Pokemon Go January 2020 Community Day Guide: Start Time, Featured Pokemon, And More

Pokemon Go’s first Community Day of the new year is just around the corner. The monthly event returns on Sunday, January 19, and will give players a chance to catch another rare Pokemon, learn a special event-exclusive move, and take advantage of other in-game bonuses.

Most Pokemon Go Community Days only run for three hours, but the specifics of each event–such as what the featured Pokemon is and what other bonuses are available–vary month by month. To help you prepare for this month’s event, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about January’s Community Day below.

What Is January’s Featured Pokemon?

Each Community Day stars one “featured” Pokemon, which will appear much more frequently in the wild throughout the event. This month, the featured Pokemon is Piplup, the Water-type starter from Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. Throughout January’s Community Day, you’ll be more likely to encounter Piplup in the wild and in Raids, and you may even hatch it from eggs that you receive at PokeStops during the event.

On top of that, this month’s Community Day will give you your first chance to encounter a Shiny Piplup in Pokemon Go. Shiny Pokemon rarely appear in the game, but the increased Piplup spawns available during the event should make it more likely that you run into a few Shiny ones.

What Is January’s Community Day Move?

Another benefit of each Community Day is that it gives you a chance to get a Pokemon with a move that it can’t otherwise learn in Pokemon Go, and that holds true this month as well. If you can evolve Piplup’s evolved form, Prinplup, into Empoleon up to two hours after the event ends, the Pokemon will know the Charged Water attack Hydro Cannon. This applies to any Prinplup that you’re able to evolve during the Community Day, even if you’ve captured it prior to the event.

What Time Does January’s Community Day Start?

Like previous Community Days, January’s event will run for three hours, but it will take place at different times depending on which hemisphere you live in. For players in the Northern Hemisphere, the event will run from 11 AM-2 PM local time; in the Southern Hemisphere, the Community Day takes place from 3-6 PM local time. That means that players in the Northern Hemisphere will have until 4 PM local time to get an Empoleon with Hydro Cannon, while those in the Southern Hemisphere will have until 8 PM local time.

What Other Bonuses Are Available?

On top of increased Piplup spawns, Niantic is offering a few other in-game bonuses during January’s Community Day. As usual, any Lure Modules you use during the event will remain active for three hours, rather than the usual 30 minutes. Additionally, any eggs you place into incubators will hatch at a quarter of the distance they normally require during the Community Day.