The rollcall of extras set to be bestowed on players next month, on Saturday 13th August, includes new Timed Research which will award players with a full avatar item set themed around G-Zig. All-in-all, it’s a massive step up from this weekend’s Community Day for July, which featured boring bird Pokémon Starly. Let’s be clear, July’s Community Day was not a classic. However good its evolution might be in PVP, Starly was never going to attract hordes of players outside - but I suspect Niantic had its reasons for giving players a relatively relaxed experience. On the back of a fan-favourite Community Day in June for Deino, and amongst fine weather which would likely encourage people to gather in their communities no matter the creature, Starly felt like a litmus test for how many would show up to catch a brand-new Shiny, regardless of what was offered. Still, there’s no doubt G-Zig is an all-round better candidate. This is another Shinx-like day where Niantic essentially decides it is done monetising a Pokémon behind raids/egg incubators and lets everyone have a good shot at catching an attractive Shiny or two. There’s also the day’s free avatar set - something I hope becomes an addition to all Community Days going forward. Available via a free Timed Research questline (on top of the usual 79p research ticket), this is a strong incentive from Niantic to get out and play. You’ll need 100 catches over three hours to finish it all - not difficult. The usual smattering of Community Day bonuses will include triple catch Stardust, double catch Candy, and a doubled chance of receiving XL Candy, on top of three hour Incense and Lures. More recently-added Community Day bonuses will also be active, such as an additional Special Trade and a 50 percent Stardust reduction for trading. And that’s on top of the newer bonuses for groups which will see more Pokémon spawn when players catch at a Lured PokéStop, and the ability to re-activate Community Day spawns within a 300m radius of any completed 4-star raid after the main three-hour event window closes. Back in 2019, Gene Simmons said he found Pokémon’s tribute to him “flattering”.