Pokemon Go's Community Day: What You Need to Know

Pokemon Go players are getting ready for the game's first ever Community Day event.

Last week, Pokemon Go announced a new series of monthly mini-events known as "Community Days." Unlike other Pokemon Go events that last for several days, Community Day events only last for a few hours and have a goal of getting players to meet up locally.

At the heart of each Community Day is a special Pokemon that comes with an exclusive move that it wouldn't learn otherwise. Not only does this appeal to Pokemon Go collectors, it also has the possibility of shaking up the Pokemon Go metagame.

Pokemon Go's first ever Community Day starts in just a few hours in North and South America, so here's what you need to know about today's event:

Time and Place

This month's Community Day runs from 11 AM Pacific Time to 2 PM Pacific Time in North and South America. Unfortunately, if you're reading this article in Europe, Africa, Australia, or Asia, you've already missed your Community Day window.

While the original Pokemon Go announcement for Community Day hinted that you'd need to go to parks to get the full benefits of Community Day, you should still be able to find the event's special Pokemon just about anywhere you go. There does seem to be anecdotal evidence that parks have an increased spawn rates during the events, though.

This Month's Special Pokemon

The featured Pokemon during this month's Community Day event is a Pikachu that knows Surf as its Charge Move. This is a callback to the Surfing Pikachu that first made an appearance in Pokemon Yellow and recently made a reappearance in Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon.

While any Pikachu you catch during the event will automatically know Surf as a Charge Move, there are a few other ways you can get a Surfing Pikachu during this window. If you evolve a Pichu during the event, they can wind up with Surf as their Charge Move. You can also use a Charge TM on a normal or event Pikachu to get Surf.

Players also have an increased chance of finding a Shiny Pikachu during the event. Several players have claimed that you have about a 10% chance of finding a Shiny Pikachu during the event, but that's largely anecdotal and can't be verified.

Notably, Surfing Pikachu ISN'T considered to be a event Pokemon, so you'll need to be careful about not mass transferring any you catch during the event.

Other Bonuses

Players will also get Double XP during the event, which means that today's the perfect time to do all that mass evolving and make some real progress towards leveling up.

Any lures placed during the event will last for three hours...although players are reporting that lures usually cause more Pikachu to appear. That's great if you're Shiny Hunting, but pretty frustrating if you're trying to find any other kind of Pokemon.

Event Ending

One other important note: once the event ends at 2 PM PT, any Surfing Pikachu will immediately disappear. Players who catch a Shiny Pikachu right as the event ends might also see it transform into a non-Shiny Pikachu.

Surfing Pikachu will only be available during this month's Community Day...at least for the forseeable future. So, if you don't catch it today, you may never get another chance to catch this Pokemon!