Shiny Tyranitar and Smack Down: June’s Pokémon Community Day is on this weekend

If you thought the last Pokémon Go Community Day was fun, this month’s is looking to be just as good.

While we all enjoyed getting our hands on a badass black Charizard during last month’s Community Day event, this weekend we can get one of the strongest rock-type attackers in the game. Yes, Tyranitar.

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For a three-hour window from 10am to 1pm (BST) on Saturday 16 June, the powerful fan-favourite, Larvitar, will be infesting the game in hordes.

For anyone wondering, Community Day coincides with one Fifa World Cup 2018 match in the UK: France v Australia, which starts at 11am. You can take a look at the World Cup 2018 schedule here – just in case you intend to stay out past 1pm.

As usual, Niantic hasn’t said whether or not there will be shiny forms of Larvitar available, but seeing as there have been shiny Pokémon popping up at every Community Day prior, it’s pretty much a guarantee.

If you manage to get enough Larvitar candy during the three-hour window, you will be able to evolve any Pupitar into a Tyranitar with the exclusive move, Smack Down. Smack Down will make Tyranitar the best rock-type Pokémon if it also knows Stone Edge.

The bonus players will receive should also help trainers level up more quickly. As well as bagging a Tyranitar with Smack Down, players will earn triple XP. That means if you put on a Lucky Egg, you can earn six times the amount of XP as you would normally. Lure modules will also last three hours.

The June Pokémon Go Community Day overlaps with the ongoing Water Festival event, making it the perfect time to get involved with this month’s Community Day and maybe pick up a shiny Wailmer, Shellder or Magikarp.

What is Pokémon Go Community Day?

Since Pokèmon Go first launched in 2016, Niantic has been trying to make it a much more real-world, community-forward social game. Starting with the gym rework that brought powerful Pokémon raids, Pokémon Go has turned to its Community Days to push things further.

Pokémon Go Community Day is a regular three-hour event that happens once a month across the world, encouraging Pokémon Go’s dedicated community to come together and catch Pokémon.

Each Community Day sees a featured Pokémon swarm the game for a short period of time, giving users access to an exclusive move; the chance to earn resource bonuses, like triple XP, Stardust; and of course, the opportunity to find a shiny form of the featured Pokémon – though this has never been officially stated.

What were the previous Pokémon Go Community Days like?

• The first ever Pokémon Go Community Day took place on 20 January 2018, where we saw hugely increased rates of Pikachu. The Pikachu spawned with the exclusive charge move, Surf. Shiny forms of Pikachu also seemed to be increased. Trainers were additionally able to earn double XP and Lures lasted three hours.
• The second Community Day event took place on 24 February 2018 and featured the rare dragon-type Pokémon, Dratini. If trainers evolved a Dragonair during this event, Dragonite would learn the powerful move, Draco Meteor. This time, trainers were able to earn triple Stardust and, as usual, lures lasted three hours. Like the first Community Day, the biggest draw was that trainers were able to catch an ultra-rare pink Dratini.
• The third Community Day took place on 25 March 2018 and gave players access to the gen-one starter, Bulbasaur. If trainers evolved Ivysaur during the event, Venusaur would learn the powerful move, Frenzy Plant. As expected, shiny Bulbasaur was available, and triple XP and three-hour lures was the bonus.
• The fourth Community Day took place on 15 April 2018 and players had the chance to capture a pink Mareep. If players evolved a Flaaffy into a Ampharos during the three-hour window, the Pokémon would know the move Dragon Pulse. This Community Day was exciting because the bonus allowed you to hatch eggs at quarter the distance as you would normally.
• The fifth Community Day took place on 19 May 2018 and featured the first-gen starter Charmander. If you evolved a Charmeleon during the event, it would turn into a badass-looking black Charizard that would know the move Blast Burn. The bonus was triple Stardust.