Pokémon Go Season of Celebration explained - Hemisphere Pokémon, length, new features and Pokémon Go Seasons explained
Everything you need to know about Pokémon Go's in-game seasons.
Seasons in Pokémon Go are something new for Niantic's augmented reality game - themed, in-game periods which will usher in new major updates and additions.
Each season will be around three months in length, and while existing in-game events will continue to take place, they will be tied closer to the theme.
The first, Season of Celebration, will coincide with the Go Beyond update, introducing a level cap increase, the arrival of Gen 6 Pokémon and changes to Go Battle League, and the concept of hemisphere Pokémon.
On this page:
What are Seasons in Pokémon Go?
Introduced in December 2020, Seasons are in-game periods - three months in length - which will tie together various events to a theme and add a number of new features and quality of life changes.
This includes:
- Changes to how Pokémon spawn season-to-season, which may see some creatures appear more regularly or become far more rare in the wild for the limited period
- Changes to Pokémon appearing in Eggs and in Raids
- Northern and southern hemisphere-specific spawning, coinciding with the real world seasons themselves
- Highlight specific Mega Evolutions, giving them a power boost throughout the season
- New Deerling forms
- A new Go Battle League season, which will be the same length as these seasons
- Introduce other general quality of life improvements
As well as these season-by-season changes, each one will also introduce specific new features and revamps of existing ones...
What is the Season of Celebration in Pokémon Go?
Seasons are themed in-game periods which will usher in new updates and events to Pokémon Go - the first of which is named Season of Celebration, arriving with the Go Beyond update.
Why is the debut season named the Season of Celebration? That's because it coincide with a number of real world holidays - Christmas and New Year - as well as the 25th anniversary of Pokémon in February.
Keeping with the theme, there are also plans for events for each individual generation of Pokémon, before the overall 25th anniversary celebrations to wrap up the season, alongside "a new global event experience will also be introduced", according to Niantic.
As with every Season, the Season of Celebration will also see several additions and revamps and changes to in-game systems as part of the Go Beyond update. Specifically, these include:
- A level cap increase to level 50, alongside a Legacy 40 Challenge quest, the introduction of XL Candy plus changes to XP gains
- The arrival of Gen 6 Pokémon
- Changes to the ranking and length of Go Battle League
Pokémon Go hemispheres: Which Pokémon are spawning in the Northern and Southern hemispheres more frequently?
During the Season of Celebration, the following Pokémon will be spawning more frequently in the wild in the following hemispheres (thanks to the for confirming some of these):
Northern hemisphere Season of Celebration spawns
- Alolan Sandshrew
- Alolan Vulpix
- Clefairy *
- Cryogonal *
- Deerling (Winter Form)
- Seel, Lapras
- Snover *
- Stantler *
- Teddiursa
- Tentacool *
* As reported by players on Silph Road.
Southern hemisphere Season of Celebration spawns
- Alolan Grimer *
- Burmy
- Darumaka
- Deerling (Summer Form)
- Drifloon *
- Drilbur *
- Electrike
- Growlithe
- Shuckle
* As reported by players on Silph Road.
Additionally, regional exclusives Heatmor and Durant have switched with the arrival of the new season.
Pokémon Go Season of Celebration end date: When will the Season of Celebration end and how long will it be?
The Season of Celebration has a release date of Tuesday, December 1st at 8am local time.
Note that though the Season of Celebration has a specific release date and time, other features introduced alongside the Season will be staggered throughout the week of November 30th.
The Season of Celebration will run for around three months, concluding on Monday, March 1st, 2021 at 8am local time.