A brand-new Halloween event will be arriving in Pokémon GO soon, but before that there’s Gastly Spotlight Hour! This hour-long event will focus on the fan-favorite Generation 1 Pokémon ‘Gastly’, which evolves into the even more coveted Ghost-type Pokémon, Gengar. In this guide, we’ll cover the bonus taking place during Gastly Spotlight Hour and how to make the most of it, as well as the most important question: “Can Gastly be shiny in Pokémon GO?”
When is Gastly Spotlight Hour in Pokemon Go?
Gastly Spotlight Hour will take place on October 12th, 2021 from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm, local time. Gastly will be spawning in masses throughout the hour and a special bonus, detailed below, will be active throughout. It’s worth noting that a Spotlight Hour happens every Tuesday at 6:00 pm, local time. You can visit our guide on all Spotlight Hours happening in Pokémon GO during October 2021.
Gastly Spotlight Hour Bonus
The Gastly Spotlight Hour bonus is 2x catch Stardust. All Pokémon caught during this event, including Pokémon that aren’t Gastly, will reward double the amount of Stardust than usual. Combine this bonus with a Star Piece and you will instead receive 3.5x the amount of Stardust upon capture, which totals up to 350 per Gastly under non-boosted weather conditions and 438 if Weather Boosted under Fog.
A great way to take advantage of this bonus is to stack as many ‘Earn 3 Candies walking with your buddy’ tasks as possible, as they currently have a 50/50 chance to award Sableye. Sableye is a Pokémon that has a permanent bonus to the amount of Stardust it awards on capture, with a base rate of 750. With this Spotlight Hour’s bonus and a Star Piece, that’s an eye-watering 2,625 Stardust or 3,283 Stardust if the weather is Foggy.
How to Prepare for Gastly Spotlight Hour
Gastly itself is also very useful for earning Candy and Candy XL, with Mega Gengar currently being the best Ghost-type attacker in the game and regular Gengar being a prime attacker, too. Using an Incense will heavily increase the amount of Gastly spawning during Spotlight Hour and is useful if you’re playing at home. If you’re able to safely leave the house, visiting areas with an abundance of Pokétops is a great idea and will result in a higher overall Candy and Stardust gain. It’s important to note that only trainers Level 40 and above can receive Candy XL, which allows Pokémon to be powered up above a certain threshold.
Can Gastly be shiny in Pokémon GO?
Yes, Gastly can be shiny in Pokémon GO! Spotlight Hour does not increase the odds of getting a shiny, but the increased spawns will definitely help you in your search. Shiny Gastly is a dark purple and is surrounded by blue gas, instead of purple. Haunter swaps its pink tongue out for a blue one and Gengar is, unfortunately, just a slightly darker shade than usual. Gengar that are Mega Evolved into Mega Gengar will be all-white instead of purple, though!
Make sure to check out our guide on Yamask, the current Research Breakthrough reward and another Ghost-type Pokémon! If you’re struggling to defeat the Team GO Rocket leaders this month, we also have a guide on beating Arlo, Cliff and Sierra.
Pokémon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.
