Pokémon GO Season Of Light - Research Quests, Special Events And Mega Raid Battles

The beginning of September brought with it the start of a new season in Pokémon GO. With Professor Willow returning in new form at the end of Pokémon GO Fest 2022, this coming season looks set to be full of mystery, new Pokémon and challenging raid battles.

We have compiled all of our knowledge of what the coming few months will hold, breaking down how you can get your hands on new and rare Pokémon as well as the Research Quests on which you can embark. This guide will be updated as we find out more about the Season of Light, so be sure to check back throughout the events for more information.

Pokémon GO Season of Light Research Quests

A Cosmic Companion - Quests and Rewards

The Cosmic Companion research quest will be released in stages throughout the Season of Light. The quest will give you the chance to catch legendary Pokémon Cosmog, who can then evolve into either Solgaleo or Lunala.

The quest will be divided into several different steps, with the first four already opening from September 1st. The final two instalments of steps will seemingly become available on 6th October and 23rd November respectively. Looking to end with the close of the Season of Light, you will need to begin at least step one of A Cosmic Companion before 1st December if you wish to progress with the quest and receive all rewards.

Below you will find the instructions for each quest as well as the rewards that you will be able to pick up along the way. (Thanks to Leekduck for the heads up on this info!)

Step 1

Step rewards: 1000 XP, 500 Stardust, Cosmog encounter.

Step 2

Step rewards: 2000 XP, 500 Stardust, 1 Poffin.

Step 3

Step rewards: 3000 XP, 1000 Stardust, 5 Pinap Berries.

Step 4

Step rewards: 3000 XP, 1000 Stardust, 25 Cosmog Candy.

Further steps will be updated in the coming months.

Pokémon GO Season of Light Events

The Psychic Spectacular

The Psychic Spectacular event returns to this season of Pokémon GO, with a focus on Alakazam, Mega Alakazam, Elgyem and Deoxys. The event runs from Tuesday 6th September at 10:00 through until Monday 12th September at 22:00 local time.

During the course of the event, Mega Alakazam makes its Pokémon GO debut, any newly caught or evolved Alakazam (from Kadabra) learn the Charged Attack Psychic, Psychic-type Pokémon will dominate wild encounters and many more features will be made available.

Check out the following list for all the information we have on the Psychic Spectacular.

Mega Alakazam

The event will see Mega Alakazam coming to Mega Raid Battles. There will be a chance to catch a Shiny Mega Alakazam from certain Raid encounters so be sure to keep an eye out once the battle is over.

How to catch Mega Alakazam

Mega Alakazam is a Psychic-type Pokémon whose stats will be boosted by Windy weather. For an idea of the kind of Pokémon that you will want to take into battle in order to give you the best chance of weakening and catching Mega Alakazam, we have put together a handy type-comparison table below.

Alakazam Charged Attack

During the Psychic Spectacular, any Alakazam that you catch in raids or evolve from a Kadabra will know the Charged Attack Psychic. The move is a powerful attack for battles and raids alike with the following stats:

• Trainer Battles: 90 Power and a chance to lower the opposing Pokémon’s Defense
• Gyms and raids: 90 Power

Shiny Elgyem

Aside from Mega Alakazam, the Psychic Spectacular will also see the Pokémon GO debut of Shiny Elgyem and its evolution, Beheeyem. This Psychic-type Pokémon is also boosted by Windy weather and will be quite a rare find - so you should definitely go for the catch if you are lucky enough to stumble across one.

Timed research focussed on Curveball throws will be available throughout the event, the rewards of which will be multiple encounters with Elgyem - increasing your chances of stumbling across a shiny.

The differences between the Pokémon's standard and shiny forms are quite subtle and generally focussed on the colouring of the eyes and fingers. Check out the following side-by-side comparison from Pokémon GO Hub below:

Regular	Shiny

Wild Encounters

The event will bring its own unique wild encounters over the course of its run.

The following Pokémon will be available via wild encounters, with those marked with an * signalling the potential for a shiny encounter:

• Abra*
• Slowpoke*
• Drowzee*
• Naty*
• Ralts*
• Spoink*
• Munna*
• Woobat*
• Gothita
• Solosis
• Elgyem*
• Kadabra
• Kirlia
  

Raids

The following raids will be taking place throughout the Psychic Spectacular, divided into One-Star, Three-Star, Five-Star and Mega Raid categories.

One-Star Raids

• Unown E
  
• Unown P
• Unown S
• Espurr*

Three-Star Raids

• Alolan Raichu*
  
• Wobbuffet*
• Girafarig*
• Oranguru

Five-Star Raids

• Normal Forme Deoxys*
  
• Attack Forme Deoxys*
• Defense Forme Deoxys*
• Speed Forme Deoxys*

Mega Raids

• Mega Alakazam*

Deoxys Raid Day

Celebrating the Mythical Deoxys, all forms of the Pokémon will be appearing in the Five-Star Raid Battle listed above on Sunday 11th September from 14:00-17:00 local time.

The special Raid Day will grant the following bonuses:

• All forms of Deoxys appearing more frequently in raids
• Earn up to five additional daily Raid Passes by spinning Gyms
• An increased chance of encountering Shiny Deoxys

Eggs

During the event, 7km Eggs will hatch the following Pokémon:

• Smoochum*
• Wynaut*
• Chingling

Field Research Task Encounters

By completing Field Research tasks during the event, you will have the chance to encounter the following Pokémon:

• Baltoy*
• Chimecho*
• Elgyem*
• Hypno

Clefairy Commotion

In celebration of the Harvest Moon, Pokémon GO will be hosting a special Clefairy-themed event on September 10th from 18:00-21:00 local time.

The Clefairy Commotion event will see the popular fairy-type Pokémon appear more frequently in the wild - if you're lucky, you might even find a shiny one!

While the event won't be as seismic as some of the others we are going to see this Season, it will be the perfect time to load up on Clefairy catches and get yourself a good amount of Candy in the process.

Test Your Mettle

This event is all about steel-type Pokémon with regional Five Star Raids, Mega Evolutions and new wild encounters being the name of the game. The Test Your Mettle event runs from September 16th at 10:00 to September 21st at 20:00 local time.

Mega Aggron

After Mega Alakazam took Pokémon Go by storm during The Psychic Spectacular, Test Your Mettle sees the game debut of Mega Aggron - the armoured steel-type Pokémon. Available in Mega Raids throughout the event, there is a chance that you will encounter a shiny edition of this monster, so keep an eye out!

How To Catch Mega Aggron

Catching Mega Aggron is going to require you to go into the Mega Raid battles with the best team possible. As a pure Steel-type Pokémon, there are a few options for which counter-type is going to be the most effective. In our type-comparison table below, we break down the Mega Pokémon's weaknesses.

Togedemaru Debut

The Test Your Mettle event will also see the game debut of Togedemaru, the adorable roly-poly Pokémon. This little guy will be appearing in Wild Encounters so be sure to keep an eye out if you want to add one to your team.

Event Bonuses

There will be two event bonuses available during Test Your Mettle's run focussed on pin-point aim with your throws. This is a great way to earn some extra Candy, so check out the full details of the bonuses below.

• Catching Pokémon with Nice, Great and Excellent throws has increased chance of producing Candy XL as a reward.
• The same throws will result in more Candy for successful catches.

Wild Encounters

The following Pokémon will be available via wild encounters, with those marked with an * signalling the potential for a shiny encounter:

• Magnemite*
• Pineco*
• Nosepass*
• Aron*
• Beldum*
• Bronzor*
• Drilbur
• Ferroseed*
• Togedemaru
• Prinplup
• Galarian Stunfisk*

Raids

Importantly to this event, the Five-Star Raid battles are divided by hemisphere, with Celesteela appearing in the South from September 13th to September 27th and Kartana appearing in the North during the same period.

The following will be available during Test Your Mettle:

One-Star Raids

• Scyther*
  
• Beldum*
• Shieldon*
• Klink*
• Togedemaru

Three-Star Raids

• Magneton
  
• Skarmory*
• Mawile*
• Lairon

Five-Star Raids

• Celesteela
  
• Kartana

Mega Raids

• Mega Aggron*
  

Eggs

During the Test Your Mettle period, the following Pokémon will hatch from 7km eggs:

• Alolan Sandshrew*
• Alolan Diglett*
• Galarian Meowth*
• Riolu*
• Galarian Stunfisk*

Field Research Task Encounters

Completing Field Research Tasks will grant you the chance to encounter the following Pokémon:

• Magnemite*
• Pineco*
• Nosepass*
• Drilbur
• Ferroseed*
• Togedemaru
• Beldum*

Completing these tasks will also give you the opportunity to earn Mega Energy for the following Pokémon - perfect if you want to send a pumped-up evolution into battle.

• Steelix
• Scizor

Timed Research

Timed Research will be focussed on catching Steel-type Pokémon throughout the event, giving you the chance to encounter Togedemaru and Aron and earn Mega Energy for the latter.

Evolving Stars

The Evolving Stars event continues to follow Cosmog's development from the beginning of the Season of Light. Cosmoem, the evolution of the starry cloud Pokémon, makes its Pokémon GO debut in this period, while the Mega Raid event is all about Gyarados.

Continuing the Season's story, this event sees a new section of research unlock in the Cosmic Companion research quest.

The event runs from October 5th, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to October 11th, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. local time.

Cosmoem

During the event, trainers are able to evolve their Cosmog into Cosmoem. Doing so will cost you 25 Cosmog Candy.

It looks like more Cosmogs will be appearing in the game in the future, so don't worry about losing your first evolution forever.

Mega Gyarados Raid Day

The Mega Raid during the Evolving Stars event sees the return of Mega Gyrados to Pokémon GO. The Raid Day takes place on October 8, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time, during which the following bonuses are available:

• Mega Gyarados appears in raids more frequently.
• Gain up to five extra Raid Passes by spinning Photo Discs and Gyms.
• Increased chance of encountering Shiny Gyarados.

Wild Encounters

The following Pokémon appear in wild encounters during the event. Those marked with an * stand a chance of a shiny variant appearing.

• Kakuna
• Pidgeotto
• Poliwhirl
• Kadabra
• Haunter
• Rhyhorn*
• Seadra
• Scyther*
• Eevee*
• Swinub*
• Ralts*
• Duskull*
• Tynamo
• Litwick
• Helioptile

Raids

The following raids will be taking place throughout the Evolving Stars event, divided into One-Star, Three-Star, Five-Star and Mega Raid categories.

For the Five-Star category, Yveltal appears September 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to October 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. local time, while Xernas appears in raids from October 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to October 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Mega Raids are also doubled-up during this event, with Mega Lopunny appearing from September 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to October 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. local time, and Mega Manectric appearing October 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to October 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.

One-Star Raids

• Slowpoke*
• Onix*
• Scyther*
• Porygon*
• Sunkern*

Three-Star Raids

• Magneton
• Rhydon
• Togetic*
• Piloswine

Five-Star Raids

• Xerneas*
• Yveltal*

Mega Raids

• Mega Lopunny*
• Mega Manectric*

Field Research Task Encounters

Completing Field Research Tasks during the event earns you Stardust, Evolution items, and Mega Energy.

Evolving Collection Challenges

Four challenges are to be made available during the event focussed on evolving your Pokémon. Completing these challenges will earn you evolution items.

Greedy Gluttons

The Greedy Gluttons event focusses on the franchise's hungriest Pokémon, with Lickitung, Snorlax, Mega Gyarados and more popping up in a variety of places throughout the week. Guzzlord also makes its Pokémon GO debut during this period.

The event runs from 9th November, 2022 at 10:00am to 17th November, 2022 at 8:00pm local time.

Guzzlord

The 'Junkivore' Pokémon Guzzlord makes its game debut as a part of the Greedy Gluttons event and can be found in Five-Star Raids from 8th-23rd November, 2022.

Wild Encounters

The following Pokémon appear in wild encounters during the event. Those marked with an * stand a chance of a shiny variant appearing.

• Alolan Raticate
• Alolan Rattata*
• Bibarel
• Bidoof*
• Golbat
• Gulpin
• Lickitung*
• Pelipper
• Skwovet
• Snorlax*
• Swalot
• Swinub*

Raids

The following raids will be taking place throughout the Greedy Gluttons event, divided into One-Star, Three-Star, Five-Star and Mega Raid categories.

One-Star Raids

• Mankey*
• Spoink*
• Swinub*
• Tepig*

Three-Star Raids

• Mawile*
• Sharpedo
• Snorlax*
• Swalot

Five-Star Raids

• Guzzlord

Mega Raids

• Mega Gyarados*

Eggs

This event will only see special Pokémon hatching from 7km eggs. One of those that you may hatch is a Shiny Munchlax - which makes its game debut.

The following Pokémon will hatch from 7km eggs during the event:

• Cherubi*
• Gible*
• Munchlax*

Research Task Encounters

Completing Field Research Tasks will grant you the chance to encounter the following Pokémon, all of which possess a Shiny variant which you may encounter if you are lucky:

• Cherubi*
• Exeggcute*
• Swirlix*

Timed Research

Completing Timed Research during the Greedy Gluttons event will reward you with Golden Razz Berries and Silver Pinap Berries. On top of this, you will also get an encounter with Snorlax.

Team GO Rocket Takeover

The Team GO Rocket Takeover is a special event focussing on a new Research Story in which you track down the evil Giovanni and his Shadow Mewtwo. Completing the quest grants the reward of a Super Rocket Radar.

The event sees many Pokémon corrupted by Team GO Rocket Grunts, which you take down to save the 'mon held captive.

The event also sees many 12km eggs to be hatched, including the chance to hatch a Shiny Pawniard if you are lucky.

The Team GO Rocket Takeover event runs from 14th November, 2022 at 12:00am to 17th November, 2022 at 8:00pm (local time).

Shadow Pokémon

The following shadow-corrupted Pokémon can be saved by defeating Team GO Rocket Grunts:

• Shadow Alolan Diglett
• Shadow Golett
• Shadow Natu
• Shadow Onix
• Shadow Wailmer

Event Bonuses

The event sees Team GO Rocket Grunts appearing more frequently at Pokéstops and in balloons overhead. In battles against Shadow Pokémon, you can use a Charged TM to make your opponent forget the 'Frustration' Charged Attack.

Eggs

During the event, 12km Eggs can be earned by defeating Team GO Rocket Grunts. From these eggs, the following Pokémon will hatch:

• Absol*
• Deino*
• Larvitar*
• Pawniard*
• Salandit
• Sandile
• Scraggy
• Skorupi*
• Skrelp
• Pancham
• Vullaby*

* Shiny variant available

So there you have it, everything we currently know about the Pokémon GO Season of Light. We will be updating this guide whenever new information becomes available, so be sure to keep an eye on new details — especially in the Research Quests department — over the coming weeks.

What do you make of the Season of Light so far? Let us know your trainer accomplishments down below!

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 Raid Passes, What A Super Incubators 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.