Pokémon Go is celebrating April Fool’s Day with a big in-game surprise — and the best part is that it really isn’t a joke.
Today sees the long-awaited launch of fan-favorite creature Mimikyu, the ghostly Pokémon who dresses up in a Pikachu costume. Fans have been clamouring for Mimikyu’s release for years, with its continued non-appearance every Halloween now something of a meme in the game’s community.
This week, developer Niantic announced what appeared to be a fairly bland-looking Electric-type Pokémon event, scheduled to take place over the April Fool’s Day week. Fans had hoped that something more was afoot — and indeed, as April 1 arrives around the world, Pokémon Go finally delivered.
Load up Pokémon Go today and you’ll see Mimikyu silhouettes appearing on your radar. Could this be a trick, though? After so long, surely the creature wouldn’t just launch on April Fool’s Day? Many fans have said they assumed this was a prank by Niantic, designed to get their hopes up only for the rug to be pulled… but no, this really is the arrival of Mimikyu, with more to come this evening.
As well as appearing in the wild and in random event task rewards, today’s Spotlight Hour, taking place from 6 to 7pm local time, will see increased Mimikyu spawns in the wild alongside that of Pikachu. Several other Mimikyu encounters can also be found in the current event’s pass, which had been obscured with “?” until now.
Of course, all of this had been somewhat spoiled by datamined information floating around social media that pointed to Mimikyu’s upcoming release. But for the majority of Pokémon Go’s playerbase who don’t sit online, today will bring a new species to catch that should come as a very pleasant surprise.
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Mimikyu is one of the Pokémon franchise’s most beloved creatures, though no one has seen its actual appearance and lived to tell the tale. Underneath its crooked Pikachu disguise, the real Mimikyu lies hiding. “Its actual appearance is unknown,” reads Mimikyu’s Pokédex entry from 3DS title Pokémon Sun. “A scholar who saw what was under its rag was overwhelmed by terror and died from the shock.” A similar entry from Pokémon Ultra Moon reveals another such tale: “A gust of wind revealed what hides under this Pokémon’s rag to a passing Trainer, who went home and died painfully that very night.”
Last week, it was revealed that The Pokémon Company was already considering a future where the total number of pocket monsters available hits “maybe 10,000” species. At the time of writing, the Pokémon franchise extends to 1,025 species — including the three new starter creatures already unveiled for next year’s Switch 2 games Pokémon Winds and Waves.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
