Get ready, Trainers! On January 25, 2025, from 2 PM to 5 PM local time, Pokémon GO’s Ralts Community Day Classic returns, offering a rare chance to catch hordes of the adorable Feeling Pokémon, Ralts, with boosted spawns and exciting bonuses like 1/4 egg hatch distance and extended Incense and Lure durations. Evolve your Kirlia during the event or up to a week after to unlock Gardevoir or Gallade with the exclusive Charged Attack Synchronoise, and dive into special Field Research tasks and Timed Research for rewards including Sinnoh Stones and shiny encounters. Whether you’re hunting for shiny Ralts or powering up your psychic team, this event promises a thrilling day of exploration and strategy.
How do I catch a shiny Ralts in Pokémon Go?
To catch a shiny Ralts in Pokémon Go, the best opportunity is during the Ralts Community Day event, when Ralts spawn rates are significantly increased and shiny chances are boosted to about 1 in 24. During this event, which typically lasts a few hours, players should actively catch as many Ralts as possible to improve their odds of encountering a shiny variant. Using Incense and Lure Modules can further increase spawn rates, especially in windy or cloudy weather, which naturally boosts Ralts appearances. Additionally, quickly tapping and checking each Ralts for shininess, then fleeing non-shiny ones, helps manage resources efficiently. Outside of Community Day, shiny Ralts can also be found during Spotlight Hours, from research tasks, raids, or trades, but the shiny encounter rates are lower. Evolving a shiny Ralts into Kirlia and then into Gardevoir or Gallade during or shortly after the event grants access to special moves, making the shiny evolution even more valuable.
As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), Shiny rates on Community Days are about 1 in 24, which means that if you keep playing throughout the three-hour window, you should find quite a few shiny Pokémon.
If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, you can pop an Incense, then quickly tap each Ralts to check for shiny ones, running from any that aren’t shiny. Notably, any Ralts you’ve already tapped will face where your player is standing, so that should help identify which ones you may have already checked.
What Community Day move does Ralts’ evolution learn?
During the Ralts Community Day Classic event in Pokémon GO, evolving Kirlia into either Gardevoir or Gallade from the start of the event until February 1, 2025, at 10:00 PM local time will grant the evolved Pokémon the exclusive charged move Synchronoise, a Psychic-type attack. This move is only obtainable through evolution during this period or by using an Elite TM later.
If you evolve Kirlia into Gardevoir or Gallade from the start of the Community Day until Feb. 1 at 10 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the charged move Synchronoise.
If you miss out on evolving it during this period, you will likely be able to evolve it during a Community Day weekend event in December to get Synchronoise. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move.
How does Gardevoir and Gallade do in the meta?
Gardevoir and Gallade have niche roles in the current Pokémon GO meta. Both gain access to the exclusive Charged Attack Synchronoise during the Ralts Community Day, but its low damage-to-energy ratio limits its use in PvP. Gallade generally performs better than Gardevoir in PvP due to its strong physical attacks like Leaf Blade and Close Combat, despite its fragility. Gardevoir excels more as a special attacker with moves like Triple Axel and Charm, making it a top-tier Fairy-type attacker in raids, especially against Dragon-types. However, both are outclassed in many roles by Legendary Pokémon, though their Mega Evolutions rank highly in DPS charts, making them valuable for certain raid and PvP scenarios if you lack stronger options.
Both Gardevoir and Gallade can Mega Evolve and both of their megas hit pretty close to the top of the DPS charts, so it’s worth grabbing strong ones, even if you don’t have the Mega Energy on hand.
Mega Gardevoir is THEfairy-type attacker when set up with Charm and Dazzling Gleam. Shadow Gardevoir doesn’t fall far behind it, though regular Gardevoir does drop down the rankings significantly when you factor some Legendary Pokémon.
Mega Gallade and Mega Gardevoir are both pretty good psychic-type attackers, with Gallade squeaking out above Gardevoir, when set up with Confusion and Psychic. Their shadow and regular versions fall behind significantly, but still can be used if you don’t have the many Legendary Pokémon that fill in the gap between them.
Gardevoir and Gallade do see some PvP use, with Gallade doing better than Gardevoir, so it may be worth investing in to if you want.
How do I make the most of Ralts Community Day?
To make the most of Ralts Community Day in Pokémon GO, focus on catching as many Ralts as possible during the event hours from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time to maximize your chances of finding shiny variants and collecting candies. Use Incense and Lure Modules, which last for three hours during the event, to boost spawns. Take advantage of the 1/4 egg hatch distance bonus by incubating new eggs during the event to hatch more Pokémon quickly. Evolve Kirlia into Gardevoir or Gallade during the event or up to an hour after to obtain the exclusive Charged Attack Synchronoise. Completing the event’s Timed Research tasks will reward you with valuable items like Sinnoh Stones and encounters with Ralts. Additionally, Mega Evolving a Psychic-type Pokémon or Rayquaza can help you earn extra candies for Ralts, enhancing your farming efficiency. Finally, pick a location with many PokéStops and good spawn density to optimize your catching and egg hatching.
The following bonuses will be active during Ralts Community Day:
- 1⁄4 hatch distance for eggs placed into Incubators during the event
- Incense lasts three hours
- Lure Modules lasts three hours
- Ralts special photobombs when taking snapshots
That said, you should definitely put your eggs in Incubators, pop an Incense, and try to nab some powerful Ralts.
If you can Mega Evolve Alakazam, Slowbro, Gardevoir, Medicham, Latias, Latios, or Gallade, you’ll score additional Ralts Candy per catch.
Since you need Sinnoh Stones to evolve Kirlia into Gallade, there will also be Timed Research that rewards up to four Sinnoh Stones during the event, so make sure to complete that if you need them. Field Research during the event will also reward Mega Energy, so it’ll be a good time to stock up if you plan on Mega Evolving any of your strong acquisitions (and you should).
How can I maximize my chances of shiny Ralts during Community Day
To maximize your chances of encountering shiny Ralts during Community Day, follow these key strategies:
-
Focus on playing actively during the event window (2 PM to 5 PM local time) when Ralts spawn rates and shiny odds are significantly increased, roughly 1 in 24 to 1 in 25 encounters.
-
Use Incense and Lure Modules, which last for three hours during the event, to attract more Ralts spawns and increase encounter opportunities without moving around constantly.
-
Quickly tap each Ralts to check if it is shiny and run from non-shiny ones to maximize the number of encounters within the limited time.
-
Spin as many PokéStops as possible before and during the event to collect resources and event-specific Field Research tasks that reward additional Ralts encounters, some with special backgrounds.
-
Avoid catching Ralts before the event starts, as pre-event catches do not count toward the shiny hunt.
-
Use a Fairy or Psychic-type Mega Evolution (such as Mega Gardevoir or Mega Gallade) to earn extra Candy and XP for each catch, helping you evolve and power up your shiny finds faster.
-
Take advantage of the 1/4 egg hatch distance bonus by incubating eggs during the event to potentially hatch more Ralts or other shiny Pokémon quickly.
By combining these tactics, you can significantly increase your shiny Ralts haul and make the most out of the Community Day event.
How does using Incense increase my shiny Ralts encounter rate during Community Day
Using Incense during Pokémon GO’s Ralts Community Day increases your shiny Ralts encounter rate primarily by attracting more Ralts spawns to your location for the event’s full three-hour duration, effectively multiplying the number of encounters you can have without needing to move around constantly. Since shiny odds are boosted during Community Day (approximately 1 in 24 encounters), the increased spawn rate from Incense directly raises your chances of encountering a shiny variant by increasing the total number of Ralts you encounter. Additionally, Incense-generated spawns during Community Day have the same boosted shiny rates as wild spawns, making it a highly efficient method to maximize shiny encounters, especially if you are playing in a confined area or unable to travel extensively.
