Dive into the splashy excitement of Pokémon GO’s Water Festival 2025, running from July 15 to 20! This global event brings the first-ever appearance of Tatsugiri in three unique regional forms, boosts shiny encounter rates for Staryu and Tirtouga, and offers extended Rainy Lure Modules alongside exclusive raid battles featuring scarf-wearing Lapras. Get ready to catch, battle, and celebrate the best of Water-type Pokémon in this refreshing summer adventure!
Pokémon Go’s “Water Festival” event for 2025 has kicked off, running from July 15-20. Obviously this event focuses on water-type Pokémon, but there’s also a few notable bonuses, including the debut of Tatsugiri, the sushi-like Pokémon from Paldea. You will need to raid for Tatsugiri if you want one of these little fishies – though note that the different forms of Tatsugiri are locked to specific regions.
There’s a few other bonuses, such as Rainy Lure Modules lasting for two hours rather than 30 minutes and increased candy for nice throws or better. Staryu and Tirtouga also have an increased chance to be found shiny and catching the scarf-wearing Lapras from raids can yield a special seasonal background if you’re lucky.
Below we list all the perks for Pokémon Go’s “Water Festival” 2025 event, including the premium Timed Research, Collection Challenges, and boosted spawns.
Pokémon Go ’Water Festival’ 2025 premium Timed Research and reward
During the Pokémon Go Water Festival 2025, players can purchase a premium Timed Research called “Happiness in Every Scoop” for $4.99. This research offers a variety of tasks such as catching multiple Water-type Pokémon, evolving Pokémon, sending gifts with stickers, and spinning PokéStops. Completing all tasks rewards players with encounters with Staryu, Feebas, Clamperl, Azumarill, Kingler, Gyarados, and a special scarf-wearing Lapras, along with 3,000 Stardust. The exclusive highlight of the premium research is a unique ice cream-eating pose for the player’s character. However, the premium research is mainly recommended for those who want this cosmetic pose, as other rewards can be obtained elsewhere in the game.
As part of the event, there’s a premium research for $4.99 that gives you a bunch of encounters, as well as a special pose that makes your character eat ice cream.
Is the “Happiness in Every Scoop” premium research worth buying? It’s only worth buying if you want the pose. The rest of the rewards are pretty meh.
’Happiness in Every Scoop’ step 1 of 1
- Catch 5 water-type Pokémon (Staryu encounter)
- Catch 10 water-type Pokémon (Feebas encounter)
- Catch 15 water-type Pokémon (1 Premium Battle Pass)
- Evolve a Pokémon (Clamperl encounter)
- Evolve 3 Pokémon (1 Rainy Lure Module)
- Send a gift with a sticker (Azumarill encounter)
- Explore 1 km (Kingler encounter)
- Spin 5 PokéStops or gyms (Gyarados encounter)
Rewards: Ice Cream Pose cosmetic, Lapras (scarf) encounter, 3,000 Stardust
Pokémon Go ’Water Festival’ 2025 event Collection Challenges
The Pokémon Go Water Festival 2025 features three distinct Collection Challenges: “Fishin’ Mission,” “She Sells Seashells,” and “Just Keep Swimming.” Each challenge requires players to catch specific Water-type Pokémon-such as Magikarp, Barboach, Finneon, Gyarados for the Fishin’ Mission; Staryu, Krabby, Clamperl, Kingler for She Sells Seashells; and Slowpoke, Marill, Buizel, Azumarill for Just Keep Swimming. Completing any of these challenges rewards players with 5,000 XP, 2,500 Stardust, and a special encounter with a Lapras wearing a scarf. Notably, evolved Pokémon must be caught directly and not evolved from lower forms to count toward the challenges. These Collection Challenges provide great opportunities to earn rewards and add valuable Water-type Pokémon to the Pokédex during the event running from July 15 to July 20, 2025.
The following Collection Challenges will be live throughout the duration of the event:
’Water Festival: Fishin’ Mission’ Collection Challenge
- Catch a Magikarp
- Catch a Barboach
- Catch a Finneon
- Catch a Gyarados
Rewards: 5,000 XP, 2,500 Stardust, Lapras (scarf) encounter
’Water Festival: She Sells Seashells’ Collection Challenge
- Catch a Staryu
- Catch a Krabby
- Catch a Clamperl
- Catch a Kingler
Rewards: 5,000 XP, 2,500 Stardust, Lapras (scarf) encounter
’Water Festival: Fishin’ Mission’ Collection Challenge
- Catch a Slowpoke
- Catch a Marill
- Catch a Buizel
- Catch a Azumarill
Rewards: 5,000 XP, 2,500 Stardust, Lapras (scarf) encounter
Pokémon Go ’Water Festival’ 2025 event Field Research and rewards
The Pokémon Go “Water Festival” 2025 event offers a variety of Field Research tasks rewarding encounters with featured water-type Pokémon such as Slowpoke, Staryu, Magikarp, Squirtle, Buizel, and Finneon, some of which can be shiny. Additional tasks include catching specific numbers of water-types, evolving Pokémon, and winning raids to earn rewards like Mega Blastoise or Gyarados Energy, Wimpod, scarf-wearing Lapras, and Stardust. Completing these Field Research tasks also helps progress Collection Challenges, offering further prizes including XP and encounters with special Pokémon such as scarf Lapras, making the event a strong opportunity for both new and returning players to enhance their collections.
Spinning a PokéStop during the event period may yield one of these tasks:
- Catch 5 Pokémon (Slowpoke, Staryu, or Magikarp encounter)
- Catch 10 Pokémon (Squirtle, Buizel, or Finneon encounter)
- Catch 10 water-type Pokémon (20 Mega Blastoise Energy or 20 Mega Gyarados Energy)
- Catch 15 Pokémon (Lantern, Palpitoad, or Tirtouga encounter)
- Evolve 2 water-type Pokémon (Wimpod encounter)
- Win a raid (Lapras [scarf] encounter)
Pokémon Go ’Water Festival’ 2025 event boosted spawns
During the Pokémon Go ‘Water Festival’ 2025 event, a wide array of Water-type Pokémon enjoy significantly boosted spawns in the wild. Featured Pokémon found more frequently include Squirtle, Slowpoke, Krabby, Staryu (with an increased shiny chance), Magikarp, Lanturn, Marill, Barboach, Feebas, Clamperl, Buizel, Finneon, Palpitoad, Tirtouga (also with a shiny rate boost), and Wimpod. These enhanced spawns offer trainers an excellent opportunity to catch both new and returning favorites, as well as to hunt for their rare shiny forms throughout the event period.
These Pokémon will spawn more frequently during the event period:
- Squirtle
- Slowpoke
- Krabby
- Staryu*
- Magikarp
- Lanturn
- Marill
- Barboach
- Feebas
- Clamperl
- Buizel
- Finneon
- Palpitoad
- Tirtouga*
- Wimpod
*There is an “increased chance” of finding this shiny in the wild as part of the event.
Pokémon Go ’Water Festival’ 2025 event raid targets
During the Pokémon Go Water Festival 2025 event, the raid lineup features tiered Water-type Pokémon with Tatsugiri making its debut in 1-star raids, available in three regional forms. Other one-star raid Pokémon include Shellder and Ducklett. In the three-star raids, players can challenge Kingler, Gyarados, Azumarill, and Lapras wearing a scarf, with the latter having a chance to be shiny and potentially sporting a special seasonal background. This event offers a variety of raid targets for trainers aiming to catch exclusive and boosted Water-type Pokémon.
The following changes to the raid schedule will take place as part of the event:
’Water Festival’ 2025 raid line-up
The Water Festival 2025 raid line-up features a variety of Water-type Pokémon across different raid tiers. In one-star raids, players can challenge Shellder, Ducklett, and Tatsugiri (with each form regionally exclusive: Curly in Europe/Middle East/Africa, Droopy in the Americas, and Stretchy in Asia-Pacific). Three-star raids include Kingler, Gyarados, Lapras wearing a scarf, and Azumarill, with Lapras offering a chance at its shiny form and a special seasonal background. There is also a special Gigantamax Lapras raid on July 19 during Max Battle Day. No shiny is available for Tatsugiri during this event.
One-star raids |
Three-star raids |
|---|---|
| Shellder | Kingler |
| Ducklett | Gyarados |
| Tatsugiri | Lapras (scarf) |
| Azumarill |
How will Tatsugiri’s regional forms influence gameplay strategies during Water Festival
Tatsugiri’s three regional forms (Curly, Droopy, and Stretchy) will influence gameplay strategies during the Pokémon GO Water Festival 2025 primarily through their regional exclusivity and raid-based acquisition. Each form is exclusive to specific global regions-Curly in Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Droopy in the Americas; and Stretchy in Asia-Pacific, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand-and appears as a 1-star Raid Boss only in those areas.
Because these forms share the same stats and typing (Dragon/Water), the strategic distinction does not come from combat differences but from the challenge of collecting all forms. This impacts gameplay in several ways:
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Raid Focus: Players must prioritize raiding to catch these regional forms, as Tatsugiri is not encountered in the wild and is only available via raids during the event.
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Regional Coordination: To complete the collection, players who cannot travel will need to participate in remote raids for the other regions’ forms or trade with friends in those areas, encouraging international cooperation and trading strategies.
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Event Timing: Since the event window is limited (July 15-20, 2025), timing raids and trades efficiently is crucial to obtain all three forms before the event ends.
In summary, Tatsugiri’s regional forms add a strategic layer centered on regional exclusivity and raid logistics, emphasizing collaboration, remote raid participation, and timely action over differences in battle performance.
How might region-specific Tatsugiri forms alter raid team compositions during Water Festival
Region-specific Tatsugiri forms in Pokémon GO’s Water Festival 2025 will primarily affect raid team compositions through their shared type and weaknesses, rather than unique attributes of each form. Tatsugiri is a Dragon/Water-type Pokémon with three regional variants-Curly (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Droopy (Americas), and Stretchy (Asia-Pacific)-but all forms have identical stats, typing, and weaknesses. This means the recommended counters and team setups remain consistent regardless of form.
Key points about raid team compositions against Tatsugiri during the Water Festival:
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Type Weakness Exploitation: Tatsugiri is weak to Dragon and Fairy-type moves, so raid teams will benefit most from Pokémon with strong Dragon or Fairy attacks. Avoid Fire, Water, and Steel types, as Tatsugiri resists these.
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Recommended Counters: Popular Dragon-type counters like Mega Rayquaza (Dragon Tail + Outrage), Mega Garchomp, and other Dragon or Fairy attackers (e.g., Gardevoir, Togekiss) are ideal for quick and efficient raids.
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One-Star Raid Difficulty: Tatsugiri appears in one-star raids, making it accessible for solo or small-group raids. This influences team composition toward fast, type-effective attackers rather than bulky defensive Pokémon.
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Regional Form Considerations: While the forms are regionally exclusive, the identical stats and typing mean no distinct team adjustments are needed based on which form is encountered. The challenge lies more in collecting all forms via raids or trading than in adapting team strategies per form.
In summary, region-specific Tatsugiri forms do not alter raid team compositions significantly during the Water Festival event. Trainers should focus on building raid teams with strong Dragon- and Fairy-type moves to efficiently defeat Tatsugiri raids, regardless of the form available in their region. The regional differences mainly affect collection strategies rather than combat tactics.
