5 Things You Need To Know If You Aren't Attending Pokemon Go Fest

Pokémon Go Fest, Niantic’s first event in the U.S., begins today in Grant Park, Chicago. If you’re one of the few people that managed to get a ticket, you’ll be able to catch rare exclusive pocket monsters, get a special badge for your efforts and compete in special challenges to unlock bonuses around the world. 20,000 trainers have gathered in Chicago, ready to catch a Heracross or two. Niantic has tried events like this before with their other game Ingress , but this is the first PoGo official gathering on our side of the pond.

To get you ready, here are five things you need to know before embarking into the heat without a poké-plan.

Challenges- If Chicago’s trainers come out in force and complete a series of challenges, the rest of the world gets special bonuses. Catching Fire, Water, Electric, Grass, Rock and Normal types during the challenge windows will earn Candy, XP, Stardust, Egg and Buddy Distance, and Encounter Rate bonuses depending on what types are caught. It’s a massive Easter egg hunt where nobody’s sure what’s going to show up.

There will be three 30-minute trial windows at 12, 2 and 4 p.m. EST. Chicago players decide what the rest of us get, so I’m hoping for a roaring success.

Global Challenge: Trainers around the world that aren’t lucky enough to be spending a weekend in Chicago won’t be left out. During those same challenge windows, players need to catch as many Pokémon as they can find. Those Rattas and Pidgeys you’ve ignored since hitting level 10 need to get enslaved in a tiny red and white prison. There are three tiers of success for this challenge: Bronze and Silver prolong the sessions while Gold unlocks a special Mystery Challenge.

Legendaries- Niantic has finally pulled the cover back on Legendary Pokémon, bringing them out of retirement and into Raids. If trainers around the world manage to catch enough Sentrets and Dunsparces (along with the rest of the Johto/ Kanto Pokedex), those in Chicago get a chance to take on a Legendary Raid. If they manage to pull it off, Legendary Pokémon Raids will start to happen all around the world starting July 23.

It’s unclear which Legendaries will be showing up, but I’d put money on the birds showing up and taking over the skies. Lugia, Ho-Oh and the elemental trio were heavily featured in the trailer that dropped a few days ago. I’m still hoping to see Celebi, but I expect to be majorly disappointed.

Buff Up Your Pokémon- In order to catch a Legendary, you need to be able to actually beat its Raid. You can have 20 people show up to fight, but if everyone’s using 10 CP Pikachus, there’s no way you're going to be a Moltres. I couldn't even beat a level three Tyranitar raid with five friends and pocket monsters stronger than 1500 CP. Some people online have recommended using Golem to fight these birds because he has a strong type advantage against all of them, but it isn’t that important. Keeping a team strong and viable is going to help you catch Legendaries more than a gimmicky rock monster.

Watch The Twitch Stream- Throughout the day, Pokémon Go will be streaming the event from Twitch. If you want to know when the challenges have been completed or if you’ll see a Legendary tomorrow, you are going to have to watch.

Watch live video from PokemonGO on www.twitch.tv