Pokemon GO Reveals Shiny New Precious Pals Event Debut

Pokémon GO will soon host a new Buddy Pokémon event called Precious Pals, and it will be marked by the debut of Shiny Fidough in the mobile game. Pokémon GO players will have an opportunity to earn more hearts by joining their favorite Pokémon, and they have better odds of finding specific Shiny critters while the Precious Pals event is active.

Fidough, known as the Puppy Pokemon, first appeared in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Fidough's cute design and Fairy features made it an instant hit Pokémon fans. Fidough evolves into Daschbun at level 26, where it gets a significant boost to its high defense stat, making it a handy Fairy Pokémon to have in Paldea. IN Pokémon GOFidough first appeared in January 2025 during the Fidough Fetch event. Evolves Fidough into Daschbun in Pokémon GO simply requires 50 Fidough Candies. After evolving into Daschbun, the Dog Fairy Pokémon can use attacks like Fire Fang and Play Rough to throw off opponents.

Pokemon GO fan gets Lucky Community Day Piplup

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Pokemon GO fans get incredibly lucky Community Day finds

A Pokemon GO fan shows off an astonishing catch during the game's Piplup Community Day, undoubtedly finding the rarest form of Pokemon.

Shiny Fidough is coming to Pokemon GO at the end of January

Once Pokémon GOs upcoming High Zaptitude event ends in January, trainers will have another event to prepare for shortly after. Shiny Fidough will make his debut in Pokémon GO's Precious Pals event, and it will be featured alongside other Shiny Pokémon. Pokémon GO's Precious Pals event is part of the similar Precious Paths season. Precious Pals begins on Tuesday, January 20th at 10:00am local time and ends on Sunday, January 25th at 8:00pm local time.

When Precious Pals starts, Shiny Fidough and Shiny Daschbun will be available in Pokémon GO for trainers to add to their collections, with the latter available via evolution. Pokémon GO players will also have an increased chance of finding a Shiny Goldene via egg hatching and wild encounters during the Precious Pals event. Additionally, shiny versions of Pokemon such as Zorua, Wimpod, and Espurr will appear via wild encounters. Additionally, hatching a 2km long Pokemon Egg can also give trainers a chance to catch the shiny versions of baby Pokemon such as Togepi, Riolu and Happiny.

Pokemon GO Precious Pals Event Bonuses (January 20 to 25, 2026)

pokemon-go-precious-pals-2026-banner-goldeen-espurr-fidough

Additional Candy XL when you join your Buddy Pokemon.
Earn more hearts with your Buddy Pokemon.
Increased chance to encounter Shiny Goldeneen.
Increased chance to hatch Shiny Goldeneen and Shiny Fidough.
Limited Time Evolution Requirements: Evolve Eevee into Sylveon after earning 20 hearts with Eevee as your buddy.*
Limited Time Evolution Requirements: Evolve Pancham into Pangoro after catching 10 Dark-type Pokemon with Pancham as your buddy.*
Limited Time Evolution Requirements: Evolve Pawmo into Pawmot after exploring 5km with Pawmo as your buddy.*
*These Evolution requirements will revert to regular requirements on Sunday, January 25, 2026 at 20.00 local time.

The evolution requirements for Pokemon such as Eevee and Pancham will also be relaxed during Precious Pals. While evolving an Eevee into a Sylveon in Pokémon GO would normally require 70 hearts via the Buddy Pokemon system before using 25 Eevee Candy, Precious Pals will reduce the heart requirement to 20 while the event is active. Likewise, evolving Pancham into Pangoro will temporarily require catching 10 Dark-type Pokemon (down from 32), and evolving Pawmo into Pawmot requires walking just five kilometers (down from 25km) instead. Ergo, trainers looking to add Sylveon, Pangoro and Pawmot to theirs Pokémon GO collections should wait until Precious Pals is active to make it easier to manage.

Shiny Pokemon that can appear under Precious Pals

2 km Egg

Golden
Togepi
Happy
Riolu
Fidough

Wild encounters

Golden
Zorua
Wimpod
Fidough
Espurr

Precious Pals will also have Paid Time Research that can be unlocked by purchasing the Precious Pals Ultra Ticket Box for $4.99 when the event goes live. Precious Pals will also overlap with the month-long January 2026 Pokémon GO Pass event, which gives trainers the opportunity to meet the legendary Pokémon called Dialga. Thus, Pokémon GO trainers can earn multiple rewards simultaneously after purchasing the January 2026 GO Pass and the Precious Pals Paid Time Research ticket. Field research tasks and event-themed collection challenges will also be available to everyone Pokémon GO players to complete during Precious Pals.

While Pokémon GO still short of new animals to add to the game, trainers may not have to wait much longer for news of Pokémon the immediate future of the franchise. With Pokémon GO turns 10 in 2026, and Pokémon series celebrating its 30th anniversary throughout the year, time will tell what surprises The Pokemon Company and Scopely have planned.