Empoleon Tera Raids and February 2024 Pokemon GO events

Plus, patch notes and a stylish Card of the Week

Author

Cooltrainer Ace
February 01, 2024 • Estimated Read Time: 8 minutes

Howdy Cooltrainers! The month of love is here! Bust out your pink Pokémon and wrap those rare candies in a heart-shaped box. Don’t tell Lass Angelica on Floor 1, but I’ve got a crush on her. It’s too bad she didn’t like the mushroom cupcakes I made for her last Valentine’s Day. (When you live in a cavern, you bake with the ingredients you got on hand, okay?)

Here’s this week’s rundown (estimated read time, 5 minutes):

All hail Empoleon in 7-Star Tera raids

The majestic emperor, son of France, august conqueror of Europe — *checks notes* oops, that’s NApoleon. Scratch that.

Anyways, Empoleon the penguin is the star of the latest 7-Star Tera raids, coming to your city with the Ice-Tera Type today, Thursday, February 1, at 4 p.m. PST to Sunday, February 4, at 3:59 p.m. PST, then again Thursday, February 8, at 4 p.m. PST to Sunday, February 11, at 3:59 p.m. PST.

Challengers beware: Empoleon has the hidden ability “Competitive” which raises its Sp. Atk whenever its stats are lowered by opposing Pokémon.

Twitter dude WDMichael recommends Annihilape (because Annihilape is the answer to every Tera raid ever), Gallade, Mew, or Gholdengo, depending on Empoleon’s moveset. Check out the link above for his specific builds.

And if you’ve got a hankering for extra candy (and tera shards) this Valentine season, Blissey is also back in 5-star Tera Raids. At this point, it’s traumatizing to think of how many of them I’ve massacred.

Has anyone else wondered how you cram this into a Pokémon to teach it a new move?

Scarlet & Violet Patch Notes Jan 31. Patch Notes.

  • If the player used items to level up an Inkay to Lv. 29 or lower, the game would stop responding to button input. This bug has been fixed.

  • Some materials needed to craft TM223 (Metal Sound) were previously dropped by a Pokémon that appears in only one version of the game. This issue has been resolved. Shieldon Claws are no longer required to craft TM223 (Metal Sound).

  • After players installed the Item Printer in the League Club Room, under certain circumstances players could get stuck between the Item Printer and the wall. This bug has been fixed. Affected players can now get unstuck by speaking to the character next to the Item Printer and selecting “I want to print something!”

  • When a Pokémon under the effect of Dragon Cheer was switched out of battle and then reentered that battle, its attacks would still have a heightened chance of landing critical hits. This bug has been fixed.

  • Certain moves that Calyrex could learn via TM only while united with Glastrier or Spectrier would remain in Calyrex’s move set even after Calyrex separated from Glastrier or Spectrier. Furthermore, even if those moves were forgotten, Calyrex could then remember those moves without being united with Glastrier or Spectrier. This bug has been fixed.

Kicking off the first week of February is a community day dedicated to our favorite Egg Pokemon, followed by a Lunar New Year celebration you don’t want to miss.

GO Community Day Featuring Chansey

Everyone’s favorite Poké Nurse Chansey has ditched Nursey Joy for February Community Day on Sunday, February 4, from 2 to 5 p.m. local time. Who knows, you might even find some shiny ones (can anyone say green eggs and ham)?

The featured attack that a Chansey who evolves during the event (or up to five hours afterward) learns is Wild Charge. Because it makes sense that something carrying an egg in its pouch would recklessly run at an opponent with no heed to personal safety.

Event Bonuses:

  • 2x Candy for catching Pokémon.

  • 1/4 Hatch Distance when Eggs are placed in Incubators during the event.

  • 2x chance for Trainers level 31 and up to receive Candy XL from catching Pokémon.

  • Lure Modules activated during the event last for three hours.

  • Incense (excluding Daily Adventure Incense) activated during the event will last for three hours.

  • Happiny will hatch much more frequently from 2km eggs. You’ll also have an increased chance of hatching Shiny Happiny!

The following bonuses are active from 2 to 10 p.m. local time.

  • One additional Special Trade can be made for a max of two for the day.*

  • Trades require 50% less Stardust.

  • Happiny has a chance of hatching from 2km Eggs obtained during February Community Day. Happiny that hatch from these Eggs will have the same chance of appearing as a Shiny Pokémon as Chansey that appear during February Community Day.*

Pokémon GO’s celebrates Year of the Dragon

The Lunar New Year celebration is back this week in Pokémon GO, and it’s Drampa time. The celebration starts on Monday, February 5, at 10 a.m. and last till Sunday, February 11, at 8 p.m. local time.

A Global Challenge also takes place during the event. Work with Trainers around the world to throw 1,000,000,000 (yes, billion not million) Nice Throws to unlock currently unrevealed bonuses for the remainder of the event. Bonuses are related to featured moves, wild encounter, and raid unlocks.

Event Bonuses:

  • Increased chance for Lucky Pokémon in trades.

  • Increased chance to become Lucky Friends.

  • Additional Candy for successfully catching Pokémon with Nice Throws, Great Throws, and Excellent Throws.

  • Increased chance for Trainers level 31 and up to receive Candy XL for successfully catching Pokémon with Nice Throws, Great Throws, and Excellent Throws.

Field Research Encounters: Dratini, Trapinch, Swablu, Gible, Darumaka, Druddigon, Deino, Skrelp, Tyrunt, Goomy, Turtonator, Drampa (all shiny unlocked)

Wild Encounters: Magikarp, Dratini, Shuckle, Fennekin, Skrelp, Noibat (all shiny unlocked). Rare encounters include Jangmo-o (shiny locked)

Raids:

  • One-Star: Dratini, Deino, Goomy (all shiny unlocked)

  • Three-Star: Druddigon, Turtonator, Drampa (all shiny unlocked)

Card of the Week

This Gouging Fire EX special illustration rare is coming in the Temporal Forces set on March 22. I have dubbed it “the Jungle Queen.” Does anyone else see one of those “Carmen Miranda” fruit headdresses when they look at this?

Random encounters around the internet

Obscure Pokémon Fact (from u/Mx_Toniy_4869)

Until next time,
Cooltrainer “man of love” Ace