Pokémon Go Mareep Community Day Classic guide

Pokémon Go is having a Mareep Community Day Classic event on Saturday, Nov. 25 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.

As expected with a Community Day event, Mareep will spawn in huge numbers with a high chance for it to appear shiny. There are also several other bonuses and perks, which we’ve list out below.

How do I catch a shiny Mareep?

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.

Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic

If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, you can pop an Incense, then quickly tap each Mareep to check for shiny ones, running from any that aren’t shiny. Notably, any Mareep 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 Mareep’s evolution learn?

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

If you evolve Flaaffy into Ampharos from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the charged move Dragon Pulse.

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 Dragon Pulse. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move.

How good is Mareep’s evolution Ampharos in the meta?

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

Ampharos is actually decent now, especially because of its Mega Evolution. It’s still behind some Shadow Pokémon like Raikou, and Legendaries like Zekrom, but it’s still worth grabbing if you have the Mega Energy. Give your Mega Ampharos Volt Switch and Zap Cannon to pack the most punch.

Without the Mega form, for most players, Ampharos sees little use in PvE (raids and gyms) content when so many other better electric Pokémon are available. For newer players, however, this Community Day is a good opportunity to get one or two decent electric attackers to round out a PvE team, especially if you’re willing to put in the time to get enough Candy and XL Candy to level them up fully.

In PvE (Battle League), meanwhile, Ampharos has some application in the current Ultra League meta, in part due to its ability to use fighting-type charged move Brutal Swing, which can throw a curveball against players not expecting it against their line-ups. This reddit reply started by CatchAmongUs goes into more detail for those looking for an alternative Battle League pick.

How do I make the most of Mareep Community Day?

Image: Niantic / The Pokémon Company

The following bonuses will be active during Mareep Community Day:

• ¹⁄₄ hatch distance for eggs placed into Incubators during the event
• Incense lasts three hours
• Lure Modules lasts three hours
• Mareep special photobombs when taking snapshots

That said, you should definitely place your eggs into Incubators and pop an Incense and try to nab some powerful Mareep.

Other ways to get more out of the event include:

• Paying $1 (or the regional equivalent) for a themed Special Research story, featuring additional spawns and Candy, as well as a short storyline to complete that adds extra structure to your afternoon.
• If you can Mega Evolve Ampharos or Manectric, or Primal Reversion Kyogre, you’ll score additional Mareep Candy per catch.