Pokémon GO’s upcoming Squirtle Community Day event this weekend is the best Community Day yet thanks to a fun reference to the anime.
My mom has become the Pokémon expert of my house these days thanks to her obsession with Pokémon GO, so when she came to me with a question about why this weekend’s Community Day will feature Squirtles with sunglasses, it gave me a ping of pride to know that my two decades with Pokémon trumps her recent discovery in some areas.
One area is the anime, which I watched religiously in my early teens.
The Squirtle Squad was a gang of rough and tough delinquent Squirtles that appeared in the anime back in the very first season. Because Ash’s starter was a Pikachu, the show writers needed to shoehorn the actual three starters, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, into Ash’s collection for popularity’s sake. In one episode, Ash helped the Squirtle Squad gang leader subside his emo rage, and his reward was the Squirtle that remained his friend through several seasons.
Pokémon GO will celebrate Squirtle’s classic episode this weekend with Community Day. Generally, Community Day will pick a single Pokémon, in this case Squirtle, and grant bonuses to those who can catch a lot of them over three hours. These bonuses include extra star dust, extra candy, extra experience, and bonus attacks if you are able to evolve one into a Blastoise over the course of the event.
Another bonus is the increased appearance of shiny Pokémon, however, in Squirtle’s case, we’ll instead be treated with the Squirtle Squad’s classic sunglasses instead.
Community Day is yet another reason why lapsed players should check out Pokémon GO again. It’s helped me get back into the game and meet new people who play since it creates a genuine sense of community, creating a much different experience than playing it solo.
This weekend’s Squirtle event will run from 2:00 PM EST until 5:00 PM EST on July 8.
