It may still be December, but it's never too early for Pokemon GO fans to start planning ahead. The massive December Community Day weekend has come and gone, so it is now time for players to start looking ahead to the January event, which will shine the spotlight on Machop.
The January Community Day event features some fantastic bonuses that are going to allow players to stock up Stardust while they race around in Pokemon GO trying to find shiny Machop and evolving Machamps that know the powerful Community Day exclusive move - Payback.
Although it's not a legendary Pokemon, Machop's final form actually is still very relevant in the Pokemon GO metagame. The fighting-type Pokemon is a frequent recommendation for both PvP lineups and Battle Raid counter rosters, which means that players should have plenty of motivation to get out and try to catch as close to a perfect Machop for evolving as possible.
Featured Pokemon
Machop - Gen 1 Fighting-type
Date
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Start and End Times
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time
Starting in February 2019, Community Day events now always take place on local time, no matter where you are playing. That changes a bit over the winter months as the time is split between hemispheres rather than time zones. It looks like we're back to one time at this point though.
Special Move
Evolve Machop to get the attack Payback.
Make sure to evolve during the active time window (within an hour of the event ending) if you want to secure it.
Bonuses
3x Catch Stardust
Incense activated during the event will last for three hours.
Features
Machop will be appearing more frequently in the wild. If you’re lucky, you may encounter a Shiny one!
Evolve Machoke during the event or up to two hours afterward to get a Machamp that knows Payback.
Take a few snapshots during Community Day for a surprise!
There’ll be a special one-time-purchase Machop Community Day Box available for 1,280 PokéCoins - The contents of the box have not yet been confirmed.
Event-exclusive Timed Research and Field Research tasks will be available! By completing Timed Research tasks, you’ll be able to earn Sinnoh Stones and other items.
For US$1 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency), you’ll be able to access the Machop Community Day–exclusive Special Research story, Straight to the top, Machop! Also, keep in mind that players who purchase a ticket for the Pokemon GO Tour: Kanto event by Wednesday, January 13, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. PST (GMT −8) will get this Special Research story for free.
Limited Time Field Research
Recent updates to the game’s code suggest that this Community Day, like last month’s, will temporarily offer special Field Research tasks that put an emphasis on the featured Pokemon. Be sure to claim your rewards and clear out a space for these quests if you want to see them.
Shiny Variant
Niantic usually doesn’t confirm the shiny chance until after the event has started, but keep an eye out for shiny Machop while hunting. They’ve been a part of every other Community Day event, so we fully expect to see them this month, as well.
That’s everything we know at this point! Machop is a very popular Pokemon (and an even more popular shiny) and is likely to give trainers a good reason to take a break the usual daily activities and dive head first into some event tasks.
As trainers continue working through these amazing events and enjoying the early days of the GO Beyond update, they may want to keep hunting down the best Unova Pokemon in the game if improving their Battle Raid rosters and completing their Pokedex is their primary goal. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Pokemon GO Hub