We finally have more complete details on Pokemon Go’s new Johto Tour event coming February 26th and 27th in 2022. So far, it looks quite similar to the Kanto Tour event, though Gen 1 is usually at the top of the hype-drive for the series. Gen 2 isn’t bad though, as it brought some very popular eeveelutions and arguably has one of the best regional Megas, Heracross, which should be returning globally in some capacity for the event.
While there are some meaty details, as always, Niantic hasn’t released everything. For example, players who purchase the $11.99 (US) tickets before January 10 get the free January and February timed events, but we don’t know whether that’s something new or just referencing the usual $1 Community Day events. 12/9 Update: The event page for December was updated to reveal that the bonuses are not Community Day research but the Team Leader Challenges for those months, which will not be free like Blanche’s was.
Once again you’ll be choosing versions, though the exclusives aren’t quite as polarizing as before. Niantic’s mentioned certain regional pokemon won’t be quite so regional, and hopefully they won’t be raid locked and screwy like the last Poke-region event.
Of the two events, Silver immediately strikes me as the better option. Delibird gives bonus stardust when caught, Skarmory is quite relevant to Great League PvP still, and shiny Soodowoodo, Houndoom, and Miltank look great.
That being said, for Gold Version, Mantine can be a surprising lead pick for Great League (personal experience); Gliscgar (Gligar’s final form) is a solid pick for Ultra league plus is a good looking shiny; Wobbuffet’s shiny looks great and it’s quite relevant to the gym meta; and Ho-oh gets a good looking shiny. Oh, and Gold gets Shuckle, which for Mario Kart fans, goes from a red shell to a blue shell. Remember, though: Once you pick your version, you can’t undo it, so plot with friends!
For players who don’t wish to pay for the event, Niantic has a nice summary of what is and isn’t paid for during the event. Key features for free players are that everyone will have access to Meganium, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Tyranitar, Espeon, Umbreon, and Mamoswine’s Community Day moves. Lugia and Ho-oh will also have unique moves (most likely Aeroblast and Earthquake), plus timed research for the legendary dogs/beasts trio. Legendary and regional pokemon raids will not be exclusive to ticket holders. You’ll also have six special trades per day (most likely during the event, so don’t wait until the end!). No one will have to walk Umbreon or Espeon to evolve them from Eevee. And everyone will have a chance for Smeargle from daily photobombing be shiny.
However, ticket holders get a slew of other bonuses, beyond version exclusives/shinies, such as 1/4 egg hatching distance, double candy from catches, three free remote raid passes (compared to the nine in-person ones you’ll be able to get from Gyms), a Celebi encounter, “Masterwork Research” (most likely a long research task similar to last year’s shiny Mew research), and more. We’ll update as we learn more!
1/19 Update: Niantic’s updated their event page not only with new rewards to increase the raw monetary value of purchasing a ticket, but with a new feature: choosing a starter pokemon. The details are slim aside from it being your “partner” (they did not say buddy), but data mined details seem to indicate it’ll change your quests a bit. Picking a starter pokemon is one of those big nostalgia factors for the series, similar to the Harry Potter Sorting Hat in many Harry Potter games/interactive websites (though not in the soon-to-be-cancelled Niantic game).
We also have confirmation of Shiny Gyarados as part of the event, which isn’t exactly uncommon given multiple events for shiny Magikarp, but Celebi caught during the event will have Magic Leaf, an exclusive event move.
