Halloween 2026 kicks off in Pokémon GO on Tuesday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m. local time, and Part 1 runs until Sunday, November 1 at 10:00 a.m. On the menu: three brand-new costumed Pokémon (Pikachu wearing a hat and capelet, Zubat in a top hat, Sinistea with a bow), trick-or-treat surprises on the map, the Lavender Town remix at night and a dedicated GO Pass.
The announcement dropped overnight on October 16, and Niantic set the tone right away: costumed Pikachu, Zubat and Sinistea are coming to give trainers goosebumps, as the game's website puts it. We went through the announcement and the first breakdowns from Serebii and Leek Duck to lay it all out: the dates of both parts, who spawns where, what those prankster surprises actually hide, and whether the paid GO Pass is worth your money.
When does Halloween 2026 start in Pokémon GO?
Part 1 runs from Tuesday, October 27 at 10:00 a.m. to Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. local time. Part 2 follows without a break, from November 1 at 10:00 a.m. to Thursday, November 5 at 8:00 p.m. The Halloween GO Pass covers both parts in a single run.
| Highlight | Dates (local time) | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Halloween Part 1 | October 27, 10 a.m. to November 1, 10 a.m. | costumed Pikachu, Zubat and Sinistea |
| Halloween Part 2 | November 1, 10 a.m. to November 5, 8 p.m. | Shiny Greavard debut, Mega Sableye at Super Max |
| Halloween GO Pass | October 27, 10 a.m. to November 5, 8 p.m. | granted for free, Deluxe upgrade optional |
| Pass rewards | claim before November 7, 8 p.m. | unclaimed rewards vanish |
A scheduling tip: the Halloween decorations (encounters, PokéStops, Gyms) stay up for both parts, but each wave of costumed Pokémon has its own window. If you want the full set, the morning of October 27 is the real starting line. And Pokémon GO is not the only game celebrating: the Pumpkaboo's Sweet Surprises event in Pokémon Pokopia runs from October 17 to November 1, so you can chain the two.
Which new costumed Pokémon debut in Halloween 2026?
Three debuts, all available as Shiny from day one if luck is on your side: Pikachu wearing a hat and capelet, Zubat sporting a top hat, and Sinistea with a bow. It is the first time the Zubat line and Sinistea get a costume in Pokémon GO.
Here is the detail collectors will chase: Serebii also lists the costumed evolutions in the event data, Golbat and Crobat with the top hat, Polteageist with the bow, each with its Shiny version. The announcement does not spell out the mechanics, but for every costumed Pokémon other than Pikachu, evolving has always kept the costume. A well-fed top-hat Zubat therefore has every chance of becoming the classiest Crobat in your Pokédex.
Sinistea deserves its own mention: the haunted tea comes in Phony and Antique forms, and its bow, paired with a tiny Drifloon according to the first images, makes it the most detailed costume of the wave. Its evolution, bow Polteageist, is in the game files too.
Who spawns in the wild and in raids during Part 1?
Four boosted wild spawns, all with a Shiny chance: top-hat Zubat, Duskull, and the return of the 2021 Halloween Mischief costumes on Piplup and Drifblim, the latter flagged as rarer. One-star raids host the hat-and-capelet Pikachu and the bow Sinistea.
| Pokémon | Costume | Where to find it | Shiny |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pikachu | hat and capelet | one-star raids | yes |
| Zubat | top hat | wild | yes |
| Sinistea | bow | one-star raids | yes |
| Duskull | none | wild | yes |
| Piplup | Halloween Mischief | wild | yes |
| Drifblim | Halloween Mischief | wild, rarer | yes |
Themed Field Research rounds it out, with event Pokémon encounters as rewards. Niantic has not published the task list yet: we will find out by spinning the first PokéStops on the 27th. Halloween stickers featuring Pikachu, Crobat and Polteageist can be earned in parallel from PokéStops, Gifts and the shop.
How do the trick-or-treat surprises work?
This is the event's take on trick-or-treating: prankster Pokémon leave surprises on the map throughout Part 1. Tap one and you can trigger an encounter with an event Pokémon, pick up Pikachu, Zubat or Sinistea Candy, and with a bit of luck some Rare Candy.
In practice it is a candy hunt laid over the game screen, Pokémon GO's version of going door to door. If you are farming Zubat line Candy to unlock the costumed Crobat, this is where to focus first, on top of the Pass-boosted catches.
Is the Halloween 2026 GO Pass worth paying for?
The base Pass is free and granted automatically on October 27: encounters, Candy, Rare Candy and Ultra Balls as you rank up. At rank 10 it unlocks doubled catch Candy, tripled with Deluxe; at rank 20, doubled catch Stardust, tripled with Deluxe.
The Deluxe version is listed at 7.99 US dollars (9.99 dollars with 10 ranks included, enough to start straight at rank 11; local pricing shows in the in-game shop). It adds extra encounters, Rare Candy XL, Premium Battle Passes and a pastry chef outfit for your avatar. My casual-trainer take: the free Pass is plenty if you play an hour here and there, the Deluxe only pays off if you plan to grind both parts and the raids. One last thing not to miss: every unlocked reward must be claimed before Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m. local time, or it is gone.
Why is the Lavender Town remix such a big deal?
Every night of the event, the game swaps its usual soundtrack for a remix of the Lavender Town theme, published on the game's YouTube channel. For long-time trainers, that melody is anything but trivial: it belongs to the town with the Pokémon Tower in Red and Blue, the birthplace of the series' ghost stories and of one of gaming's most persistent creepypastas.
We told the real story of the so-called Lavender Town syndrome and the other founding rumors in our piece on Pokémon urban legends, from Mew under the truck to MissingNo: the short version is that the legend was born in 2010 from a fake document, but the original melody genuinely was unsettling. Hearing it come back every evening from October 27 to November 5 is this event's finest nod to history.
What is coming in Part 2, from November 1 to 5?
The follow-up is already announced: Part 2 debuts Shiny Greavard and Shiny Houndstone, Paldea's ghost dog, and unlocks Super Max level for Mega Sableye, a first in Pokémon GO, complete with the Night Shade+ attack (55 power in Trainer Battles, 160 in raids). In the wild, Litwick, Greavard, costumed Rowlet and even a Gengar in its Spooky Festival costume take over.
Gengar remains the mascot of this season, in the game and in our shop alike: the Gengar crystal LED Pokéball (29.99 €) is one of the most viewed product pages of the store, and October probably has something to do with it, the laser-engraved ghost comes alive once the lights go out. And if there is a young trainer at home who finds ghost season a little scary, the Vulpix crystal LED Pokéball on a steady warm light plays the reassuring night light rather than the haunted house.
Between now and October 27, there are a few days left to clear your storage, stock up on Ultra Balls and scout the ghost nests around your block. And to keep the Halloween mood going once the app is closed, our collection of light-up crystal Pokéballs lights the spooky season all year round.
Image credits: Niantic and The Pokémon Company (event key art, costumed Pokémon, Deluxe Pass outfit, stickers, Lavender Town remix). Facts checked on October 17, 2026 against the game's official announcement and the Serebii, Leek Duck and WikiDex breakdowns.
