Pokemon Go: Catch This Gen 5 Legendary During The December Event

Winter has arrived and Niantic wants you to bundle up and get outside to catch all your favorite Pokemon. If you need some extra encouragement, the developers have detailed their December events for Pokemon Go, and some of them are definitely worth braving the elements for.

A new Special Research event involving Team Go Rocket gets the ball rolling. Called "A Challenging Development," completing the event gives you a chance to catch Shadow Zapdos. If a legendary electric/flying Pokemon sounds like your thing, you'll want to knock this one out of the park.

If you'd prefer a legendary Pokemon from Gen 5, turn your attention to the second half of December. Starting on Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Pacific / 4 p.m. Eastern, five-star raids have a chance of featuring Virizion, the legendary fighting/grass type Pokemon from Generation 5. You can try catching it at as many raids as you can manage until the event ends on Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. Pacific / 4 p.m. Eastern.

More nostalgic Pokemon fans should mark Dec. 20-23 on their calendars as Lugia and Ho-Oh will star in their own Special Raid Weekend. Virizion will also still be available during this time, so if you only have one chance to play Pokemon Go this holiday season, this weekend would be a good contender. Lugia and Ho-Oh will disappear come Dec. 23 at 1 p.m. Pacific / 4 p.m. Eastern.

Finally, Pokemon Go will feature its recurring Holidays event during the last week of 2019. You'll have the chance to run into Cryogonal, an ice Pokemon from Generation 5, in the wild during this time. Meanwhile, any wild Pikachu, Raichu, and Pichu you encounter will sport festive beanies. Stantlers will also don some bells to ring in the holidays. This event runs from Dec. 24 at 12 a.m. to Jan. 1 at 11:59 p.m. in your local time zone. To read the full notes on the event, check out the Pokemon Go website.