Pokémon Go Piplup Community Day Classic event guide

Pokémon Go is having a Piplup Community Day Classic event on Sunday, Jan. 4 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.

As expected with a Community Day event, Piplup will spawn in huge numbers with a high chance for it to appear shiny. There are also several other bonuses and perks, which we’ve listed out below.

How do I catch a shiny Piplup?

As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), Shiny rates on Community Days are about 1 in 24, which means that if you keep playing throughout the three-hour window, you should find quite a few shiny Pokémon.

If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, you can pop an Incense, then quickly tap each Piplup to check for shiny ones, running from any that aren’t shiny. Notably, any Piplup you’ve already tapped will face where your player is standing, so that should help identify which ones you may have already checked.

If you evolve Prinplup into Empoleon from Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the charged move Hydro Cannon.

If you miss out on evolving it during this period, you will likely be able to evolve it during a Community Day weekend event in December to get Hydro Cannon. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move.

In PvE content (gyms and raids), Empoleon is fine, but trails behind the other water-type starters, like Quaquaval, Primarina, Greninja, Swampert, Samurott, and Feraligatr. It goes without saying, it’s significantly worse than most Mega picks, like Mega Blastoise and Mega Swampert. You’re better off using these other options if you have them. If you want to use your Empoleon, set it up with Waterfall and Hydro Cannon.

In PvP, Empoleon is a very good pick in both the Great and Ultra Leagues. You can set it up with Metal Sound, Hydro Cannon, and Drill Peck to give it some good coverage.

The following bonuses will be active during Piplup Community Day:

• 1⁄4 hatch distance for eggs placed into Incubators during the event
• Incense lasts three hours
• Lure Modules last one hour
• Piplup special photobombs when taking snapshots

That said, you should definitely pop your eggs into Incubators and use an Incense to nab some powerful Piplup.

If you can Mega Evolve Blastoise, Slowbro, Gyarados, Swampert, or Sharpedo, you’ll score additional Piplup Candy per catch. Using Primal Reversion on Kyogre also nets the same effect.

Additionally, Niantic is continuing the lure bonus from previous Community Days. Piplup will appear at lured-up PokéStops from 2-9 p.m. during the event, meaning if you don’t catch the Piplup you wanted before the event ends at 5 p.m., you can use a Lure Module to try to get more. The higher shiny rate will still apply to these Piplup, and they still will have a chance to have a special background.