Special Research is a story driven quest with as final award a (usually) mythical Pokémon. Apart from special events, this Pokémon can only be caught by completing all stages of the quest.
Quest one and two have eight stages, with three tasks to complete. Quest three (only available during the Halloween 2018 event) has three stages.
Special Research Rules
- In general, there is no time limit to start or complete any of the quests. However, quests linked to an event, must be started during the event.
- All quests are the same for all players.
- To get started on the second quest (A Ripple in Time) you must have completed stage three of the first quest (A Mythical Discovery).
- To get started on stage two of the third quest (A spooky Message) you must have caught both Mew and Celebi.
Awards for Completing Special Research
When you complete all 8 stages of the Special Research, you are awarded with an encounter with a mythical Pokémon. The following table documents the currently available reward Pokémon.
| Number | Quest | Reward Pokémon |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Mythical Discovery | Mew |
| 2 | A Ripple in Time | Celebi |
| 3 | A Spooky Message | Spiritomb |
A Mythical Discovery
The reward for the quest “A Mythical Discovery” is the mythical Pokémon Mew.
Unfortunately, in the current meta game, Mew is a Pokédex entry without much use. Its base stats are ‘meh’. As a Psychic type it is vulnerable to Bug, Dark and Ghost attacks. It can learn a number of charged moves (Blizzard, Earthquake, Psychic, Focus Blast, Thunder, Fire Blast, Hyper Beam and Solar Beam) but the fast move is limited to Pound.
Nevertheless, finishing all 8 stages of the quest will give you a Pokémon that is not available by any other means.
| Stage | Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spin 5 PokéStops | 500 XP |
| Catch 10 Pokémon | 500 XP | |
| Transfer 5 Pokémon | 500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 1: 10 Great Balls, 1 Incubator, 3 Lure Modules | ||
| 2 | Earn 2 Candy walking your buddy | 1000 XP |
| Make 10 Great Throws | 1000 XP | |
| Hatch 3 Eggs | 1000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 2: 2,000 Stardust, 3 Incense, 20 Great Balls | ||
| 3 | Reach Trainer Level 15 | 1500 XP |
| Battle in 2 Raids | 1500 XP | |
| Battle in a Gym 2 times | 1500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 3: 1 Fast TM, 1 Charge TM, 2 Star Pieces | ||
| 4 | Earn the Kanto Silver Medal | 2000 XP |
| Evolve 20 Pokémon | 2000 XP | |
| Earn 5 Candy walking your buddy | 2000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 4: 1 Premium Raid Pass, 1 Lucky Egg, 15 Revives | ||
| 5 | Catch a Ditto | 2500 XP |
| Catch 10 Ghost-Type Pokémon | 2500 XP | |
| Perform 20 Great Throws | 2500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 5: 1 Premium Raid Pass, 1 Lucky Egg, 15 Revives | ||
| 6 | Reach Trainer Level 25 | 3000 XP |
| Evolve a Magikarp | 3000 XP | |
| Perform 10 Raids | 3000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 6: 6,000 Stardust, 5 Rare Candy, 3 Incense | ||
| 7 | Catch 50 Pokémon using a Berry | 3500 XP |
| Earn a Kanto Gold Medal | 3500 XP | |
| Perform an excellent Curve Throw | 3500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 7: 8,000 Stardust, 5 Great Balls, Mew | ||
| 8 | Catch Mew | 4000 XP |
| After completion of Stage 8: 10,000 Stardust, 1 Super Incubator, 20 Mew Candy | ||
A Ripple in Time
The reward for the quest “A Mythical Discovery” is the mythical Pokémon Celebi.
| Stage | Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Power up Pokémon 5 times | 1000 XP |
| Battle in a Raid | 1000 XP | |
| Battle in a Gym 5 times | 1000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 1: 10 Pokéballs, 1 Fast TM, 1 Super Incubator | ||
| 2 | Make 3 new friends | 1500 XP |
| Evolve a Grass-type Pokémon | 1500 XP | |
| Catch a Pokémon 3 days in a row | 1500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 2: 1,500 Stardust, 1 Sunstone, 1 Premium Raid Pass | ||
| 3 | Reach level 25 | 2000 XP |
| Use a Sun Stone to evolve Gloom or Sunkern | 2000 XP | |
| Hatch 9 eggs | 2000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 3: Eevee, King's Rock, Premium Raid Pass | ||
| 4 | Walk 10 km with Eevee as your buddy to earn Candy | 2500 XP |
| Evolve Eevee into Espeon during the day | 2500 XP | |
| Send 20 gifts to friends | 2500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 4: Eevee, 2,500 Stardust, 1 Metal Coat | ||
| 5 | Walk 10 km with Eevee as your buddy to earn Candy | 3000 XP |
| Evolve Eevee into Umbreon at night | 3000 XP | |
| Trade 1 Pokémon | 3000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 5: 1 Star Piece, 15 Pinap Berries, 1 Upgrade | ||
| 6 | Visit PokéStops 7 days in a row | 3500 XP |
| Use 25 Pinap Berries while catching Pokémon | 3500 XP | |
| Use items to evolve Pokémon 2 times | 3500 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 6: 3,500 Stardust, 1 Dragon Scale, 5 Silver Pinap | ||
| 7 | Catch 40 Grass- or Psychic-type Pokémon | 4000 XP |
| Earn a gold Johto medal | 4000 XP | |
| Make an excellent Curve Ball Throw | 4000 XP | |
| After completion of Stage 7: 8,000 Stardust, 5 Great Balls, Celebi encounter | ||
| 8 | Catch Celebi | |
| After completion of Stage 8: 5,500 Stardust, 1 Super Incubator, 20 Celebi Candy | ||
A Spooky Message
This is the first quest that does not give you a mythical Pokémon. The reward is Spiritomb.
This is also the first time-limited award: you have to start it during the 2018 Halloween event, although you can finish it afterwards. Catching these Dark and Ghost Pokémon might take a lot longer though!
If you lack Pokéballs or want to save the for “Catch 108 Pokémon” in stage 2 , you don’t really need to capture the Pokémon for the Stage 1 “Use 108 berries to catch Pokémon”. Just throw a berry and run away counts for completion of the task!
| Stage | Task | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catch 10 Ghost-type Pokémon | Duskull encounter |
| Land 8 Great throws | 1080 XP | |
| Use 108 berries to catch a Pokémon | Lickitung encounter | |
| After completion of Stage 1: 10 Pokéballs, 1080 Stardust, 8 Silver Pinaps |
||
| 2 | Catch 10 Dark-type Pokémon | Misdreavus encounter |
| Spin 8 Pokéstops you haven't visited before | 1080 XP | |
| Catch 108 Pokémon | ||
| After completion of Stage 2: 10 Pokéballs, 1080 Stardust, 8 Silver Pinaps, encounter Spiritomb |
||
| 3 | Catch Spiritomb | 3 X 1000 XP |
| After completion of Stage 3: 18 Spiritomb candies, 1080 Stardust | ||
For those wondering what the link is with the number 108:
Spiritomb is associated with 108, because of the Buddhist New Year’s Eve tradition that helped inspire it. From Bulbapedia:
Spiritomb is based on a Jibakurei, a spirit bound to a single place. It is also based on a Buddhist tradition performed on New Year’s Eve in Japan. A bell is rung 108 times to chase away the 108 temptations in order to achieve Nirvana.
So Spiritomb was given Pokémon #108 in the Sinnoh Pokédex, it got a weight of 108 kg, announced in its lore that it is a collection of 108 spirits and gave it Defense and Special Defense stats of 108 each.
Lickitung is number 108 in the Kanto dex, hence the reward.
Now have fun and go out and catch those rewards!