Pokemon Go adds Jirachi research tasks after countdown
Niantic also revealed its September Ultra Bonus event, which will give you the chance to catch shiny Mewtwo and the first Pokemon from the Unova region.
You can get the mythical Jirachi in Pokemon Go.
We wouldn't advise playing Pokemon Go on eight phones to get this new Pokemon, but Niantic added new special research that'll let you add Jirachi to your Pokedex Tuesday. The augmented reality (AR) game developer also revealed its September Ultra Bonus event.
Previously, you'd been able to catch Jirachi's mythical predecessors Mew and Celebi after completing a series of in-game special research tasks. Those two came from the first and second generations of Pokemon, so the psychic-steel type Jirachi was next in line as the third generation's mythical creature.
The Ultra Bonus event will see A, L, R, T, and U-shaped Unown hatching from 10 km eggs from Sept. 2. Also that week, Raikou, Suicune and Entei are returning to raids, you can encounter shiny Sentret and shiny Gligar, and incubators are doubly effective.
From Sept. 9, regional Pokemon including Farfetch'd, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime, and Tauros will hatch from 7 km eggs. All of Deoxys' forms will appear in raids, as will Pokemon that counter Deoxys.
Starting Sept. 16, Mewtwo with the special move Psystrike will show up in five-star raids. It can be shiny for the first time, and you'll have the chance to encounter shiny Lillipup and Patrat. That week that also see the first Pokemon from the Unova region -- ones from Black and White -- spawning in the game.
The official Twitter account also released a recap video running through the stuff we'll get during the Ultra Bonus weeks -- it confirms that the first Unova Pokemon will be starters Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott (which are grass, fire and water respectively).
Here’s a recap video of some of our biggest bonuses, as well as a fully detailed breakdown: https://t.co/V0Iy5TrZg6 pic.twitter.com/27BRUCZCpF
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) August 21, 2019
Niantic counted down to Jirachi's arrival -- it tweeted a shot of a starry sky with five star emoji last Thursday, followed by increasingly Jirachi-shaped ones with four emoji on Friday, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. We saw a complete outline with a single star emoji on Monday, and the announcement came on Tuesday.
So far, Jirachi's only been available to players who attended the 2019 Pokemon Go Fest in Chicago; Dortmund, Germany; or Yokohama, Japan, and players who couldn't make those events have been waiting for it to appear more widely. It first appeared in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire -- the series' third generation -- on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance in 2003.
First published Aug. 16, 8:01 a.m. PT.
Update, Aug. 23, 2:15 a.m. PT: Adds recap video.