Each set of events will feature a different region of the first four Pokémon games, Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, respectively. So players get special chances to grab both various items and Shiny variants from those areas. There’s one more bonus that players have a chance at grabbing during the event though. Niantic has not only introduced a stack of different Tasks for each of the regions, but now we’re getting a new unique version of a certain iconic mouse.
As players adventure around completing the new tasks as part of the Throwback event, they will notice that Pokémon of each region will become more frequent to capture. Additionally, there will be event-specific Pikachu available you can capture during these events too. Each week will see a unique varaint spawning. The new special Pikachu will each be lidded with a unique hat, styled after Charizard, Umbreon, Rayquaza, and Lucario respectively.
It’s highly recommended to focus on completing the various weekly Throwback challenges before hunting down the lid-wearing Pikas. You will need to complete these Throwback Challenges to unlock the Throwback Challenge Champion research tasks.
Each of the variants only appears during a set time, with each variant of Pikachu wearing possibly a Charizard, an Umbreon, a Rayquaza, or a Lucario hat. Here are when each version can appear.
- Pikachu with a Charizard hat: During the Kanto Throwback Challenge event starting May 1 at 1:00pm to May 8 at 1:00pm
- Pikachu with an Umbreon hat: During the Johto Throwback Challenge event starting May 8 at 1:00pm to May 15 at 1:00pm
- Pikachu with a Rayquaza hat: During the Hoenn Throwback Challenge event starting May 15 at 1:00pm to May 22 at 1:00pm
- Pikachu with a Lucario hat: During the Sinnoh Throwback Challenge event starting May 22 at 1:00pm to May 29 at 1:00pm
The Pikachu will rotate each week. You won’t have to do anything specific to capture it. All of them will be available in the wild for you to capture. If you see one, click on it, and you’ll go to the screen to try and capture it. The Pikachu with higher CPs might require berries for you to use to make it easier to catch them.
Once the events finish on May 29, there’s no guarantee that this special Pikachu variant will return, so grab it while you can. Niantic has brought back special variants and Legendary Pokémon before, but it may not happen with this set. So it’s best to just farm for it while you can. The higher-CP variants will need plenty of Berries and good throws to make captures easier, but you shouldn’t have too much trouble grabbing any of these unless you want ultra-powerful ones.
