feraligatr
- Chinchou
- Lanturn
- Marill
- Azumarill
- Politoed
- Wooper
- Quagsire
- Slowking
- Qwilfish
- Corsola
- Remoraid
- Octillery
- Mantine
- Kingdra
Note, Politoed, Slowking, and Kingdra, like other Pokémon that require an Evolution Item to evolve, don't spawn. So, even though they're water-type, you won't see them in the wild, even during this event.
Also note, Corsola is region-exclusive to the tropics and can't be found north or south, even during the event.
But Magikarp and Lapras are Kanto, so will we see increased Gen 1 water types as well?
Absolutely. Squirtle and Omanyte too!
- Squirtle
- Wartotle
- Blastoise
- Psyduck
- Golduck
- Poliwag
- Poliwhirl
- Poliwrath
- Tentacool
- Tentacruel
- Slowpoke
- Slowbro
- Seel
- Dewgong
- Shellder
- Cloyster
- Krabby
- Kingler
- Horsea
- Seadra
- Goldeen
- Staryu
- Starmie
- Magikarp
- Gyarados
- Lapras
- Vaporeon
- Omanyte
- Omastar
- Kabuto
- Kabutops
So, on the off chance you don't have gold in the Swimmer medal...?
You'd have to be in hibernation not to have it by the end of the Water Festival event.
That Fisherman gold medal, though...
Still tough! You get the Fisherman gold medal by catching 300 "big" Magikarp. It's been estimated that around 15% of Magikarp that get appraised are "big" (I'm at around 18% currently), so that means you'll have to catch about 2,000 Magikarp to get it. Yes, depending on how many you trade in for extra candy, that's enough to evolve 15 to 20 Gyrados (!!).
This is the best time possible to really go for it, though!
Magikarp Hat! Does that mean a festive hat for Magikarp like Santa Hat or Party Hat Pikachu?
No! It's literally a hat for your trainer's avatar that looks like a Magikarp is eating your head. You get it in the style section. And it's either terrifying or hilarious, depending on your point of view.
But, free!
- Tap on the Trainer button, bottom left.
- Tap on the Style button, bottom right.
- Tap on Hats, bottom left.
- Tap on the Magikarp hat, bottom right.
- Tap on the pink Choose button, middle.
- Tap on the Exit (X) button, bottom middle.
How do the increased spawns work?
Typically you get spawns or cluster spawns of common Pokémon like Pidgey, Rattata, Sentrat, Hoothoot, etc. For the Water Event, there's a high probably any of those will be replaced with a water-spawn instead, like Magikarp, Poliwag, Wooper, etc.
Same with rare spawns. For the duration of the event, if a Snorlax, Dragonite, or Tyranitar would have spawned, there's a good chance it'll be replaced by a Lapras or Gyarados instead.
So, terrific news for people in desert climates who have few to no rare water-types. A week of sadness for those drowing in water types who need mountain spawns or anything else.
How do you find Lapras?!
If you know areas where the ultra-rare Pokémon usually spawn in your region, stake them out. Better still, if you have a group of friends or even a Facebook group for your city or town, keep in touch so you can crowd-source.
Otherwise, all of this still applies:
Where to find rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go
How do I catch that Gyarados?
Ultra-rare Pokémon can be notoriously hard to catch. That's because they have a low catch-rate, high level, or both. You can always catch 101 Magikarp (or closer to 50 with Pinap Berry!) and evolve your Gyarados. (Magikarp are the easist Pokémon to catch in the game — and right now they're everywhere!)
If you really want to catch your Gyarados, though, here's how to stack your bonuses and catch it as easily as possible:
How to catch rare Pokémon in Pokémon Go
So, you should use all the Pinap Berry, right?
FIRE EVERYTHING! At least if you want even more candy to evolve and power up Gyarados, Blastoise, Feraligatr, and other big water beasts.
What about... Shiny Pokémon?
YES! Shiny (gold) Magikarp and (red) Gyarados are both live. You won't see the colors on Nearby or Sightings but will see them when you engage. If and when you catch them, you'll get the shiny badge for them in the newly updated Pokedex (once the iOS update hits, at least.)
Shiny Pokémon: Everything you need to know!
TL;DR: Here it is again!
- Catch Lapras to complete your Pokédex or try to get the best moveset and power up to destroy Dragonites on Gyms.
- Catch Magikarp to try to get a Shiny (gold) Magikarp, candy to evolve Gyarados, and your Fisherman gold medal.
- Catch Totodile, Croconaw, and Feraligatr to evolve a high stat Feraligatr with a great moveset, complete your Pokédex, and increase your Johto medal.
- Catch Squirtle, Wartotle, and Blastoise to evolve a high stat Blastoise with a great moveset, complete your Pokédex, and increase your Kanto medal.
- Catch and evolve any other Pokémon you might be missing for your Pokédex, and Kanto and Johto medals, including Omastar, Kabutops, Octillery, etc.
- Stock up on candy for Poliwag, Slowpoke, and Horsea for when you get King's Rock and Dragon Scale Evolution Items for Politoed, Slowking, and Kingdra.
- Catch and evolve any as many water-types as you need to get gold in the Swimmers medal and receive a 1.3x bonus towards catching all future water types.
Also: Get out, enjoy, take your family and friends, accumulate candy, evolve all the things. Have FUN!
Any Pokémon Go water festival questions?
If you have any questions about the Pokémon Go water festival, drop them in the comments below!
