If you didn't complete any of the 2020 Throwback Challenge quests, you can still earn the event's final rewards.
Editor’s Note (06/05/2020): To see what the Throwback Challenge “Champion” tasks ask you to do, check out our guide.
For the last few weeks, Pokemon Go has been in the middle of a “Throwback Challenge” event that was designed to celebrate the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions of the Pokemon universe (one region is being featured each week during the event).
As part of this event, trainers have been able to complete timed Special Research tasks to earn rewards like Berries, Rare Candies, and Pokemon encounters. For instance, the final prizes for completing the Kanto-themed Special Research tasks were 10 Rare Candies and an encounter with a Mewtwo that knew the move Psystrike.
Players who successfully complete all four sets of timed Special Research tasks (the fourth set kicks off on May 22) will gain access to a final set of Research Tasks in June called the Throwback Challenge Champion 2020 Special Research.
If you don’t complete all of the Timed Special Research tasks in this Throwback Challenge event, you won’t gain access to that “Champion” series of Special Research tasks. However, you’ll still be able to earn the rewards that those tasks will offer by purchasing a ticket for the Throwback Challenge Celebration 2020 Special Research tasks.
(In an effort to avoid confusion, we’ll just call them the “Champion” and “Celebration” tasks from now on.)
A ticket for the Celebration tasks will be available to purchase from June 3 at 1 p.m. local time until June 8 at 1 p.m. local time. The ticket will cost $7.99, and it can’t be purchased with PokeCoins. Once you’ve purchased the ticket, you can complete the tasks at any time. Keep in mind, you’re not required to purchase the ticket at all if you don’t care about the rewards that are up for grabs.
Players who have earned access to the Champion tasks, and those who have purchased the ticket for the Celebration tasks, will be able to complete Research tasks that reward them with encounters with Pokemon from the Unova region of the Pokemon universe, such as Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Blitzle, Audino, Darumaka, Gothita, and Genesect. These players will also receive encounters with Galarian Meowth and Galarian Stunfisk. Finally, they’ll receive Professor Willow’s glasses for their avatar.
If you’ve earned access to the Champion tasks, but still want more in-game rewards, you will also have the option to purchase the ticket for the Celebration tasks. However, your version of the Celebration tasks will be slightly different. In a news post, Niantic, the developer of Pokemon Go, explained the changes:
“If you already have access to the Throwback Challenge Champion 2020 Special Research and purchase a ticket for the Throwback Challenge Celebration 2020 Special Research in the shop, you’ll also receive a version of the Throwback Challenge Celebration 2020 Special Research with the following changes: each time you would’ve earned a reward encounter with a Pokémon, you instead will earn 10 Candies for that specific Pokémon, and you’ll earn Stardust instead of Professor Willow’s glasses.”
Finally, if you don’t earn access to the Champion tasks, and you don’t want to purchase the ticket for the Celebration tasks, you can still get in on the fun of this event.
From June 3 at 1 p.m. local time until June 8 at 1 p.m. local time, all trainers will have the chance to find Galarian Stunkfisk in the wild and in Raids. Plus, Galarian Meowth, Galarian Zigzagoon, Galarian Darumaka, and Galarian Stunfisk will have the chance to hatch from 7 km Eggs that are collected during this event. Finally, Pokemon originally found in the Unova region will appear more frequently in the wild during this time.
Are you excited for this final portion of the Throwback Challenge event to begin? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us at @superparenthq.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
