Pokémon GO Halloween 2022 - Timed Research, Mega Battles, Avatar Items

This year's Pokémon GO Halloween events are soon to begin and, much like last year, 2022 will see the celebrations split into two different parts.

Part one is set to begin on October 20th 2022 and will bring Mega Banette to Raid Battles, new Special and Timed Research, spooky unlocks for your avatars and plenty of Halloween-themed Pokémon Easter eggs besides.

We have compiled all of the information about this year's event into the following guide, breaking down how you can get your hands on the new unlocks as well as catch some upcoming rare 'mon.

Halloween 2022 Event (Part One)

Part one of the Pokémon GO 2022 Halloween celebration will kick off on 20th October, 2022 at 10:00am and will run through to 27th October, 2022 at 10:00am (local time).

Mega Banette

This section of the event will see Mega Banette make its Pokémon Go debut in Mega Raid Battles. There will be a chance for you to encounter a shiny variant of the Ghost-Type Pokémon, so keep an eye out.

Special Research

The Special Research during the event focusses on Yamask and Galarian Yamask, with you teaming up with Professor Willow and Rhi to find out more about each Ghost-Type. This will also see the Pokémon GO debut of Shiny Galarian Yamask that you may encounter during your study - if you're lucky.

This research task will run from the start of the event until 1st November, 2022 at 10:00am local time.

Timed Research

On top of the Special Research tasks, the Halloween celebration will also see the arrival of extra, paid, Timed Research. There are two different tickets for this research, each offering different rewards:

Ticket 1 ($1 or regional equivalent): Grants access to Timed Research which focusses on encounters with Yamask and Galarian Yamask.

Ticket 2 ($5 or regional equivalent): Provides Timed Research which includes increased Candy bonuses, more Halloween-themed tasks and a new avatar pose

These tickets can be gifted to any Pokémon GO friends with whom you have received a Friendship level of Great Friends or higher. It is also important to note that these are not available to purchase with Pokécoins.

Field Research Task Encounters

Completing Field Research Tasks will enable encounters with the following Pokémon:

• Duskull*
• Galarian Yamask*
• Phantump
• Shuppet*
• Yamask*

Completing certain Field Research Tasks will also grant you the opportunity to earn Mega Energy for both Gengar and Absol.

Wild Encounters

The following Pokémon will be found through wild encounters. Those marked with an * stand a chance of being a shiny variant:

• Absol*
• Drifloon*
• Dusclops
• Gastly*
• Golett
• Haunter
• Misdreavus*
• Murkrow*
• Phantump
• Pumpkaboo
• Sableye*
• Shuppet*
• Spinarak*
• Yamask*
• Zubat*

Altered Forme Giratina

All Giratina caught between 20th October, 2022 at 10:00am to 1st November, 2022 at 10:00am will know the attack Shadow Force, which grants the following stats:

• Trainer Battles: 120 power
• Gyms and raids: 140 power

Raids

The following raids will be taking place throughout part one of the Halloween event, divided into One-Star, Three-Star, Five-Star and Mega Raid categories.

One-Star Raids:

• Galarian Yamask*
• Phantump
• Purrloin
• Sableye*
• Yamask*

Three-Star Raids:

• Drapion
  
• Drifblim
• Gengar*
• Umbreon

Five-Star Raids:

• Altered Forme Giratina*
  

Mega Raids:

• Mega Banette*

* Shiny variant available.

Eggs

During the event, the following Pokémon will hatch from 7km eggs:

• Galarian Yamask*
• Golett
• Noibat*
• Phantump
• Yamask*
  

*Potential shiny encounter.

Noibats hatched from eggs during this period will stand a higher chance of being of the shiny variety than those caught in the wild.

Avatar Items

The Spooky Pose will be added to the in-game shop during the event, adding movement to make your avatar stumble when they walk - much like a mummy or zombie.

There will also be more aesthetic avatar items added to the in-game shop throughout the event including the Dusclops Costume, Dusclops Headwrap and Zubat Headband.

Halloween Details

Throughout both sections of the Halloween event, all Pokéstops and Gyms will be decorated in spooky decor to mark the season.

On top of this, a remix of the Lavender Town music will play nightly during the event. You can either turn up your in-game sound to hear to hear this track, or check out the video below to hear it in full:

Halloween 2022 Event (Part Two)

Part two of the Pokémon GO 2022 Halloween celebrations will start on 27th October at 10:00am and will run until 1st November at 10:00am (local time),

There is a certain amount of overlap between the two sections, with the Special and Timed Research quests carrying over alongside the Halloween-themed avatar items (see above for more information). There will be some changes however, including new costumed Pokémon and different Encounters.

For all of the changes made to the event in part II, read on.

Pokémon Debuts

Part II of the Halloween event will introduce the following series of costumed 'mon to Pokémon GO. The dressed-up Gengar found below will only be available in Raid Battles.

• Gengar wearing a Spooky Festival costume*
• Gourgeist wearing a Spooky Festival costume
• Ninetales wearing a Spooky Festival costume
• Pumpkaboo wearing a Spooky Festival costume*
• Vulpix wearing a Spooky Festival costume*

* Shiny variant available

Field Research Task Encounters

You will have the chance to encounter the following Pokémon after having completed Field Research Tasks:

• Duskull*
• Galarian Yamask*
• Phantump
• Pikachu wearing a Halloween Mischief costume*
• Piplup wearing a Halloween Mischief costume*
• Shuppet*
• Vulpix wearing a Spooky Festival costume*
• Yamask*

Continuing from part one of the 2022 Halloween event, completing Field Research Tasks will also earn you Mega Energy for both Gengar and Absol.

* Shiny variant available

Wild Encounters

The Wild Encounters will change during part II of the Halloween events, adding a certain number of costumed Pokémon amongst others. From 27th October - 1st November, the following will be appearing more frequently in the wild:

• Dusclops
• Golett
• Haunter
• Misdreavus*
• Murkrow*
• Phantump
• Pikachu wearing a Halloween Mischief costume*
• Piplup wearing a Halloween Mischief costume*
• Pumpkaboo wearing a Spooky Festival costume*
• Sableye*
• Shuppet*
• Spinarak*
• Vulpix wearing a Spooky Festival costume*
• Yamask*
• Zubat*

* Shiny variant available

Raids

There will be certain changes to the Pokémon appearing in Three-Star Raids during part II of the Halloween 2022 event to account for the new costumed variants. The full raid standing will be as follows throughout part II:

One-Star Raids:

• Galarian Yamask
• Phantump
• Purrloin
• Sableye
• Yamask

Three-Star Raids:

• Drapion
• Drifblim wearing a Halloween Mischief costume
• Gengar wearing a Spooky Festival costume
• Phantump
• Umbreon

Five-Star Raids:

• Origin Forme Giratina

Mega Raids:

• Mega Banette

What do you make of this year's celebrations? Let us know in the comments!

This article is part of our Pokémon GO walkthrough and guide series. We have articles that take you through the basics, covering How To Catch Pokémon: Throwing Tips, Poké Balls, & Capture Rates, How To Redeem Pokémon GO Promo Codes, How To Check A Pokémon's IVs Using An IV Calculator, How Trading Works, How To Track Pokémon Using Maps And Trackers, What Star Pieces And Stardust Do And How To Get Them, How Player Vs. Player Trainer Battles Work, and How To Complete Field Research And Research Breakthroughs And All Rewards.

We cover regular weekly and monthly Pokémon GO events, such as Spotlight Hour Times And Bonus Hour Times, and Community Days. We also have charts, including a Type Chart With Effectiveness And Weakness For All Types, an Egg Chart Explaining 2km, 5km, 7km, & 10km Eggs, and a Buddy Chart Explaining How To Earn Candy.

Elsewhere we cover Friend Code And Sharing Them For Easy XP and Which Pokémon GO 'Auto Catch' Companion Device Is The Best, plus more advanced tactics and info such as All Fast Moves And Charge Moves, How To Get TMs, And How It All Works, Shiny Pokémon And How To Catch Them, Glacial Lures, Magnetic Lures, Mossy Lures in Pokémon GO (And Their Exclusive Evolutions), How To Get Lots Of Candy Fast, How Lucky Pokémon Work & How To Catch Them, How To Catch All 27 Regional Pokémon, the Best Attackers And Best Defenders, All Raid Bosses And Best Counters Listed By Tier, What EX Raids Are And How To Get EX Pass Raids, What Super Incubator Does And How To Get One, and How Get Mega Energy.

Pocket Monster-wise, we have specific guides for How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch’d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More, How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And Flareon, How To Evolve Wurmple Into Silcoon Or Cascoon, How To Get Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan And Hitmontop, How To Use The Weather To Get Each Castform Form, How To Catch And Evolve Into Galarian Slowbro, How To Catch Smeargle, How To Find And Evolve Burmy, How To Catch Spinda, Where To Find Unown, How To Catch Ditto, and The Rarest Pokémon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional Catches.

We also cover timed research and special events, including Mew's 'A Mythical Discovery', Jirachi's 'A Thousand-Year Slumber', Celebi's 'A Ripple In Time', and Regigigas' 'A Colossal Discovery'. Other (past) event guides include Twitch Codes List - Pokémon World Championship 2022, How To Battle A Challenger (World Championships 2022), How To Battle Fashion Challengers, 'A Spooky Message' Spiritomb Quest, Kanto Event FAQ, and the Summer Tour 2018 Chicago GO Fest And Dortmund And Yokosuka Safari Zones.

Finally, there's our WIP Pokémon GO Pokédex, which currently goes up to 400 Pokémon: #1-50 | #51-100 | #101-150 | #151-200 | #201-250 | #251-300 | #301-350 | #351-400.