6 ‘Pokemon Go’ February events worth your time and money

Niantic is throwing a ton of "Pokemon Go" events at players in February. Since the month began, there have been at least three special events, in addition to regular ones such as Wednesday raid hour.

With so much going on, how does one prioritize the time? Players only have so many hours in the day to catch them all, and unless they're independently wealthy, they don't have the money to buy unlimited incubators and raid passes. Keeping that in mind, I prioritized the most important February events. These are the ones worth your time and money.

1. Sinnoh Celebration: Yes, the hype is real for shiny Riolu. The Emanation Pokemon and its evolved form Lucario are already fan favorites. The Pokemon has been in high demand because of its effectiveness in Team Go Rocket battles and its role as the top fighting Pokemon in the game, but don't be blinded by the single-minded hunt for it.

The event has several other sought-after Pokemon. Players should allocate time to grabbing 7km eggs from friends and hatch as many of them as possible per day. On top of a chance of getting a Riolu, players can hatch the incredibly rare Gible, which can be shiny, and perhaps a shiny Hippopotas.

For collectors, this is a good chance at grabbing some extremely rare shiny Pokemon. For PvP players, the Mantyke, Bronzor and Budew available could be useful under different metas. Lastly, a special Field Research task will reportedly net players a Cranidos, which evolves into Rampardos, the current king of rock-type Pokemon.

The event runs from 8 a.m. Feb. 7 to 10 p.m. Feb. 10.

2. Valentine's Day: As in previous years, pink Pokemon will be the theme for this event. More pink Pokemon will be appearing in the wild, in raids, in eggs and in task rewards. This is an excellent opportunity to get shiny versions of Luvdisc, Smoochum, Snubbull, the Clefairy line and the Jigglypuff line.

That alone would make for a decent Valentine's Day event, but what pushes this over the top is the debut of shiny Happiny and Chansey. These two Pokemon are the best at protecting gyms and have been a staple since their introduction. The chance to show off a shiny variant of either one will be a must for collectors.

In addition, Audino and Alomomola will make their debut. It's uncertain how powerful these Pokemon will be or what their role will be in PvP, but it's worth keeping an eye out for them.

The Valentine's Day event also features six-hour lures and double catch candy bonus. It runs from 8 a.m. Feb. 14 to 10 p.m. Feb. 17.

3. February Community Day: Niantic switched things up by letting players vote for the February Community Day, and the winner ended up being Rhyhorn. It may not be what everyone wanted, but the Spikes Pokemon does have a gorgeous shiny variant when evolved to Rhyperior. Its exclusive move — Rock Wrecker — could make it more viable in both PvP and in gyms and battles.

Players should take advantage of the triple catch stardust bonus, which is a huge deal now that the Go Battle League is up and running. Stardust is at a premium as players have to boost the Combat Points and add a second move to their best fighters.

Rhyhorn Community Day is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 22 in the northern hemisphere and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the southern hemisphere.

4. Lickitung Raid Day: The Licking Pokemon will have its own raid day in the middle of the Valentine's Day event. It also happens to be the introduction of its shiny form, which is yellow of all colors. Because of its relative rarity, this raid day is a trainer's best chance to get a shiny Lickitung. They'll be in four-star raids, which means that it could take two or more people to take it down. Lickitung will also have Body Slam as its charge move.

Niantic is giving players five free passes during the event, which runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 15. Players have to spin a gym's photo disc to get it. Lickitung isn't the best Pokemon and not extremely useful, but it may be worth spending five extra premium passes in order to get a shiny. Who knows what the rate will be like, though?

5. Friendship Weekend: Niantic had one of these toward the end of 2019 and it was one of the better events. In this one, friendship levels will increase faster, trade candy will be doubled and stardust cost will be halved. In addition, the number of gifts players can hold is bumped up to 40; they can open 20 gifts.

Players use should use this time to raise friendship levels to best friends, and coordinate with buddies to pop a Lucky Egg and increase the experience bonus. This is how players can quickly jump up to the level 40 cap. It's also a good time to try to get lucky friend status with players. This guarantees a lucky trade, which gives exchanged Pokemon a bump in traits and lucky status. It will be invaluable for the next event.

Friendship Weekend runs from 8 a.m. Feb. 21 to 10 p.m. Feb. 24.

6. Pokemon Day: This event marks the release of the original Game Boy titles back in 1996. To celebrate, Niantic is putting party hats on several Pokemon such as Pikachu, Eevee, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. It's not the most impressive bonus, and unless you're a collector who has to have everything, it can be put on the back burner.

For raids, Niantic is bringing back armored Mewtwo, which was introduced this past summer. It's essentially Mewtwo with a fancy hat, or in this case body armor. The only difference in this version is that it will have Psystrike.

The most interesting addition to this event is the Clone Pokemon, which are from the movie "Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back." Specifically, Clone Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise will be available in four-star raids. Clone Pikachu will be popping up if you take a snapshot of Pokemon, but again, that's random but fairly easy to get.

The most important bonus for Pokemon Day is two special trades per day. This is a great way to use up the Lucky Friend trades that players have been accumulating over the past few events. It's also a good way to trade away any rare Pokemon such as unonwns that players have been hoarding.

Lastly, party-hat Nidorino and Gengar will appear in raids. The former will be in two-star raids, the latter in four star. Players will get five free raid passes. Both will have a chance to be shiny. The event doesn't really move the needle for me, and it's the lowest on my priority list. It'll be good to have one of each, but I wouldn't go all out for these special Pokemon.

The Pokemon Day event runs from 1 p.m. Feb. 25 to 1 p.m. March 2.