Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 10/30/2019

As noted two days ago, I haven't made the Pokémon Go event rollup for this month even though time is drawing near to the end of the month. And because tomorrow is a special day of sorts, I have to make the rollup today. Now, as far as things go, October has been a relatively uneventful month in terms of the number of events. But in terms of content, that's another matter. It's always special before tomorrow, which I'll explain as the rollup for this month unfolds.

Early on in this month, there was the return of an event called Stardust Blast. As the title suggests, the event was focused on Stardust, more specifically gathering it from the typical sources. Captures, hatches, raids, and Team GO Rocket battles rewarded double the Stardust, which potentially stood to reward more if one activated a Star Piece before those happenings. What's more, it lasted for a full week, which meant plenty of chances to bump up one's Stardust total or to gain some much-needed Stardust for power-ups and opening second charge moves. It's undoubtedly a lucrative event for any serious player, and it can be described as a "treat".

The next event, then, would be the "trick" counterpoint, as yes, it is the Halloween Event - Halloween itself being tomorrow, of course. The event started fairly early, being two weeks ago, but its features have been quite unique. This year, the event serves to introduce Yamask from the fifth generation into the world. There are also special guests in the form of costumed first-generation starters and Pikachu, the former appearing in raids and the latter in the wild, and all of them potentially Shiny; they can't evolve either, but that's hardly a fault if they are intended to remain the way they are. Ghost and Dark types are also present in the wild, plus a slew of new Shadow Pokémon. On the Research front, some nifty Field Research tasks are present, as well as the return of the Spooky Message Special Research, allowing all to (re-)obtain Spiritomb. Those are surely lots of "tricks".

And they don't stop there. This month, Level 5 raid bosses also featured Ghost and Dark types. In the first two weeks of the month (actually, starting from the last seven days in September), there was Giratina with its Altered Forme, which could be Shiny as well. As the Halloween Event started, Darkrai became the raid boss, and a tough one at that; it also served as its debut. The "trick" of the former is being able to obtain the Shiny form, which seems to be rather rare, while the "trick" of the latter is being able to get one with the best stats possible, as Darkrai is Mythical and cannot be traded. Both of them also were featured in the Raid Hour occurring each Wednesday, and today happened to be the last one for this month as a whole. However they're raided, they presented their own tricks as well.

October is always neat in that some things are lead-ins to Halloween, which can be said to be its climax. That Pokémon and Pokémon Go also get into the spirit of things (also see below and last year) only add to that neatness. It makes what seems to be uneventful to actually be eventful. And now the only thing left to do is to proceed into that Halloween climax tomorrow and revel in its specialness... which for Pokémon fans like me, also involving what they adore.

One year ago: Community Day Workflow
Two years ago: Pokémon Go Halloween 2017 Event