February is off to a good start for Pokémon Go. For starters, you have the chance to start working on earning Woobat encounters by completing research tasks. All you need to do is complete a PokéStops research task and complete them once per day to receive the Woobat encounter on the seventh day, in addition to the new special research task A Professor's Work is Never Done. Later this month, there's a Sinnoh Region celebration taking place that focuses on certain Pokémon in the region, as well as Riolu and Hippopotas, giving you an increased chance to find shiny versions of them.
The Sinnoh region celebration begins on February 7 at 8 a.m. and continues through February 10 at 22 p.m. local time. The event will highlight all Pokémon native to the Sinnoh region making them easier to encounter in the wild and during raids. For those wondering, these are the fourth generation of Pokémon. The Niantic Lists allow you to earn Bronzor, Budew, Combee, Gible, Hippopotas, Mantyke, and Riolu from seven kilometer eggs during this time. Reach out to trainers on your friend list to send you gifts during the event to optimize those eggs.
You can expect to see more Research Tasks activate during the Sinnoh event to make it easier to encounter these Pokémon. You might even be lucky enough to find a shiny version of Riolu and Hippopotas during the festivities. Niantic hasn't revealed the exact details of how you can increase your odds, but he does promise to disclose more information closer to the event. Riolu is a Fighting-type Pokémon that evolves into Lucario (a Fighting and Steel-type), and Hippopotas is a Ground-type that later evolves into Hippowdon (also a Ground-type). Even if you don't receive the shiny versions of these Pokémon, they are worth looking for.
If you are looking to make the most of this event, you may want to start stocking lure mods to place at PokéStops in your area, which attracts Pokémon to the location for 30 minutes. You can also start capturing local Gyms to make it easier to catch any Raid Pokémon that appear.
When we find out more about what Niantic has planned for the event, we'll update this guide to bring you more details on what you can do to make the most of your time. It starts on February 7th.
