Pokemon Go Halloween Update: Darkrai Raids, Spiritomb Research, Double Candy and More

Come October, and Pokemon Go's expected Halloween update is here, bringing with it — wait for it — Ghost- and Dark-type Pokemon (yep, you guessed it). While this of course means more Gastly, Houndour and Shuppet spawning in the wild, the latest update is also bringing with itself a new set of Pokemon, a very useful new candy-gathering update, and for some reason, Pokemon dressed as other Pokemon (?).

First things first, the Halloween Special fortnight will run from October 17, 1PM PDT (October 18, 1:30AM IST), through November 1, 1PM PDT (November 2, 1:30AM IST). Those who still have an active group of friends playing the game will be thrilled to find Darkrai — the evil, nightmare-inducing Dark Pokemon, and one half of the mythical Lunar Duo with Cresselia. Darkrai will be appearing in five star raids all through the two weeks of the Halloween Special, giving players plenty of time to try and catch one.

Also coming to the game is Spiritomb, the 'forbidden' Pokemon — through a short Special Research task similar to how Jirachi and Celebi were introduced to the game. Other new Pokemon and their new forms in the game include shiny Yamask, more shadow Pokemon including Lapras, Magmar, Shuppet and others, and to add the costume zing to the game, the classic four from Kanto trying to look like other Pokemon. As a result, you would be encountering Bulbasaur in a Shedinja costume, Charmander in a Cubone costume (that is kinda creepy), Squirtle in a Yamask costume, and lastly, Pikachu in a Mimikyu onesie.

However, the biggest draw for us all is the 2x candy announcement, wherein all Pokemon will offer double the number of candies through catching, hatching and transferring (but not trading, from what it seems). This can be particularly useful if you just fell short of candies that were once very common, but have become exceedingly rare nowadays — Rhydon, for instance. The special event shall be live in the game in just over three days, giving once-players a renewed chance to fill up the Pokedex and Niantic's active users count, even if it may be for a limited phase.