Pokémon Go to celebrate India’s Festival of Colors in new regional event

The event is region-exclusive, but there are some perks for players around the world too.

Image via Niantic

A new regional Pokémon Go event has been announced for the end of March to celebrate the Festival of Colors in India, which signifies the start of spring.

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From 10am to 8pm India Standard Time (or 11:30pm to 9:30am CT) on March 28, players in India will encounter certain species of Pokémon more frequently, have event-exclusive Timed Research to complete, and new items to claim in the in-game shop. 

During the event, Pokémon representing the different colors of the Festival of Colors will appear when using Incense. This will include Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Alolan Grimer, Seel, Marill, Sunkern, Murkrow, Slugma, Aron, Trapinch, and Drifloon

Players who complete Festival of Colors Timed Research tasks will earn rare items like a Dragon Scale, Sun Stone, and Sinnoh Stone, along with Mega Energy for seven different Mega Pokémon. Finish all the tasks and you can encounter an Alolan Muk. 

For players in India, a free box containing three Incense and a 100 PokéCoin box with 30 Poké Balls, a Lucky Egg, and 10 Pinap Berries inside will also go live on March 28.

Two new avatar shirts inspired by the Festival of Colors will be available to all Trainers worldwide for free starting on March 26 at 3pm CT. 

Niantic is also running a bonus challenge for players in India that is live until March 26 called the India Wayfarer Challenge, which tasks players to review Indian Wayspot nominations within the country. There are three milestones that players can hit before the challenge ends, all giving out different rewards to eligible players during the Festival of Colors event. 

  • Tier One: 3,000+ Wayspots approved
    • Smeargle will appear more often in snapshots
    • Participating players will get a free, 20 Poké Ball bundle
  • Tier Two: 5,000+ New Wayspots approved
    • All rewards from Tier One
    • Murkrow will spawn more often in the wild and Shiny Murkrow have a chance to appear
    • Double capture XP during the event
  • Tier Three: 8,000+ Wayspots approved
    • All rewards from Tier One and Two
    • Triple capture XP during the event

The Festival of Colors event itself will only be accessible to players in India, but the avatar items will be available for free to all players. 

Author
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Cale Michael
Lead Staff Writer for Dota 2, the FGC, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and more who has been writing for Dot Esports since 2018. Graduated with a degree in Journalism from Oklahoma Christian University and also previously covered the NBA. You can usually find him writing, reading, or watching an FGC tournament.