Pokémon Go Misunderstood Mischief research steps 15/16 and 16/16, rewards and how to get Hoopa explained

'Misunderstood Mischief' quest tasks and rewards in Pokémon Go

Below you'll find all Misunderstood Mischief quest tasks and rewards in Pokémon Go.

Misunderstood Mischief has a total of 16 steps which were released gradually throughout the Season of Mischief.

For more information on the release schedule for Misunderstood Mischief - as well as final rewards - visit the next section.

Remember - the following does contain spoilers for this special research quest, so, if you'd prefer to be surprised, we recommend jumping to the next section.

Thank you to Amiibofan101 from reddit for the help with this information!

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 1 of 16 (released Wednesday, 1st September)

• Make 10 Nice Throws - 1 Incense
• Use an Incense - 10 PokéBalls
• Take 3 snapshots of wild Psychic-type Pokémon - 10 Pinap Berries

Rewards: 1000 XP, 500 Stardust and a Gothita encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 2 of 16 (released Sunday, 5th September)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 3 of 16 (released Sunday, 5th September)

• Make 5 Curveball Throws - 15 Poké Balls
• Catch 10 different species of Pokémon - 15 Great Balls
• Earn 5,000 Stardust - 3 Max Revives

Rewards: 1000 XP, 1000 Stardust and a Hoopa Confined encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 4 of 16 (released Sunday, 5th September)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 5 of 16 (released Wednesday, 8th September)

• Power up Pokémon - 15 Great Balls
• Catch 20 Psychic-type Pokémon - Abra encounter
• Evolve 3 Psychic-type Pokémon - 10 Revives

Rewards: 10 Hyper Potions, 10 Inkay Candy and a Wobbuffet encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 6 of 16 (released Wednesday 8th September)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 7 of 16 (released Tuesday 21st September)

• Take a snapshot of your buddy - Furfrou
• Catch a Furfrou - 1 Fast TM
• Earn a heart with your buddy - 1 Charged TM

Rewards: 15 Furfrou candy, 1 Unova Stone and a Minccino encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 8 of 16 (released Tuesday 21st September)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 9 of 16 (released Friday 15th October)

• Make 3 Nice Curveball Throws - 15 Slowpoke candy
• Transfer 30 Pokémon - Galarian Slowpoke encounter
• Evolve one Slowpoke - 1990 XP

Reward: 5 Max Potions, 40 Mega Slowbro Energy and a Shedinja encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 10 of 16 (released Tuesday 21st September)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 11 of 16 (released Friday 22nd October)

• Earn 3 Candies walking with your buddy - 10 Yamask Candy
• Catch 30 Ghost-type Pokémon - 10 Phantump Candy
• Catch 30 Dark-type Pokémon - 10 Pumpkaboo Candy

Reward: 15 Ultra Balls, 40 Mega Gengar Candy and a Mimikyu Costume Pikachu encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 12 of 16 (released Friday 22nd October)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 13 of 16 (released Friday 22nd October)

• Make a new friend - Meditite encounter
• Send 10 Gifts to friends - Chinchou encounter
• Use 20 Berries to help catch Pokémon - 2 Silver Pinap Berries

Rewards: 1 Poffin, 10 Dedenne candy and a Blitzle encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 14 of 16 (released Friday 5th November)

• Collect reward - 720 Stardust

Reward: 720 XP

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 15 of 16 (released Tuesday 9th November)

• Defeat 5 Team Go Rocket Grunts - 1x Rocket Radar
• Defeat 3 Team Go Rocket Leaders - 1x Super Rocket Radar
• Defeat the Team Go Rocket Boss Giovanni - 1x Lucky Egg

Rewards: 2x Super Pinap Berry, 40x Houndoom Mega Candy, Absol encounter

'Misunderstood Mischief' Step 16 of 16 (released Tuesday 9th November)

• Collect reward - 2000 XP
• Collect reward - 2000 XP
• Collect reward - 2000 XP

Rewards: 20 Hoopa Candy, 1x Star Piece and a Dusknoir encounter

Pokémon Go Misunderstood Mischief final rewards and free quest deadline

As well as the above rewards for completing each individual step, if you complete all 16 steps by December 1st at 9:59am local time, you will have access to a special end-of-season storyline quest Mischief Unbound for free.

If you miss this deadline, then the quest will still be accessible, but costs $4.99 (or the regional equivalent) when it appears in the shop from November 26th.

To help, Niantic have pointed out that Dark types will appear more regularly throughout both parts of the BD and SP event which lasts until November 21st, while increased Misdreavus spawns (to help with the 'catch ghost types' step) will occur during Part 2 of the event.

How Misunderstood Mischief works and how to catch Hoopa in Pokémon Go, including release dates

Misunderstood Mischief is the first special research quest to be released over the course of a season - the Season of Mischief - in Pokémon Go. This means, to fully complete the quest, you need to ensure you play regularly and attend in-game events, so you both collect and complete the new sets of challenges as they become available.

Currently, we only have the September dates for new challenge sets:

• Sunday, 5th September - Hoopa's Arrival
• Wednesday, 8th September - Psychic Spectacular
• Tuesday, 21st September - Fashion Week

The official Pokémon Go blog, however, does suggest that there will be two challenge sets released in October and two in November.

This post on the official Pokémon Go blog also states that we'll be able to encounter Confined Hoopa by completing the tasks which will unlock beginning on Sunday, 5th September. Whether completing this specific set of tasks will result in a Confined Hoopa encounter or if they're simply putting us on the road to this reward is still unknown.

It's a good idea to keep up with Misunderstood Mischief, ensuring you complete the new challenges as they appear, because, if you fully complete the special research quest by the end of the season - the exact date is yet to be released - you'll gain access to a special Hoopa-themed event.

The Max Out Season is here and includes a new global event, Wild Area, and the current 2024 Halloween event brings us Morpeko and the Halloween cup. 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.

How to get Hoopa in Pokémon Go

Hoopa has been spreading mischief in Pokémon Go since Go Fest 2021, where its storyline began with the Strange Rings special research quest. This quest not only introduced Hoopa, but used the mythical Pokémon to explain why so many legendary Pokémon were appearing on one day.

Hoopa then reappeared for the Ultra Unlock 2021: Sword and Shield event as it opened a portal to the Galar region, allowing a number of Gen 8 Pokémon to appear in Pokémon Go.

Now, with the Season of Mischief upon us, we can finally catch them - with Hoopa Confined available upon completing Step 3 of the quest.

Hoopa itself is a Gen 6 mythical Pokémon inspired by djinn mythology and has two forms - Hoopa Confined and Hoopa Unbound. In its Confined form, Hoopa is a psychic and ghost-type Pokémon, but, its Unbound form, Hoopa is a psychic and dark-type Pokémon.

So far Hoopa has only appeared in its Confined form in Pokémon Go, but, you never know, maybe by the end of the Season of Mischief we'll unleash Hoopa Unbound!

Good luck completing the Misunderstood Mischief quest!