Sunkissed Shores Event Megathread

[u/SilphScience]

Everything you need to know about the event, all in one place. A lot of these pieces will be verified by the Silph Research Group, so throughout the post we'll use the formatting:

• Italics: Reports from comments or single Research Group report
• Bold: Multiple Research Group reports

Also note that (s) will be used for species whose shiny form is available, and (s?) for new shinies that we haven't seen yet.

This verification isn't meant to replace reports here, rather to provide an extra level of verification and depth to the event. Travelers are always welcome to join here and help out with data collection: https://discord.gg/WpAvRRsaRT

Have fun and stay safe this week!

https://pokemongo.com/post/sunkissed-shores-2025

Event Date: Monday, August 25, 10 am - Sunday, August 31, 2025, 8 pm local time

Bonuses

• Debut of Dondozo and its shiny variant
• 2x XP for winning Raid Battles
• Paid and Free Timed Researches available
• Showcases - Dondozo (Mon-Tuesday)

Boosted Spawns

Here's what is listed in the announcement. Anything else to report?

• Psyduck (s)
• Shellder (s)
• Marill (s)
• Shuckle (s)
• Wingull (s)
• Tepig (s)
• Helioptile (s)
• Baile, Pom-Pom, Pa'u, Sensu style Oricorio (in their respective regions) (s)
• Bounsweet (s)
• Sandygast (s)
• Lechonk (s)

If you are lucky:

• Alolan Exeggutor (s)

Field Research

Just looking for event tasks. You can find the full list here

Task Text	Reward
Catch 10 Pokemon	Bounsweet (s), Gossifleur, Sunkern (s),Cherubi (s)
Win three 1-star raids	Dondozo (s)
Explore 1 km	Galarian Slowpoke (s), Slakoth with Visor (s)
Catch 10 Water-type Pokemon	Clauncher (s), Corphish (s), Krabby (s)

Raid Bosses

You won't see any new bosses until 11:00am local time. Difficulty ratings

Tier	Raid Bosses
1	Slakoth wearing visor (s), Curly, Droopy, Stretchy Tatsugiri (in their respective regions)
3	Alolan Raichu (s), Alolan Marowak (s), Dondozo (s)
5	Necrozma (s)
Mega	Mega Salamence (s)

Sunkissed Shores Timed Research

• Take a picture with your buddy - Sunkern (s) encounter
• Catch 10 Pokemon - Clauncher (s)
• Catch 20 Pokemon - Cherubi (s)
• Catch 30 Pokemon - Shellder (s)
• Catch 40 Pokemon - Crabrawler (s)
• Catch 50 Pokemon - Bellossom
• Catch 60 Pokemon - Costume Slakoth (s)
• Win a raid - Clamperl (s)

Rewards: Alolan Exeggutor (s), 10000XP, 7000 stardust

Sunkissed Shores Premium Timed Research

• Catch 5 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Catch 10 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Catch 15 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Catch 20 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Catch 25 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Make 5 nice throws - ??? encounter
• Make 10 nice throws - ??? encounter
• Make 15 nice throws - ??? encounter
• Make 5 great throws - ??? encounter
• Make 10 great throws - ??? encounter

Rewards: ??? encounter, 2x Premium passes, 3000 stardust

Berry Chic Premium Timed Research

• Catch 5 Pokemon - 10x Pinap barries
• Catch 10 Pokemon - 15x Great balls
• Catch 15 Pokemon - ??? encounter
• Make 5 great throws - 15x Pinap berries
• Make 10 great throws - ??? encounter

Rewards: Avatar Pinap bag, 4000XP, 3000 stardust

[u/eckido]

Dondozo quest being locked behind 3x T1 (AND ONLY T1) is actually insane

[u/geejay08 → u/eckido]

And T1 shadow don’t count either

[u/esotericmoyer → u/geejay08]

Really? This was how I was planning to do it.

[u/Dangerous_Dog3304 → u/geejay08]

Good to know

[u/TheRealHankWolfman → u/geejay08]

Apparently this has now been fixed

[u/2Mew2BMew2 → u/TheRealHankWolfman]

Not for older quests. It worked for the ones I spinned yesterday but not for the one I got two days ago.

[u/Substantial_Zone_713 → u/geejay08]

Came here looking for this clarification. A bummer.

[u/Weeros_ → u/eckido]

That’s probably reference to Tatsugiri combining with Dodonzo in the main series games…

[u/BazF91 → u/Weeros_]

Yeah… real fun ‘reference’ 😒

[u/Whitealroker1 → u/eckido]

Yeah that’s first one where it’s not one star or higher. 

[u/goshe7 → u/eckido]

I can't believe this isn't getting more outrage.

This is a large step in a clearly worse direction than unpopular "Win 2 raids" event research tasks.

[u/eckido → u/[deleted]]

There are, but it would have been nice be able to quest along with completing the quest.

[u/qu33nofoz]

Am I meant to have both Oricorio Pa’u style and Sensu style spawning in my area? (Melbourne Australia). Just managed to catch both.

[u/131166 → u/qu33nofoz]

I'm also in Victoria Australia and I'm going hard catching as many of these purple ones as I can because I'm guessing if it's a bug they'll turn it off real quick

[u/csinv → u/131166]

I've managed to snag 5... They seem rarer than the Pa'u ones, so maybe it is deliberate? Or maybe they realised we are "asia pacific" and gave us both? Lol.

Edit: I think they've fixed it. I haven't seen one in hours.

[u/blue_green_orange → u/csinv]

Yeah. Haven't seen any an hour after the event started Darn it. Couldn't go out and catch earlier.

[u/csinv → u/qu33nofoz]

Shhhhh...

[u/TheFrostiestOfLasses → u/qu33nofoz]

Same here - Wellington New Zealand

[u/Zaohod]

Wow a Hour into the event and not a single comment about anything. Maybe the last event really pushed some people over the edge. 🤣

[u/emaddy2109 → u/Zaohod]

A day off in between events would have been nice. I have a feeling many people are taking it slow after this weekend. I didn’t even realize this event starts on Monday.

[u/Sloth-TheSlothful → u/emaddy2109]

Im one of those people. Feeling a bit burnt out at the moment, dont mind taking it reeeeeal slow in september

[u/Zestyclose-Tip-8928 → u/emaddy2109]

It's not really an event where you have to do much, nothing that you need a "day off" for.

If you do take a day off, you won't miss much.

[u/blue_green_orange → u/emaddy2109]

They're trying to milk as much money from us as they can

[u/SafariDesperate → u/blue_green_orange]

Saying this after saying you spent the equivalent of 500 quid in coins is madness lol 

[u/blue_green_orange → u/SafariDesperate]

I only spent the equivalent of USD100. Different countries have different prices I think.

[u/TannerThanUsual → u/blue_green_orange]

Bro. Don't put "only" and 100 USD" in the same sentence when you're going to complain about developers trying to milk us to death. You're the whale here

[u/blue_green_orange → u/TannerThanUsual]

I only spend for major events. I don't for regular events like this new one however note that the new shiny is raid locked.

[u/TannerThanUsual → u/blue_green_orange]

We get like three major events a year. Are you dropping 100.00 each time? Cause that's 300.00 a year you're spending on this game

[u/blue_green_orange → u/TannerThanUsual]

no. this was a first time thing. I only spent about $40 last time. the extra expenditure was because 1. for me, max raids used two resources. max energy and RRP. 2. there were a lot of gigantamax I needed for my dex.

the reason I'm complaining is that they're moving from catching new pokemon in the wild to catching new pokemon in raids even for regular pokemon (non legendaries/mythical). pokemon that aren't even good for pvp/PvE.

there is also a significant shift in major events that moved the focus from catching to raiding.

the event this past week, I barely did any catching in the wild. the focus is on raiding and battles.

[u/esotericmoyer → u/blue_green_orange]

No they’re not. Fidough, Nickit, Rookidee, Shroodle, Kubfu (legendary), Sizzlipede, Gossifleur, Tinkatink, Applin, Kingambit, Yamper, Zorua, Honedge (GBL), Toedscool, Snom, and Eternatus (legendary) were all available outside of raids. That’s just from this year.

The only raid exclusives this year were Dondozo, Tatsugiri, Lilligant, Dhelmise, and Tauros. So no legendaries. The Tauros is a new regional and putting it in raids made it more accessible, and they gave Lilligant a whole raid day with bonus passes.

I think they’ve actually been reasonable with how they’re releasing Pokémon recently.

[u/HARThorne → u/blue_green_orange]

People really don’t realise how cheap coins are for some places.

I pay 24GBP for 16500, which isn’t that bad

[u/SignificantPop1076 → u/HARThorne]

If I want 15500 coins I have to pay 95GBP (110EUR), which I find to be atrocious (Norway)

[u/MrGalleom → u/Zaohod]

I read a comment somewhere from some unemployed person saying this game feels like a full-time job.

And... yeah.

[u/Zestyclose-Tip-8928 → u/MrGalleom]

That's because people are treating it like a job instead of a game. I played as much as I wanted to this weekend, then did something else, and will play this event as much as I want to.

[u/blue_green_orange → u/Zaohod]

Everybody's dead tired. I've played two straight days 7am to 8pm. Spent like 25k coins.

[u/bigpat412 → u/blue_green_orange]

The world won’t end if your Eternatus isn’t level 50. Sure it will be back. I cut myself off. Almost at level 40. Money not worth it.

[u/Rich-Badger-7601 → u/bigpat412]

Eternamax raids were also massive XP and Stardust farms, especially if you were part of a large group able to rapidly complete them.

100K XP/37,500 Stardust per raid with guaranteed Rare Candy XL is nothing to scoff at.

[u/Zestyclose-Tip-8928 → u/blue_green_orange]

Many people aren't tired at all and are glad for something new to raid.

[u/Dangerous_Dog3304 → u/blue_green_orange]

Wow

[u/dannymanny3 → u/Zaohod]

I need that confirmation of shiny Dozo!

[u/Zaohod → u/dannymanny3]

Did one raid - no shiny 🤣

[u/dannymanny3 → u/Zaohod]

keep going! good luck :D

[u/Zaohod → u/dannymanny3]

Took me 5 raids before I got a shiny one

[u/dannymanny3 → u/Zaohod]

not bad!

[u/dannymanny3 → u/Zaohod]

can you post a pic of the shiny? :)

[u/coughingalan]

I'll take the 1k dust per shellder.

[u/Yuritau]

Are dondozo raids actually spawning for folk? I've been watching campfire all morning and haven't seen a single one.

[u/AllC4tsAreBeautiful → u/Yuritau]

Definitely noticing they are very sparse...

[u/PorcelainHorses]

Did they accidentally released Galarian Ponyta today on some of the raid spots? I got one

https://i.imgur.com/hzxMgRw.jpeg

[u/SexWithFischl69 → u/PorcelainHorses]

Yup I got one too

[u/mjharmstone → u/[deleted]]

According to serebii, 20 is Cherubi, 30 Shellder, 40 Crabrawler, 50 Bellossom, 60 Slakoth, Win a Raid Clamperl.

[u/sildet]

Spawns look like a break from playing for a bit lol. Do need to get some Mega Salamence energy.

[u/Material_Rub_405]

Keeping it simple. Hunting a shiny tepig. Otherwise laying low on this one.

[u/HammertankGX]

Assuming the sensu oricorio was a mistake? I can no longer see any on my nearby

[u/blue_green_orange → u/HammertankGX]

Yup. It's gone now

[u/cornette]

Events been going on for over a day and still barely any Dondozo raids have spawned locally. Plenty of Marowak and Raichu but those don't get you into todays showcases.

[u/TheFrostiestOfLasses]

I'm from New Zealand, so we get Pa'u style Oricorio but I logged in just now and there was a Sensu style at my house?? Is this a bug?

[u/PrincessReddit007 → u/TheFrostiestOfLasses]

Thats epic! Shhhhhh take the win

[u/TheFrostiestOfLasses → u/PrincessReddit007]

Oh I for sure did! Caught one for my wife too. Must've fixed it now tho cause I didn't get any on my walk just now, only the Pa'u

[u/csinv → u/TheFrostiestOfLasses]

Beats me, but we got them in Aus too, catch 'em while you can lol. Rare early time zone win.

[u/PrincessReddit007]

• Take a picture with your buddy - Sunkern encounter

[u/Trevtheking]

Went out for about hour or so. Was able to acquire 3 Dondozo research tasks within roughly 10 spins, which is excellent! However, I did not spot a single active 1 star raid or Dondozo raid, which was not excellent.

I get the point of it being 1 star specifically, as thematically it fits with Tatsugiri being in those right now. But if you’re going to put an even more specific and raid pass draining task, it’d be nice to at least have the ability to easily complete said task!

[u/3720to1]

I'm not even seeing 1* raids spawning, much less dondozo 3* raids

[u/Confident-Pipe-3208]

They just can't give us a single day without an event. Spawns are best when there is no event going on.

[u/AdehhRR]

So I can stack 3 x Win one star raids for 3 x Dondozo from research and 3 x 1 star raid pokemon.

Or I can do 3 x Dondozo 3 star raids for 3 Dondozo... Why would I do that when I can do the easier 1 star raids and get extra mons from that haha.. Weird choice.

[u/131166 → u/AdehhRR]

I spun ~150 stops and found exactly one of those quests

[u/junhong706 → u/131166]

Really? I've got two within 10 spins and deleted them all immediately...

[u/ellyse99 → u/junhong706]

I’ve got 2 here within 7 stops

[u/Bayard11 → u/AdehhRR]

Yeah, pretty weird but beyond the 3 Dondozo you'll also get 3 Tatsugiri

[u/drake_crus]

Just a reminder that neither Shadow 1* raids nor higher tier raids count for this task. Wasted the daily pass to find that out.

[u/morree]

Are Dondozo raids even up? haven't seen a single one

[u/Travyplx]

I’ve really taken a liking to raid releases and being able to catch things “a day early.” So this event is a success as far as I’m concerned.

[u/z7sour7lemons7z → u/Travyplx]

why transfer it to Home? just curious.

[u/Travyplx → u/z7sour7lemons7z]

I maintain a Go origin living dex as part of my living dexs in home.

[u/ULTASLAYR6 → u/Travyplx]

Your the only other person I've seen who also does this just like me!

[u/Travyplx → u/ULTASLAYR6]

I couldn’t help myself 😂 really the primary thing that keeps me playing Go

[u/cybersonic233 → u/ULTASLAYR6]

Been trying to finish what HOME tracks for GO as much as possible. Think all I need is Comfey as don't wanna transfer out my only 1 breaking my living Dex in GO

[u/Hibbity5 → u/ULTASLAYR6]

Ever since they started adding rewards for completing the Home Dex for the various mainline games, I’ve been doing this for Go as well. I know well (probably) never be able to complete the dex since it will (probably) never catch up with the main games, but they could do incremental rewards like “Register 400” and “Register 600” etc.

[u/super_memories → u/Travyplx]

I love doing this too because I don't have some Pokemon titles for switch and Go fills in what's missing in my dex

[u/Travyplx → u/super_memories]

Yeah, Go is a super useful tool for filling out the dex.

[u/SexWithFischl69 → u/Travyplx]

Thats actually cool

[u/HammertankGX]

Probably best we don’t bring attention to it just in case it is

[u/8BD0]

Dondozo raids are very very sparse, terrible spawn rate, not boosted at all and in a pool of 3, been waiting all day for one and I've only seen 2 on campfire ages away from me

[u/Thin-Bad3038 → u/8BD0]

New toys are usually rare on day one

They will likely be more common tomorrow

The cynical side of me calls it Whale Hunting 101

[u/Gabarne]

I love seeing the 3 star gyms near me constantly spawning alolan raichu instead of…. You know…. The actual event pokemon?

[u/dgmachine]

I'm in an area with several gyms and I have yet to see any Dondozo raids during this event...

[u/RavenZombieX]

Bought a sunkissed shore premium ticket, the money was taken, the research hasn't shown up in game. Tried sending a ticket in through the game, but when I go to attach the receipt, the game reloads. Is there another way of sending a ticket than in game?

[u/One-Happy-Gamer]

Would like to get some mega salamence energy. Got a hundo Mamoswine that's ready

[u/Dense_Cellist9959]

Is this the first time a new Pokémon was added at the same time as its shiny?

[u/AMTF1988 → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

No, a few other have been recently. G!Corsola and Toxel/Toxtricity come to mind. I think Bombirdier was too

[u/EntMoose → u/AMTF1988]

Stufful/Bewear for their comm day as well

[u/ParaBDL → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

Aron was my first ever shiny and that was released with its shiny.

[u/emaddy2109 → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

It used to be a lot more common back in the day.

[u/theycallmemorty → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

Shinx?

[u/StardustOasis → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

No, that was Halloween 2017 I believe.

[u/BazF91 → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/s/BBNp9KLZe2

[u/Dense_Cellist9959 → u/Dense_Cellist9959]

In my defense, my memory’s hazy on that topic.

[u/TrailRidgeTurn]

So did they break something or what?

Sensu was being reported all over Aus/NZ hours ago but now they’ve disappeared and we’re only getting Pa’u as we normally do.

Official Pokemon go live post and everywhere else on google says Sensu will be spawning for Asia-Pacific, only Serebii specifically says Asia.

[u/MurasakiMochi89]

Are dondozo raids common..I haven't seen one the entire day

[u/Chippik]

Anyone got info on the sunkissed shores rewards for pokemon?

[u/MrDav]

Does the Slakoth evolve?

[u/OwnerOfMyActions → u/MrDav]

Yes

[u/MrDav → u/OwnerOfMyActions]

Great, thank you!

[u/dStormHBb]

What are the rewards for the explore 1km and catch 10 water types?

[u/SilphScience → u/dStormHBb]

The ones we have seen should be there now!

[u/One-Happy-Gamer]

the Catch 10 Water type quest gives a Clauncher

[u/exiledmomo]

Is the first sunkern reward supposed to be a shiny or did i luck out?

[u/SilphScience → u/exiledmomo]

Lucked out! :)

[u/exiledmomo → u/SilphScience]

Thank you!

[u/MorgothsDog]

No Dodonzo showing here at all.

Don't they want my money?

[u/RavenZombieX]

Is the event ticket actually out? I can't see it in game or the app store... Actually can't buy coins in my game either. Have the Google play version, and can't use Google credits.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Mud2008]

I'm in NZ and Sensu Oricorio only appeared on Day 1 now we only have Pau. Anyone else have this issue in Asia/Pac ?

[u/Key-Bag-4059 → u/Puzzleheaded_Mud2008]

I guess it's a mistake, u should only get pau oricorio

[u/Puzzleheaded_Mud2008 → u/Key-Bag-4059]

Thanks bud, it must have been

[u/SLAUGHTERGUTZ]

Any update on what the paid research tasks are?  Ever since I got burned by the fossil research I've been hesitant to do another one without knowing what it is first 😩

[u/Key-Bag-4059 → u/SLAUGHTERGUTZ]

Which paid research? There are two for this event

You may want to check leekduck

[u/Evening-Yesterday746]

It’s the third day, I’ve seen only one Dondozo raid in my eight local gyms so far and right now, at what is usually a busy time for raids, there is not a single raid happening so I’m still on 2/3 of the only Dondozo task I’ve found. Is my area an outlier or have they really made it this frustrating?

[u/AxelHarver]

Am I the only one that like hasnt seen a single 1 star raid? It's honestly getting ridiculous, nothing but shadow raids and 5/6 star at all the gyms I go by.

[u/blue_green_orange]

Noticed that I see a lot of Dondozo raids early morning like 6-7am, but almost nothing the rest of the day.

[u/YakMan2]

Yesterday I saw no 1 star raids.

Today I'm seeing 1 star raids everywhere within walking distance from work aaaaaand it's rainy.

[u/Material_Rub_405]

Ugh I set out for a shiny tepig and so far have gotten all the shinies except it (and Bounsweet but I don’t care about that one at all lmao). 

Why you taunting me fate?

[u/Sensitive_Ad_1271]

I have looked through every town within 50 miles of me for the past two hours on campfire and not seen one of the new dodonzo or whatever his name is. Why would the release a new pokemon and shiny and dilute the spawn pool with Raichu and marowak? It has been so hard to find for me.

[u/Sensitive_Ad_1271 → u/Sensitive_Ad_1271]

There are currently 9 3* raids within a 50 mile radius and none of them are dondozo. That's an absolutely infuriating decision from Niantic.

[u/gibberishparrot]

everyone saying they haven't seen any Dondozo, but I've yet to see a single mega salamence anywhere. It's been almost exclusively slakoth, alolan raichu, and shadow 1 stars

[u/Thin-Bad3038 → u/gibberishparrot]

They are definitely out there

Can see way more of those than the elusive fish. And all the (many) raid invites are for the Dragon

I feel so popular, or possibly I am just always online

[u/Affectionate_Half148]

Hey trainers,

I’m really stuck and could use some advice. I’ve been trying to recover my Pokémon GO account that I played on for 4 years, but Niantic keeps saying my answers “don’t match their records.” The problem is that I haven’t had access for 1.5+ years, so I couldn’t remember things like my exact PokéCoin balance or GO Battle League rank.

What I did provide though:

The original login (my old school Google account)

Purchase receipts from my Apple/Google store

Device history (iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X)

Unique account info like: • A 4★ Victini from special research • Lucky trade with my friend • Best buddies (shiny lucky Kyogre & shadow Dragonite) • Custom Pokémon nicknames tied to stats

Even TikTok videos (30k+ followers) showing my gameplay, lucky trades, and leveling.

Despite all of this, support said my info was “inadequate” and closed the case, and now I’m being told they can’t resend the questions. I’ve already reopened a ticket and sent everything again, but I don’t know what else I can do to prove this account is mine.

Has anyone here had success escalating a case like this? Is there a way to get Niantic to actually let a human recovery specialist look at all the evidence instead of shutting it down?

Any advice would mean the world — I grinded that account for years and don’t want to lose it.

Thanks 🙏