Pokemon Go’s Newest Costumed Pokemon Might be the Best One Yet

Over the years, Pokemon Go has introduced a lot of costumed Pokemon. These special Pokemon are often added in celebration of a new event, or as part of a tie-in with other Pokemon media, like a new Nintendo Switch game or movie. Some have been a lot more intricate or clever than others, and Niantic might have introduced the best one yet. To celebrate Pokemon Go Fest 2025, the developer will be adding some new options. Unsurprisingly, Pikachu will be getting a new design complete with top hat, monocle, and six color variants. That’s certainly cute, but it pales in comparison to what else is coming.

Alongside Pikachu this year, Pokemon Go will be adding a costumed version of Falinks. This is the first time Falinks has had a costumed variant, and Niantic’s developers clearly waited until they had the perfect idea. During Pokemon Go Fest 2025, players will be able to get Falinks dressed up as a train. For those unfamiliar with Falinks, it’s a Fighting-type Pokemon that works together as a troop, marching in formation. The “brass” is at the front of Falinks, and Niantic has designed it to look like the locomotive, while the other troop members are dressed as the individual boxcars.

The new Falinks design is incredibly clever. The vast majority of costumed Pokemon in Pokemon Go usually just wear some kind of hat or crown. Some of these are actually pretty cool, but a lot of them can be forgettable. When Niantic designs a whole new costume, it ends up being something special. A great example is the costumed Pikachu dressed up as Mimikyu; that one was a whole level of inception since Mimikyu is a Pokemon that dresses up as Pikachu. It’s nice when the developers of Pokemon Go stretch their creativity, as the results can be a lot of fun.

If there’s one real downside to costumed Pokemon, it’s the fact that they can’t be transferred to Pokemon Home. It would be great to use these Pokemon in mainline games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, or the upcoming Pokemon Champions. Sadly, these are totally exclusive to Pokemon Go, for the time being. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now, any that are caught in the mobile game will be forced to stay there.

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As of this writing, Niantic has not revealed how players can get Choo Choo Falinks, only noting that it will be available during Pokemon Go Fest 2025. It’s possible it might show up in the wild, or during Raids. With the first of the in-person events set to take place at the end of May (and the global event coming next month), we should have additional details in the near future.

Are you excited to catch Choo Choo Falinks in Pokemon Go? How do you feel about costumed Pokemon in the game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!