Pokémon Go Community Day, 2/7/2021

Well, knowing that there's a big event later on this month, it would be good if Community Day can be held early on in the month, and in fact, it's held today. This month's Community Day can be said to be strange and/or unexpected, but as far as Community Days go, it could also be said to be normal and/or expected. This includes what I went through in order to experience and play through the event today, but I suppose there's something in it for everyone, and all those qualities are "something" indeed.

As always, there's the matter of its "bones". The featured Pokémon this month is Roselia; perhaps of all or most Pokémon, this one could be considered a strange one for the event. Like Machop last month, its Shiny form is already available but not commonplace, and this is also a big chance to get it. By evolving it to Roserade, it gains the Fast Move of Bullet Seed and the Charged Move of Weather Ball with a Fire typing - and yes, it means that this is the first time there are two special moves (both Fast and Charged) for a Community Day Pokémon at the same time. That alone should already be unexpected. What is less unexpected is that the moves tend to be useful in PvP, as with most recent cases as well.

The regular bonus is reduced Egg hatch distance, and that's for a good reason: it's to allow quicker hatching of Budew (the baby form of Roselia) from 2 km Eggs that can be obtained during the event. In that sense, it's the same case with Magmar and Electabuzz previously. Further similarity is evident with an extra Timed Research for additional Sinnoh Stones. Otherwise, the Community Day incentives for editions during the current conditions remain the same even today. Then there's the Special Research, this month titled "Stop and Smell the Roselia" and featuring a discussion of the characteristics of Roselia, which like last month could be obtained for free... if one had purchased the event ticket for Pokémon Go Tour a few days before Community Day, with the January purchase making both months free. With that, the Community Day edition for this month is quite normal yet strange.

What I expected for today was to go on a good outing in order to take advantage of free time for the event. What I didn't expect was the scale of it, and additionally becoming reunited with a fellow Pokémon Go Trainer that I had lost contact with over the past couple of years, and spending time with a couple of others, including one very close one and one for a sudden Lucky Trade. But that's what happened, and I'm somewhat glad that it worked out this way. I did try something a little different this month in that I enlisted a Buddy Pokémon of similar types that can Mega Evolve in order to gain more Candies per caught Pokémon; it somewhat makes a difference, and this may become a viable modus operandi in future editions and whenever possible (as in Spotlight Hour). For evolutions, I evolved a few good ones and a viable Shiny one - nothing special, though the Roserade I received from the Special Research turned out to be exceptional, which is not always the case.

There's still a bit of time before that major event of the month, but it may help to get the momentum going with an event, and what couldn't be better than Community Day. By now, Community Day is rather ingrained with its expected specifics, but there's a good amount of room for some unexpected things to occur. Whether that's strange or normal, that may be up for the Trainers to decide. However, what all Trainers will decide on for certain is to have fun, and that should be true today and for the big event that comes later this month.

One year ago: Turning Around and Back

Two years ago: Local EX Raid (with "Friend Boost"), 2/7/2019

Three years ago: An Eye for Pokémon

Four years ago: Conserve and Cooperate