Pokémon Go Spheal Community Day event guide

Pokémon Go’s January 2021 Community Day focuses on Spheal, the rotund ice-type Pokémon. Spheal Community Day will feature an increased chance to find Shiny Spheal as well as special moves for its evolution Walrein to learn.

Our Pokémon Go Spheal Community Day guide explains how to find Shiny Spheal, Walrein’s meta relevance, and how to make the most of your Community Day.

The usual Community Day perks, like increased spawn and Shiny rate, will be active on Jan. 16 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. in your local time.

How do I find a Shiny Spheal?

Community Day events have a heightened Shiny rate for the featured Pokémon, so if you’re playing, you should be able to find several Shiny Spheal.

If you don’t have time to play all day, you can find a Shiny Spheal by popping an Incense, and tapping each Spheal that pops up. The Shiny rate on Community Days is approximately 1 in 25, according to The Silph Road’s research, so you should find a Shiny Spheal quickly.

Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Image sources: Mihoyo

What Community Day move does Spheal’s evolution learn?

When evolved from Spheal into Walrein on Jan. 16 from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. in your local time, Walrein learns both Powder Snow and Icicle Spear.

Based on past years, if you miss the Community Day period, you’ll likely be able to evolve your Spheal during the December Community Weekend event to get its move. You can also use an Elite TM to teach legacy Community Day-only moves.

How does Walrein do in battle?

For PvP, Walrein with both Community Day moves (Powder Snow and Icicle Spear) is fine in Great League and some players are predicting that it’ll make waves in Master League.

Even with its best moves, Walrein isn’t worth powering up for raiding and gyms. Instead, use Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche.

How do I make the most of Spheal Community Day?

During the Community Day event period, catch XP will be tripled. This means that you can rake in XP by using Lucky Egg items if you plan on catching a ton of Spheal. Incense and Lures will last for 3 hours as well, so you should use those to increase your Spheal spawns even further.