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Pokémon Go Holiday Christmas event 2018: end date, Snover, Delibird, Santa Hat Pikachu and all other new Pokemon added in the Holidays Christmas event

What new water and ice Pokémon you'll encounter and other benefits this holiday.

Pokémon Go's Christmas Holiday event has returned once again, and follows the lead of the Halloween event earlier this year by introducing a wave of new Gen 4 creatures themed around the holiday in question - in this instance mostly Ice-types and some baby Pokémon - for players to catch.

It also sees the return of Delibird, one of Gen 2's latecoming creatures, the return of the seasonally-dressed Pikachu, free incubators as well as other fantastic benefits like bonus Candy or XP at various times as you get catching this holiday.

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Pokémon Go Christmas event - Holiday 2018 end date and times

The Pokémon Go Holiday event began on December 18th at the following times:

  • UK: 9pm (BST)
  • Europe: 10pm (CEST)
  • East Coast US: 4pm (EDT)
  • West Coast US: 1pm (PDT)

The Holiday 2018 event will end on January 2nd 2019, likely at the same times, again - but there are also some time-limited bonuses within it (more on those below) that have specific start and end times. Here's a quick look.

Pokémon Go Holiday sub-event start and end times:

  • 2x Candy for catching and transferring Pokémon - December 18th - 22nd
  • 2x Stardust for catching Pokémon - December 22nd - 26th
  • 2x XP for catching Pokémon - December 26th - 30th
  • 2x Egg hatching speed - December 30th - Jan 2nd

Like Halloween, any new Gen 4 Pokémon added in the event will be permanent additions to the game, though the other bonuses mentioned below - and again the likes of Santa Hat Pikachua and Gen 2's Delibird - will be time limited.

Snover, shiny Delibird and other Pokémon coming as part of the Pokémon Go Christmas Holiday event

There are some familiar faces returning for the event - notably Santa Hat Pikachu, and Delibird, the Christmas-themed Pokémon, only this time there's a shiny version of Delibird available to catch, too.

Otherwise, there are several confirmed new Pokémon coming in the Christmas Holiday event - albeit fewer than the whopping 21 new Pokémon introduced in last year's version. All of them, of course, are Gen 4.

It doesn't look like Ice-Type Gen 4 evolutions Mamoswine or Froslass have become available, sadly (and strangely), so below are all the new Pokémon you can find!

New Pokémon confirmed as coming in the Christmas Holidays 2018 event

No.PokémonType, Evolution and predicted catch method
433Chingling
Psychic Type
7km Eggs
436Bronzor
Steel / Psychic Type
No previous evolution
437Bronzong
Steel / Psychic Type
Evolves from Bronzor
(using Candy)
446Munchlax
Normal Type
7km Eggs
451Skorupi
Poison / Bug Type
No previous evolution
452Drapion
Poison / Dark Type
Evolves from Scorupi
(using Candy)
453Croagunk
Poison / Fighting Type
No previous evolution
454Toxicroak
Poison / Fighting Type
Evolves from Croagunk
(using Candy)
456Finneon
Water Type
No previous evolution
457Lumineon
Water Type
Evolves from Finneon
(using Candy)
458Mantyke
Water / Flying Type
7km Eggs
459Snover
Grass / Ice Type
No previous evolution
460Abomasnow
Grass / Ice Type
Evolves from Snover
(using Candy)

The Max Out Season is here and includes a new global event, Wild Area. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


Other Pokémon Go Christmas Holiday event bonuses, including free incubators

As well as the handful of new Gen 4 Pokémon and the return of Delibird and Holiday Pikachu, the event will also introduce:

  • Increased Ice-type Spawns - For the duration of the event. Includes: Sneasel, Swinub, Snorunt, Jynx, Spheal, and new Pokémon Snover.
  • Increased chance of hatching 'baby' Pokémon in 7km Eggs - For the duration of the event. Includes: Azurill, Smoochum, Riolu and new additions Munchlax, Chingling and Mantyke.
  • Free, single-use Incubators - For the duration of the event. Earned by spinning a Pokéstop or Gym disc, once per day for the first spin of the day.
  • New Delibird-themed cosmetic items - For the duration of the event. Delibird sweater, gloves and boots availabled.
  • New Shinies - Azurill, Marill and Azumarill now have shiny versions available. There's also a shiny version available for Delibird and Santa Hat Pikachu.
  • New raid boss - A nice bait-and-switch from Niantic: it's not any of Uxie, Azelf or Mespirit (pictured in the event image). Instead, the powerful Fire- and Steel-type Heatran is the new Legendary Raid boss, replacing Cressalia.
  • Time-limited event bonuses
    • 2x Candy for catching and transferring Pokémon - December 18th - 22nd
    • 2x Stardust for catching Pokémon - December 22nd - 26th
    • 2x XP for catching Pokémon - December 26th - 30th
    • 2x Egg hatching speed - December 30th - Jan 2nd

Lots of very handy bonuses, then - especially that bonus Candy for transferring, which is great if you've been holding onto those rare or Legendary Pokémon to transfer at a time like this! Make sure you get the most out of those mini-events, then.

Star Pieces and Lucky Eggs will come in handy, as well as those bonus Incubators that might be worth holding onto until that boosted Egg hatching speed event near the end, which'll be a great chance to try and get one of those new baby Pokémon added to 7km Eggs!

Additional reporting by Matthew Reynolds.

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