Pokémon Go is currently gearing up for its third annual Tour event: a weekend-long spotlight on a particular region of the Pokémon world and all the species originally found within it.
This year, after the turns of Johto and Kanto in 2021 and 2022, it’s time for Hoenn: the setting of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, and the home of Mudkip, Metagross and many other favourites.
The big difference this time around is that developer Niantic has dropped the need to buy a ticket for the majority of Tour’s gameplay. It means fans can take part in the weekend’s storyline, choose a focus on Ruby or Sapphire spawns, and catch Pokémon with a boosted chance of being in their sought-after Shiny versions without the need to pay up.
Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon are coming to Pokémon GO! Watch on YouTube
Hoenn Tour still offers an optional ticket alongside it, albeit for a long-term Masterwork Research questline that ultimately results in a Shiny Jirachi. There’s also the debut this year of an in-person Tour event, held separately the weekend beforehand in Las Vegas, which has now sold out after quickly shifting 50,000 tickets. But neither will be the focus when the global Hoenn Tour begins.
Held from 10am to 6pm local time on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February, Hoenn Tour will see a storyline featuring the return of the mysterious Rhi and the introduction of the powerful Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon.
Gameplay will be familiar to those who have played in years past, with rotating habitats offering different selections of Pokémon over the day, including several Hoenn species available as Shiny Pokémon for the same time, and yes, new costumed Pikachu variants.
A neat twist will see players competing to complete research tasks, with those who picked the storyline’s Ruby option pitted against those who picked Sapphire. Whoever wins each hour will tip the balance between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre raids becoming boosted in the hour following, and influence a smaller selection of Pokémon spawns that can also appear.