I was two PokéStops from home when my phone vibrated and the event banner pushed across the screen—sudden, impossible to ignore. You feel that small thrill: a short window, new costumes, shiny odds climbed. I kept walking; I wanted to be there when Ditto decided to reveal itself.
Pokemon GO Pokopia Celebration Event Start Date and Time
My neighbor spun a stop and found a costumed Ditto the minute the clock hit 10 AM—proof that timing matters.
Niantic and Game Freak launched the Pokopia Celebration to ride the buzz around Pokemon Pokopia on Nintendo Switch 2. The event runs for a tight window, so mark your local time:
- Start: Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 10:00 AM local time
- End: Monday, March 16, 2026 at 8:00 PM local time
If you open the app during those hours you get the event pool; miss it and those limited spawns and stickers disappear until a future rotation.
When does the Pokopia Celebration event run?
It begins on March 10 at 10 AM local and closes on March 16 at 8 PM local—same window worldwide by local clock.
GO Pokopia Celebration Event Bonuses
At a glance: people who spun a handful of stops noticed XP stacking right away.
Log in and you get mechanical boosts that speed progress and raise the stakes for short-term play:
- 2x XP for spinning PokéStops
- 10x XP for spinning a PokéStop for the first time
- Increased chance for Shiny Sudowoodo and Shiny Zorua
Those XP multipliers are great for leveling during the week; trust me, a few strategic stops will push catches into new CP brackets faster than usual.
Which Pokémon spawn during the Pokopia event?
The event pool is stacked with familiar faces that Ditto will mask itself as, and several of them can appear as shinies—watch your caught list closely.
Costumed Ditto Appears!
I watched Ditto wear new headgear on another player’s screen and it stopped traffic in the group chat.
For the first time, Ditto shows up as Ditto wearing a hat and Ditto wearing a cap, and both variants can be shiny. Niantic also set things so Ditto will disguise itself as a selection of wild spawns during the event—so every routine catch could flip into a surprise.
The event is a treasure chest of little surprises.
How can I catch Ditto wearing a hat or cap?
Catch the species listed in the wild-spawn table below—Ditto will sometimes transform from those Pokemon. Complete the event Collection Challenges and Timed Research for guaranteed encounters.
GO Pokopia Celebration Event Pokemon Wild Spawns and Ditto Encounters
Two friends in my raid group compared screenshots and we realized the same spawn list repeated across neighborhoods.
Ditto disguises will come from this pool (Pokemon marked with an asterisk can be shiny):
| Pokemon | Type |
|---|---|
 Bulbasaur* |
Grass |
 Charmander* |
Fire |
 Squirtle* |
Water |
 Pikachu* |
Electric |
 Hitmonchan* |
Fighting |
 Scyther* |
Bug |
 Marill* |
Water |
 Sudowoodo* |
Rock |
 Combee* |
Bug |
 Drilbur* |
Ground |
 Timburr* |
Fighting |
 Zorua* |
Dark |
 Goomy* |
Dragon |
Raid Bosses
On the local Discord, players coordinated evening raids; the three-star bosses pulled the most interest.
Three-star raids will feature:
| Pokemon | Raid Tier | Type |
|---|---|---|
 Lapras* |
Three Star | Water |
 Snorlax* |
Three Star | Normal |
 Dragonite* |
Three Star | Dragon |
Lapras, Snorlax, and Dragonite from raid rewards and timed tasks may appear with an event-themed special background—collectors noted these look sharp in screenshots.
Field Research Tasks and Rewards
A friend finished a quick field research loop and walked away with Rare Candy; the tasks are compact and rewarding.
Complete these to get items, Stardust, or encounters:
| Research Task | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Catch a Ditto | 1 Rare Candy |
| Catch 5 Pokemon | 3 Pokeball 3 Razz Berry 1000 Stardust |
| Catch 10 Pokemon | Hitmonchan – Max CP 999 Sudowoodo – Max CP 920 |
| Explore 1 km | Pikachu – Max CP 402 Marill – Max CP 197 Gulpin – Max CP 371 |
| Spin 5 PokeStops or Gyms | Bulbasaur – Max CP 477 Charmander – Max CP 420 Squirtle – Max CP 405 |
| Win 3 Raids | Lapras – Max CP 1131 Snorlax – Max CP 1382 Dragonite – Max CP 1625 |
Timed Research Tasks and Rewards
Two players racing to finish timed research compared progress bars over coffee—these tasks reward repeat play.
Timed Research gives Stardust, stickers, encounters, and an overall completion reward. Complete all tasks before the event ends on March 16, 2026 to claim everything. The final Timed Research grant is 10,000 XP and a Ditto and Peakychu Pokopia Sticker.
| Timed Research Task | Reward |
|---|---|
| Catch 25 Pokemon | 10 Ditto Candy |
| Explore 1 km | Pikachu |
| Spin 10 PokeStops or Gyms | 5 Great Ball |
| Send 5 gifts to friends | 3000 Stardust |
| Catch 50 Pokemon | Snorlax |
| Explore 2 km | 10 Pinap Berry |
| Spin 30 PokeStops or Gyms | 10 Rare Candy |
| Complete 15 Field Research tasks | Tangrowth |
| Catch 75 Pokemon | Ditto wearing a cap |
| Explore 3 km | Ditto wearing a hat |
Costumed Ditto received via Timed Research will show an event-themed special background in your collection, a small detail that collectors and screenshotters both like.
Pokemon Pokopia Collection Challenges and Rewards
Two players at a park compared their Collection Challenge progress and raced to complete both lists.
Complete the challenges to earn encounters with costumed Ditto (with special backgrounds). The reward structure nudges you to chase both cap and hat variants.
Collection Challenge 1 — Collect: Pikachu, Combee, Scyther, Zorua. Reward: Ditto wearing a cap with Special Background.
Collection Challenge 2 — Collect: Marill, Goomy, Hitmonchan, Sudowoodo. Reward: Ditto wearing a hat with Special Background.
Ditto are chameleons in a masquerade ball.
Event Exclusive Stickers and Items
Several players posted screenshots of the Ditto Eye Mask in their avatar shop—small cosmetics that travel beyond the event.
Available during the event (and the Ditto Eye Mask stays in the shop after):
- Ditto Eye Mask — free in the in-game shop
- Event-themed stickers from spinning PokéStops/Gyms, opening Gifts, and claiming Timed Research rewards
If you care about vanity items or want the sticker set for gifts, spin a few stops while you’re out hunting—those drops are limited to event-time distribution.
I use Discord and local Telegram groups to coordinate raids and swaps, and they’re useful tools if you want to maximize Shinies or special-background catches during this short run. Niantic and The Pokémon Company designed this event to echo the Pokopia release on Nintendo Switch 2, so notable cross-promo energy is behind the spawns and rewards.
Will you chase the cap or the hat first?