Pokemon Go’s buyout by Scopely hasn’t resulted in a full transition yet, but we’re already seeing some of Scopely’s influence, and it’s not all bad. Not only did March get two new spawning Pokemon (as opposed to egg-locked ones), but in April we’ll see new regionals that at least will start out as remote-raidable, a long awaited (though a bit too late) Mega, the return of some other useful Megas, another double stardust Spotlight featuring a ‘mon that already gives bonus stardust, and more.

There’s still time for the studios to make fools of us all, but Massively on the Go is here to help sort through the jokes and jewels this month.

📝 April Content Update 📝
✨ Shiny Stakataka & Blacephalon
💪 Dynamax Passimian
🔥 Dynamax Entei
😴 G-Max Snorlax
💖 Mega Audino

April 1st Spotlight Hour wasn’t announced, but since it’s April Fools… it will be… 🤔👀 [Drop your guesses in the comments!] 🎭#pokemongo pic.twitter.com/Au2SBOIhUB

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 24, 2025

First, let’s go over the raids. For Max Mondays, Scorbunny and Sobble are fine for candy but they eventually get Gmax forms, and while Passimian is new, it won’t top even Dmax Machamp, let alone the incoming Gmax version, so it’s easy to sleep on these. No, Wooloo and Falinks aren’t worth mentioning, sorry! During the week, just seek out Chansey (best tank and healer in most situations barring a double typing resistance situation), Excadrill, Charizard (for Flying and even Dragon typing), and possibly Machops, especially if you’re a new player.

For regular 5-star raids, Tapu Lele isn’t much to write home about, and Cresselia at the end of the month is largely a PvP ‘mon. The new shiny Ultra Beasts are neat to look at, but Blacephalon for the Western Hemisphere is a top non-Mega, non-Shadow Fire ‘mon. It even beats out Fusion Flare Reshiram in some situations, so nab those if possible (sorry, Eastern Hemisphere, Staky just ain’t in the meta stack at this time).

For Megas, none of the above ‘mon are bad and even made our best Megas to invest in list, so don’t sleep on them if you lack them. Mega Mawile is probably the weakest there, but even it could see some use in full-ish lobbies soon, especially for the upcoming Go Fest 2025, assuming there’ll be some regular Zacians to battle before or during the event. It has a same-type frag (Steel beat Fairy and Maw has both typings), so it could help a bunch of Steel attackers take out the boss faster and give you bonus XL Candy at the cost of your own DPS. Again, this is just for regular Zacian or other non-Steel Fairies in areas with lots of raiders.

Shadow Registeel returns April 4th-May4th, but it’s mostly a PvP ‘mon, so its value is probably a bit limited, especially for our readers. Your passes are largely spent better elsewhere.

Moving on to events: There’s nothing currently scheduled for April Fools’ Day, but that’s usually normal. Check back here later, as Niantic has traditionally held this event, even during COVID.

4/1 Update: We have details via Serebii.net, and basically it’s like the old main games: you see a Pokeball and think it’s an item, but sometimes it’s actually a pokemon! Foongus and Amoongus are the real winning pulls, as they grant 500 and 700 stardust respectively.

Stunning Styles Event! 🌟
🗓️ April 3–7, 2025
👻Marshadow FREE Special Research
(but you can't get a second Marshadow)

🐂 Paldean Tauros Debuts (Regional)
Combat (Iberian Peninsula)
Blaze 🌏 (Eastern Hemisphere)
Aqua 🌎 (Western Hemisphere)

✨ Boosted Shiny West/East Shellos!… pic.twitter.com/DZEbXtcZSt

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 18, 2025

April 3rd-7th is Stunning Styles, a new event whose name may have been less confusing if it had been called “Furious Forms” or “Various Variants” as this event is about forms and variants, not styles (unless Niantic is going to do something extra for the various variants’ move pools or add skill to some pokemon). The big draw is a free Marshadow for those who didn’t get it from the paid events previously held. Don’t be fooled by the above infograph, though, as Marshy can’t suddenly be shiny. The Paldean Tauros versions aren’t useful, but they are regionals that you can at least acquire via remote-raiding with people in their respective regions. It’s not great, but it’s cheaper than a flight ticket, plus those who still need Kanto Tauros for quests can actually use P. Tauros to get credit and move forward in their progress.

🚨 Mega Audino Raid Day
📅 Saturday, April 5, 2025
🕑 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (local time)

🎁 Bonuses:
🔹 Remote Raid Pass limit increased to 20
🔹 Increased Shiny Audino chance in Mega Raids
🔹 Audino can now learn Moonblast!

and more#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/pdrC7hunyn

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 20, 2025

During that time, on April 5th, we have Mega Audino Raid Day. It’s still only 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., so it’s not really a day, and the new learnable move for Audino is Moonblast, which normally isn’t a legal learnable move in the main games, so we may have to update this. It’s also not really a good Pokemon for raids even as a Mega, especially given the fact that Primals and Mega Rayquaza give bonuses even after fainting, but Normal/Fairy is a good utility combination for certain events, such as Valentine’s Day, so it’s certainly worth your while to go out and get the energy for one or more.

Also, I don’t usually mention the paid add-ons because they’re largely barely worth it, if even that, but Audino grants 2,100 stardust, the most dust you can currently get from a single ‘mon. Doubling that from the ticket plus using a star piece could really add up, not to mention access to more rare XL candy. Again, Mega Audino itself isn’t great, but the bonuses here aren’t gamble based and can add up, so it’s easier to know what you’re getting for your cash.

April 6th is Tyrogue Hatch Day. It’s a non-wild Pokemon with a shiny, but the Hitmons just aren’t that great, so it’s an easy event to consider skipping, especially since double stardust has recently been a ticketed bonus. We do traditionally get a hatch distance discount as well, though, so it could also be a good way to make eggspace for actually useful egg events. As the official details make clear, it’s mostly geared towards shiny collectors and those who want to clear egg space, as half hatching lasts from April 4th until the event end at 5 p.m. on the 6th. There’s also double candy from hatching, though double stardust has to be paid for, and I’d probably skip it since 2k eggs (which will be the main focus) give the smallest stardust bonus you can get.

Tyrogue Hatch Day 🥚#pokemongo pic.twitter.com/gozspjWjiE

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 27, 2025

And speaking of egg events, April 9th-14th is Spring into Spring, the spring event that traditionally involves eggs. Usually this involves certain (baby) pokemon in 2k eggs, and extra dust and/or hatch distance discounts are involved. According to the official details of the event, we actually get yet another wild Pokemon released this year, Gossifleur, which sadly isn’t useful but at least isn’t egg or raid-locked like oh so many pokemon from 2024. As predicted, there are also hatch bonuses, both in terms of half-hatching distance and double candy, plus some baby pokemon (with only Budew being useful for newer players or those without good access to Kartana when its in raids).

🌸 Spring into Spring is blooming in #PokemonGO! 🌿✨
🔥 Gossifleur & Eldegoss debut!
🎁 Bonuses: 2× Lucky Egg, 2× Hatch Candy, ½ Hatch Distance
✨ Shiny boosts: Remoraid & Fletchling!
📅 April 9–14 pic.twitter.com/7LMVTIGW6L

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 27, 2025

During that event, on April 13th, is Sparing Partners Raid Day. This is a new event with little to no details. There are two NPCs jointly named Sparing Partners in one of the games, but having raids based off their teams seems unwise. This may be something like multiple Mega Fighting Types or something involving Kubfu, but we’ll just have to wait for official word from Niantic on this one.

💥 Mega Heracross will be featured during the Sparring Partners Raid Day, alongside Hariyama and Scraggy… for some reason. 😅🥋

🎟️ 5 extra free Raid Passes and an increased shiny chance during the event!

⚡ Starting with the event and continuing afterward, the featured Pokémon… pic.twitter.com/MWpiLITp1H

— G47IX (@g47ix) April 7, 2025

4/8 Update: We now have details, and it’s basically a Mega Heracross event with friends, all of whom get the new move Upper Hand. It’s not looking terribly strong, but the real deal we’re looking at is Mega Heracross being out and having 6-7 free raid passes that day (7 being possible if you keep a raid pass the day before the event).

April 16th-22nd is something, but that’s all Niantic’s said about that. Earthday 2025 is on the 22nd, so Niantic and/or Scopely may be turning things up after dropping the ball pretty hard last year. Check back later to see if we got this right!

🔨 Tinkaton is coming to destroy GO Battle League in #PokemonGO

🎉 Debuts: Tinkatink, Tinkatuff, Tinkaton & Floragato with Liko’s pin!
✨ Shiny Boost: Floragato & Cap’s Hat Pikachu!
🚀 Bonuses: ½ Egg Hatch Distance, More Rocket Balloons & More!#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/z7GdU8wnqA

— G47IX (@g47ix) April 4, 2025

4/4 Update: It’s hard to believe that I was actually optimistic here, thinking Niantic would keep up with an event they held annually aside from during lockdown for 6 events. Instead, we have Pokemon Horizons: The Series Celebration Event, basically an ad for the series. Niantic could at least have done something for the 22nd, but looking solely at what is happening, half-hatch distance, and more frequent Rocket balloons aren’t bad. I dislike Tinkerton’s family being egg locked, but it’s a neat pokemon that is predicted to do well in Great League and can at least enter Ultra League. Costumes of two more pokemon that can’t evolve though? Not so much.

Gigantamax Snorlax Max Battle Day! 🚨
🗓️ April 19, 2025 (2 PM – 5 PM local time)
🔹 Gigantamax Snorlax debuts in 6★ Max Battles!#pokemongo pic.twitter.com/DkVm7jDnrP

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 18, 2025

Somewhat related, Gigantamax Snorlax Battle Day comes on April 19th. Again, “related” relies on the event having to do with Earth Day, as Gmax Snorlax is home to a small biome on its gut. As much as I love this Gmax, it’s not going to be terribly useful unless, perhaps, we get Terastallization and Gmax on the same pokemon.

We get a new event, Sweet Discoveries, from April 24th-29th. We don’t have any further information on this event, but I’d wager at least Slurpuff and Vanillite’s family will be involved, and maybe we’ll finally see Alcremie appear in-game, especially as it has a Gmax form. Check back later for updates!

🍎 Sweet news! Applin debuts in Pokémon GO during the Sweet Discoveries event!
📅 April 24–29
🌟 Flapple & Appletun will be available!
🥚 1/2 Hatch Distance (widget only)

It’s going to be apple-solutely amazing! 🤣🤣🤣#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/QH3iLhbjUn

— G47IX (@g47ix) April 10, 2025

4/11: Well, we now have official event details, and while we didn’t get Alcremie or any other current “sweets” based pokemon, we did surprisingly getting Applin and two of its three forms. To note, the two forms we’re getting both have Gmax forms but are also in the same stat base as Raichu and Golem. The third form that we’re not getting has a final evolution, Hydrapple, which lacks a Gmax variant but is in the same class as Snorlax and Gyarados. All three are Grass/Dragon types, but Hydrapple’s somewhat between Gyarados’ attack and Snorlax’s bulk, ultimately meaning this ‘mon most likely won’t have much raid value.

That being said, the addition of wild apples that may either be wild pokemon (including Applin) or evolution items is neat. I do worry, after trying the April Fool’s Day pokeball event, that it could lead to more distracted walking, but perhaps that’s partially why Niantic is promoting Mossy lures as a way to increase their spawns.

❄️ April Community Day: Vanillite ❄️
⚡ Special Move: Avalanche
🎉 3× XP for catching Pokémon!#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/m0GDUTSrRK

— G47IX (@g47ix) March 25, 2025

Naturally during this time, Vanillite Community Day comes on April 27th, which is a bit late for one company’s Vanilla Day and super early for various Vanilla flavored ice-treat days in the summer. You get triple catch xp and, uh… an excuse to eat ice cream? Sadly, while it does make the Vanillite family better, it’s just still not useful in raids or PvP, it’s just basically for fun.

Finally, perhaps to cook some sweets, Entei Max Battle Weekend will be from April 26th-27th. It’s not going to be a useful Dmax ‘mon but hey, it’s a legendary Shiny and… yeah, that’s it. It’s just not meta-relevant anymore.

🔥 Dynamax Entei debuts in Pokémon GO!
📅 Max Battle Weekend: April 26–27
✨ Shiny possible!#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/Zr5poipNSt

— G47IX (@g47ix) April 10, 2025

4/11 Update: We have official event details and, yeah, it’s par for the course. There are concerns about the damage Entei can do to even Blastoise, so you may want to invest in one or even two Blisseys. Or, you know, you could skip it if you really want to, as, again, Entei isn’t super relevant in normal raids or even Max raids.

As always, let’s end with the Spotlight Hour. Notice we don’t have anything scheduled for April 1st! Whatever’s coming that day is probably related to the unrevealed April Fool’s Day event. Until then, we’re just looking at double transfer candy on April 8th, which is great. Meditite is just a PvP ‘mon, especially now that Mega Gallade has arrived to take its Mega’s place.

4/1 Update: We now have details, and it’s basically pokeballs and double catch candy, though a few of the pokemon do come with stardust bonuses. It’s a nice throwback for main game series fans!

Fomantis and double evolution xp on the 15th is fine, I guess, but it occurs between events, so we probably can’t do anything to make it better unless Spring into Spring brings us a new pokemon, which I doubt.

April 22nd is Morelull with double stardust, so don’t miss it. While it’s not as good as Shellder for these events and it’s much harder to catch, it’s still bonus dust on top of double stardust.

Abra and double catch xp for April 29th, like Fomantis, is fine; it’s just not included with any events that could make it more interesting, especially since, like Fomantis, it’s just not useful.

As always, check back for updates as Niantic brings them out round by round, and stay safe out there, trainers!

Massively OP’s Andrew Ross is an admitted Pokemon geek and expert ARG-watcher. Nobody knows Niantic and Nintendo like he does! His Massively on the Go column covers Pokemon Go as well as other mobile MMOs and augmented reality titles! Pokemon Go studio Niantic is considered a controversial gaming company owing to multiple scandals and deceptions, starting with the Wi-Spy privacy scandal; over the years, it’s repeatedly failed to secure player data, endangered players during the pandemic, and refused to address documented stalking in POGO. It also rolled back popular accessibility features to incentivize data collection, faked data, and lied about event results. Following 2021’s community-driven Pokemon No boycott, Niantic vowed transparency and communication; it has not delivered.