Pokemon GO New Year’s 2026 Event: All Bonuses, Spawns, Raids, and More

The year 2025 has ended, and it’s time for Pokemon GO’s New Year celebration. Pokemon GO’s New Year’s 2026 event is a great way to start your year in the game, as it features plenty of new spawns, rewards, bonuses, and many more to dive into.

Like the previous year, some cool party-themed costumed Pokemon have made their appearance. These rare Pokemon will be available for a limited time, and you shouldn’t miss out on them. That said, here’s all the information you need to know.

Pokemon GO New Year’s 2026 Event Date and Time

The New Year’s 2026 event in Pokemon GO was released on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, and will be available for 5 days. We have listed the start and the end times below.

• Start Date and Time: Wednesday, December 31, 2025, at 10 AM local time
• End Date and Time: Sunday, January 4, 2025, at 8 PM local time

Once the event ends, you will no longer be able to take part and obtain the rewards.

Pokemon GO New Year’s 2026 Event Bonuses

The New Year’s 2026 event offers bonuses for Pokemon GO raids. You can get 2x XP and Stardust from Raid Battles. On top of that, there is an increased chance of encountering Shiny Party Top Hat Pikachu. Additionally, trainers with the New Year’s 2026 Premium Timed Research ticket will receive one extra Raid Pass per day from spinning Photo Discs at Gyms (for a daily total of two).

You can even enjoy a new set of features that will be available during the event. Here’s a list of them:

• Watch the festive fireworks light up the skies.
• The number of guaranteed Lucky Pokemon one can receive in a trade has been increased from 35 to 45 permanently. Starting from this event, if you trade a Pokemon that has been in a Trainer’s Pokemon storage since 2020, it is guaranteed to become a Lucky Pokémon until the limit is reached.
• Blacephalon encountered from five-star raids during the event will know the Charged Attack Mind Blown.

All Pokemon Spawn in the New Year’s 2026 Event

Note:

Pokemon marked with a * can be shiny.

You can find the following Pokemon spawning in the wild:

Pokemon	Type
Party Hat Bulbasaur*	Grass
Party Hat Charmander*	Fire
Party Hat Squirtle*	Water
Party Hat Wurmple*	Bug
Ribbon Jigglypuff*	Fairy
New Year’s Hat Hoothoot*	Normal / Flying
Party Top Hat Pikachu*	Electric

All Raids Bosses in the New Year’s 2026 Event

New raid bosses have been added to the Pokemon GO raid schedule. They are as follows:

Pokemon	Type	Raid Tier
Party Top Hat Pikachu*	Electric	Tier One
Party Hat Wurmple*	Bug	Tier One
Party Hat Raticate	Normal	Tier Three
Party Hat Nidorino	Poison	Tier Three
Party Hat Gengar*	Poison / Ghost	Tier Three
Party Hat Wobbuffet*	Psychic	Tier Three
Blacephalon*	Ghost / Fire	Tier Five

Event Themed Avatar Items

Players can purchase the following avatar items from the in-game shop by spending PokeCoins during the New Year’s 2026 event. The avatar items will continue to be available after the event ends.

• Blacephalon Boots: 200 PokeCoin

Field Research and Daily Research Tasks and Rewards

Players can complete new field research tasks during the New Year’s 2026 event and obtain Stardust. Here’s a list of them:

Task	Reward
Catch 26 Pokemon	Stardust ×2026
Win a raid	Stardust ×2026

During the event, you can even receive one bonus daily Field Research task each day after logging in that provides either one Lucky Egg or one Incense. To obtain bonus daily Field Research tasks, you must have three or fewer active Field Research tasks when you log in for the first time each day. That said, here’s all the daily research tasks you can find:

Task	Possible Rewards
Catch 15 Pokemon	Lucky Egg ×1, Incense ×1
Spin 5 PokeStops or Gyms	Lucky Egg ×1, Incense ×1
Send 5 Gifts to friends	Lucky Egg ×1, Incense ×1
Transfer 15 Pokemon	Lucky Egg ×1, Incense ×1
Power up Pokemon 10 times	Lucky Egg ×1, Incense ×1

New Year’s 2026 Collection Challenge

You can take part in the event and catch a bunch of Pokemon, to complete the New Year’s Challenge and obtain rewards.

Task	Reward
Catch: Party Top Hat Pikachu ×1 Party Hat Bulbasaur ×1 Party Hat Charmander ×1 Party Hat Squirtle ×1	XP ×2026 Stardust ×2026 Ultra Ball ×26

Paid Timed Research

A new timed research is available in the shop, which you can buy by paying US$1.99 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency). You can buy the ticket or gift to your friends as well once they have achieved a Friendship level of Great Friends or higher.

Purchasing this ticket will grant an extra Raid Pass per day from spinning Photo Discs at Gyms during the New Year’s 2026 event. You can even get the following tasks in the research:

• Catch 5 Pokemon — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Catch 10 Pokemon — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Catch 15 Pokemon — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Catch 20 Pokemon — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Catch 25 Pokemon — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Make 5 Nice Throws — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Make 10 Nice Throws — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Make 15 Nice Throws — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Make 5 Great Throws — Party Top Hat Pikachu
• Make 10 Great Throws — Party Top Hat Pikachu

After completing all the above tasks, you’ll get the following rewards:

• Two Premium Battle Passes
• 3,000 Stardust
• Encounters with Party Top Hat Pikachu

Additionally, you can also purchase the New Year’s 2026 Ultra Ticket Box from the official Pokemon GO Website for US$1.99 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency). It includes both an event ticket and one Lucky egg.

Don’t miss out on this event, as you can collect some rare costumed Pokemon that appear for a limited time once a year.