‘Pokemon Go’ fall events include costumed monsters, Darkrai, Chimchar and Regigas

"Pokemon Go" has been in a lull after capping off its summer events, but Niantic has plenty of activities planned for Halloween and the future.

It all begins Oct. 17 with the introduction of its Halloween-themed event. Starting at 1 p.m. Pacific Time, players will encounter new Shadow Pokemon in Team Rocket battles including Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Lapras, Mareep, Magmar, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Cacnea, Shuppet, Duskull and Electabuzz. The big pocket monster that players will be on the hunt for is Yamask, which is a ghost-type Pokemon that's part of Generation 5. It will be available in the wild and can be shiny. In addition, more ghost- and dark-type Pokemon will appear in the world. This could be a good chance to get the valuable Litwick and the rare Golett. Both are ghost types with the former being a valuable addition in raids and player-vs.-player battles while the latter having one of the cooler-looking evolutions. For those who are into costumes, the original Kanto starters — Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander — will be out in the wild wearing costumes along with Pikachu dressed as Mimikyu. Players will h ave a chance to catch shiny versions of theose as well.

As for bonuses, players can expect double catch candy, hatch candy and transfer candy. That will be a boon for players hoarding certain types of Pokemon. It could useful for those who have several Mewtwos and other legendaries. Those candies are hard to come by.

Regice, from left, Registeel, and Regirock return with the chance of being shiny in "Pokemon Go" starting Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. local time. (Niantic) 

Lastly, Darkrai will be coming to raids. The mythical Pokemon is expected to be the best dark-type in the game and valuable asset against Pyschic-type Pokemon such as Mewtwo. If you want to prepare for Darkrai raids, power-up fighting Pokemon such as Machamp or Hariyama and give them Counter (fast move) and Dynamic Punch (charge move). Breloom will also be a strong member of any raid team.

While Yamask and the Shadow Pokemon will be available from Oct. 17 and beyond, the event Pokemon such as Darkrai and the costumed pocket monsters have a short availability. The bonuses and dark and ghost spawns will also have a limited shelf life. Those will disappear at 1 p.m. Nov. 1, 2019. That's a little over two weeks to grab as many special Pokemon as you can.

If you don't get the Pokemon you want then, you won't have much time to fume about it. As the Halloween event ends, Niantic will introduce the return of Regirock, Registeel and Regice. They will appear in raids and give newer players a chance to complete their Hoenn Pokedex. In addition, the three can be shiny.

To go along with their return, Niantic is bringing out more Geodude, Magnemite, Swinub, Aron and Spheal in the wild. All of these Pokemon have a chance to be shiny. With eggs, more Aerodactyl, Shuckle, Sneasel, Skarmory, Snorunt and Beldum will be hatching. Each of these Pokemon will be available in a shiny version with Skarmory making its debut in that form. That will be highly sought-after.

Rregigas will appear in a ticketed Special Research event before it goes to the general public in EX Raids in Novemver. (Niantic) 

One of the more interesting moves that Niantic will pull off is the introduction of Special Research story event that will require a $7.99 purchase. The ticket CANNOT be bought with PokeCoins. The process is a little complicated but it entails the following.

1) Players must buy a ticket, which goes on sale before the event. Players have until 5 p.m. Nov. 2 to pick up a ticket. They will do it by clicking on the "Learn More" button in the shop. If players do it right, the ticket should be in their Item Bag, according Niantic.

2) Once they buy the ticket, they have to open "Pokemon Go" any time between 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 This will give them a Special Research titled A Colossal Discovery. The ticket also includesA) a Colossal Discovery MedalB) 10 raid passes that are given by spinning a Photo Disc at a gymC) a Unova Stone (These are rare right now.), a Sinnoh Stone and an exclusive avatar poseD) early access to Regigas, which will eventually appear in EX Raids in November

3) Niantic urges players to complete the task Nov. 2 but if they don't it can be completed at any time.

From the sound of it, the event will be comparable to what players experienced at Pokemon Go Fest except this is on a regional scale. There will likely be special spawns appearing to coincide with research tasks tied to the Special Research story. That's why it will be optimal to do the event on Nov. 2. It will likely culminate with the catching of Regigas. I suspect players may need to group up and communicate with each other to catch spawns and finish goals. If it's anything like the quests during Pokemon Go Fest, it will take players four or five hours or so to complete everything at a casual pace. I finished my Jirachi quest at Pokemon Go Fest in about four hours spending some time catching some of the rare spawns in Grant Park and taking a break for lunch.

On Nov. 16, "Pokemon Go" will hold its Community Day with Chimchar as the star. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. The event will feature three-hour lures, reduced hatch distances for incubators and the debut of shiny Chimchar. An exclusive move will also be out. If it's like the past Charmander or Torchic events, it will be Blast Burn but Niantic could surprise players. That will most likely wrap up the Community Days for the year's new shiny Pokemon. Last year, the December Community Day brought back all the Pokemon from the previous months. It was another opportunity for players to catch shiny Community Day Pokemon that may have eluded them and get their exclusive move. Will the same thing happen on December's "Pokemon Go" Communnity Day December 14 and 15? I'm willing to bet it will.