Pokémon GO‘s Ultra Unlock: Water Festival 2026 will begin on August 18 at 10:00 a.m. local time and run until August 24 at 8:00 p.m. The water-themed event will introduce Arrokuda, Barraskewda, and Cramorant, while catch rewards grow better across three stages.
The official Water Festival announcement covers the event’s broad schedule, while a community research megathread on r/TheSilphRoad is tracking encounters, raids, Eggs, and Field Research as Trainers gather more data.
Three new Pokémon will appear during Water Festival
Arrokuda and Barraskewda will be available through Field Research, GO Pass rewards, and Rainy Lure Modules. Cramorant will appear in Eggs, GO Pass rewards, and GO Battle League rewards at Rank 16 or higher.
None of the three debuting Pokémon will have an available Shiny form during the event. Shiny Ducklett and Shiny Dewpider, however, will have increased encounter odds.
Catch bonuses will increase twice during the event
All times use local time. The Catch XP and Stardust bonuses will change as the week progresses:
- August 18 at 10:00 a.m. to August 20 at 10:00 a.m.: 2× Catch XP and 3× Catch Stardust.
- August 20 at 10:00 a.m. to August 22 at 10:00 a.m.: 3× Catch XP and 4× Catch Stardust.
- August 22 at 10:00 a.m. to August 24 at 8:00 p.m.: 4× Catch XP and 5× Catch Stardust.
GO Pass rewards will add another reason to keep catching. Tier 1 will provide 2× Catch Candy, while Tier 2 will cut Hatch Distance in half.
Water Festival spawns and research data
Several Water-type Pokémon will appear more often in the wild, including Psyduck, Goldeen, Mareanie, Wimpod, Feebas, Clamperl, and Wiglett. Wiglett will be tied to its natural biome.
The event’s Egg and Field Research reward details were still being collected in the tracker. It links to a permanent Egg list and a full Field Research list for ongoing updates. The Silph Research Group’s checks are intended to add verification to player reports rather than replace them.
New raid encounters will start at 11:00 a.m.
New raid bosses will not appear until 11:00 a.m. local time when the event begins. The current raid lineup includes the following encounters:
| Raid tier | Bosses |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tatsugiri and Swim Ring Psyduck |
| 3 | Scarf Lapras, Hisuian Samurott, and Dondozo |
Tatsugiri’s form will depend on the player’s region: Curly Form will appear in EMEA, Droopy Form in AMER, and Stretchy Form in APAC. No Tier 5 or Mega bosses had been added to the research table at the time of publication. A separate raid difficulty tracker is also available for the event lineup.
Water Festival 2026 will start soon, and the Egg, Field Research, and raid details may fill out once the event is live. Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.
Pokémon Go
Developed by Niantic Labs, The Pokémon Company
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality mobile game that uses GPS to let players locate, capture, train, and battle Pokémon in real-world locations. Players explore their physical surroundings to find PokéStops for items, battle at Gyms for team control, participate in Raid Battles cooperatively, and compete in the Go Battle League's player-versus-player format. The game is free-to-play with in-app purchases and features Pokémon from across multiple generations of the franchise.
- Genre Role-playing (RPG), Simulator
- Platforms Android, iOS
- Perspective Third person, Bird view / Isometric, Side view
- Modes Single player, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
- Release July 6, 2016
- Publisher Niantic Labs
-
Age Rating
