The Pokémon Go Harvest Festival is underway, featuring two main components: the "Applin Picking" Timed Research and the "Taken Over" mini-event. The former centers on the apple-themed Pokémon Applin and its evolutions, while the latter introduces new Shadow Pokémon and increased Team Rocket activity.
The "Harvest Festival: Applin Picking Timed Research" is available until Monday, October 5th, at 8 PM local time. This questline offers players a choice of paths, each rewarding specific types of apples needed to evolve Applin into Flapple (Tart Apples), Appletun (Sweet Apples), or Dipplin (Syrupy Apples). Completing the first step involves catching five Pokémon, using three berries to aid in catches, and exploring 1km, rewarding players with Pinap Berries, Stardust, and Applin Candy. Subsequent steps vary based on the chosen evolution path, offering more apples and encounters.
The guide suggests the "Dipplin" path is the best choice, as it rewards Syrupy Apples. While Applin's evolutions are not top-tier in the current meta, Hydrapple, Dipplin's final evolution, ranks moderately well among Dragon and Grass-type Pokémon. However, the primary benefit of this research seems to be completing Pokédex entries for any missing Applin evolutions.
Additional research tasks during the Harvest Festival include catching Grass-type Pokémon and using berries for assistance, offering encounters with Pokémon like Foongus, Skwovet, Smoliv, and Applin, as well as valuable apples. The event also marks the debut of shiny Applin, shiny Flapple, shiny Appletun, shiny Dipplin, and shiny Hydrapple, with an increased chance of encountering shiny Smoliv. Mossy Lure Modules will be particularly useful, attracting apples and offering Pokémon encounters.
The "Harvest Festival: Taken Over" event runs concurrently, from Friday, October 2nd, at 12 AM local time to Monday, October 5th, at 8 PM local time. This portion of the event introduces seven new Shadow Pokémon: Zekrom, Wimpod, Fomantis, Sandygast, and their respective evolutions, Golisopod, Lurantis, and Palossand. Players can encounter Shadow Zekrom by defeating Giovanni with a Super Rocket Radar, which can be obtained through the Go Pass progression.
Bonuses for the "Taken Over" event include the debut of shiny Shroodle and shiny Grafaiai, with an increased chance of encountering shiny Slugma. Team Go Rocket Grunts and Leaders will be more prevalent at PokéStops and in Rocket Balloons. Charged TMs can now remove the Frustration attack from Shadow Pokémon, and Pokémon caught from Shadow Raids will have a wider range of stats. Special event-exclusive field research tasks will also be available, rewarding TMs and Mysterious Components.
The Go Pass, available from Tuesday, September 29th, to Monday, October 5th, offers a free track with rewards including apples, a Mossy Lure Module, and a Super Rocket Radar. An upgraded Deluxe Track, purchasable for £4.99/$4.99 or equivalent, provides additional rewards. Key milestones for the Go Pass include increased chances for Applin to hold apples, longer-lasting Mossy Lure Modules, and increased Stardust from Team Rocket battles.