Shiny Popplio, evolution chart, 100% perfect IV stats, and Primarina’s best moveset in Pokémon Go
Everything to get the most out of Popplio Community Day!
If you’re a fan of sea lions, you’re in luck! This month sees Popplio Community Day in the world of Pokémon Go - the first for this starter Pokémon!
Starter Community Days are always popular, giving many a chance to catch the Pokémon they started their main-series game journey with. In this case, Popplio is a Gen 7 starter from the Alola region. It's also happy little Pokémon and incredibly cute. We like cute.
That said, Popplio is likely the least-chosen Starter from its generation - it’s competition being a bird with a bow tie and a cat with a fiery temperament. Its final evolution, Primarina, has also been the worst in Pokémon Go recently, as it is the weakest of the trio in Go Battle League. The question is, will today’s exclusive move help shoot down the competition and make Primarina finally shine?
But first, what is a Community Day? For the uninitiated, this is a reoccurring Pokémon Go event that celebrates a specific Pokémon, while boosting shiny rates and offering an exclusive move, along with a whole host of other bonuses!
Popplio will be popping up en masse throughout the event, this is the best chance we've had for catching an Popplio with 100% perfect IV stats and, if you achieve this feat, it's a good idea to know its evolution Primarina’s best moveset.
Even if you're not fussed on this month's Community Day Pokémon - again, look at its wittle face - there are a multiple other bonuses that may get you out and about, including double catch candy and triple catch XP!
On this page:
Popplio 100% perfect IV stats in Pokémon Go
August’s Community Day is the perfect opportunity to find a Popplio with perfect IV stats in Pokémon Go.
'Perfect' means two things in Pokémon Go, depending on how you plan to use a given Pokémon. First, there’s the maxed out, 100% IV version, which is the 15/15/15 you’re looking for your 4* Pokédex, raids and Master League. Yet, because of how CP is calculated using three stats, a perfect IV Pokémon is generally only ever the best version of itself in the Master League.
Of course, you can’t see the IV of a Pokémon without catching it first, but with a little research beforehand, you can quickly spot a perfect Popplio based on the CP alone.
If you’re at Level 30 (or above), you’ll ideally be looking for the following CPs for a perfect 15/15/15 Popplio:
The wild CP value aligns with your Trainer Level until you reach Level 30 and, due to the majority of the player base now being above this level, we’ve kept to these values for the sake of simplicity. These values will, however, be different if you’re currently below Level 30.
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.
Popplio evolution chart: What do Popplio and Brionne evolve into?
Popplio, the Sea Lion Pokémon, is a little on the nose. Hailing from the Alola region, which is based on the real-world state of Hawaii, it is thought that its design is inspired by the Hawaiian monk seal, if it were also a circus clown. It's certainly a performer, though as it moves through its evolutions it graduates from circus tricks to being a solo singer.
Speaking of evolutions, Popplio evolves into Brionne with 25 Popplio Candy in Pokémon Go. Brionne, in turn, evolves into Primarina with another 100 Popplio Candy.
Brionne, sadly, isn’t all that interesting, but Primarina has a couple of interesting bits of trivia associated with it. Firstly, it’s the only fully evolved starter Pokémon with Fairy-typing, and secondly, it's the only Fairy-type with visible fins. Lastly, its name is a combo of 'prima donna', 'marine' and 'ballerina'. Sounds accurate.
You can read more about this Popplio’s growing skillset in its official Pokédex entries below:
Popplio: This Pokémon can control balloons made of water. It practices diligently so it can learn to make big balloons. The balloons it inflates with its nose grow larger and larger as it practices day by day.
Brionne: A skillful dancer, it creates a sequence of water balloons as it dances, then briskly bombards its enemies. It cares deeply for its companions. When its Trainer is feeling down, it performs a cheery dance to try to help.
Primarina: To Primarina, every battle is a stage. It takes down its prey with beautiful singing and dancing. Also known as a songstress, it is a sight to behold on moonlit nights when it sings in front of the colony it leads.
August's Community Day event runs between 2pm and 5pm (local time), so you'll have three hours to gather as much Popplio Candy as possible, to ensure you can fully evolve it!
If you're hurting for Candy, use Pinap Berries and Silver Pinap Berries to double the amount of candy you earn from catching, and make sure to have a Water-type Pokémon mega evolved - Mega Swampert, Mega Blastoise or Mega Gyarados will do fine, but there are plenty of options at this point so use whatever works for you!
Popplio's moves and best moveset recommendation
Primarina has taken a bit of a hit in Go Battle League lately, but today’s addition of the exclusive move Hydro Cannon really does help give it a fin leg up.
The up-side to running Primarina is, of course, its Fairy-typing, which is a huge boon in the Dragon Master League.
Ideally, this Pokémon would run Charm, Disarming Voice and Hydro Cannon. Charm is excellent, dealing heavy damage, and the two Charged moves are relatively cheap. There is an argument for Moonblast instead of Disarming Voice, if you want to run a slightly more expensive, but more explosive move.
If you want to see the full move set, here it is:
Primarina Fast Moves
- Charm (Fairy)
- Waterfall (Water)
Primarina Charged Moves
- Disarming Voice (Fairy)
- Hydro Pump (Water)
- Moonblast (Fairy)
- Psychic (Psychic)
Primarina Legacy Charged Moves
- Hydro Cannon (Water)
What do shiny Popplio, Brionne and Primarina look like?
This Community Day marks the release of shiny Popplio, Brionne and Primarina, so you may be wondering what the and the shiny versions of these Pokémon look like.
As you can see, Popplio is a subtle shiny! Shiny Popplio simply takes a very slightly darker shade of blue, while swapping its collar from light blue to a very light pink.
Its evolution, Brionne, effectively does the same. Its body swaps from a light blue to a dark purple, and its blue band on its skirt (for want of a better phrase) swaps to the same light pink.
Primarina, meanwhile, actually puts in some effort! Shiny Primarina swaps pale blue hair for blonde, and blue frills for pink.
Popplio family shiny comparison
byu/TopAssistance2 inTheSilphRoad
Thanks to Reddit user TopAssistance2 for the handy comparison!
Other Popplio Community Day bonuses
Community Days in Pokémon Go always come with a string of bonuses, and Popplio Community Day is no different.
Some of these bonuses are always the same - like increased spawns and increased shiny rates. However, there is a rotating set of other bonuses that come with Community Days, such as double or triple catch Candy, Stardust or XP.
A full list of Popplio Community Day bonuses can be found below:
- Increased spawns
- Increased shiny rate
- Double catch Candy
- Double chance to receive Candy XL from catching Pokémon (for trainers Level 31 and up). This stacks with your Mega Evolution bonus, so if you have an active Level 3 Mega Evolved Pokémon, you will have whatever 'double excellent chance' works out to be!
- Triple catch XP
- 3-hour Incense duration (not including Adventure Incense)
- 3-hour Lure duration (not including Golden Lures)
- Photobombs - Take a snapshot of your buddy to earn a surprise encounter with Popplio (and increase your Cameraman medal) up to five times during the event.
- Field Research - Spin Pokéstops to get event-exclusive tasks, similar to previous Community Day events. This is likely to be 'Catch 3 Popplio' for a couple of Great Balls or Ultra Balls, Stardust, or a Popplio encounter.
- Special Research - For $1.00 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency), you can take part in the exclusive Popplio Special Research story.
- Stickers – Get event-themed stickers by spinning Pokéstops, opening Gifts and from the in-game shop.
- One additional Special Trade can be made for a maximum of two for the day (until 10pm local time).
- Trades made will require 50% less Stardust (until 10pm local time).
- Exclusive move - Evolve Popplio during the event or up to five hours afterward to get a Primarina that know the exclusive attack Hydro Cannon (until 10pm local time).
- Brionne raids - After the three-hour Community Day event ends, Trainers will be able to take on four-star Raid Battles. Defeating Brionne will cause more Popplio to appear in a 300m radius around the Gym for 30 minutes. Note: Remote Raid Passes cannot be used for these raids, and the Pokémon that spawn will have the increased shiny rate that they did during the three-hour Community Day window!
Hope you enjoy Popplio’s Community Day, and good luck finding a perfect shiny!