"Pokémon Go" has partnered with the Chicago Field Museum for a new limited-time event in celebration of the exhibition of the Pokémon Fossil Museum in North America.
Trainers now get a chance to catch a special version of Pikachu when they visit the museum in Illinois as part of the festivities, but there are important things that fans have to know first.
'Pokémon GO' Limited Time Event Now Live
According to Niantic, the celebratory event will feature the "Excavator Pikachu" look, which dresses the franchise's mascot with an archaeologist costume as part of the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibit.
"Pokémon GO" debuts Excavator Pikachu this May 22 and will be available until April 11, 2027. The costumed Pokémon is part of a tie-in with the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibit's first-ever appearance in the United States, which is being hosted at the Chicago Field Museum.
Excavator Pikachu can be encountered by completing collab-themed Research Tasks, available as Field Research from spinning stops near the Field Museum, as well as through special Timed Research available during museum business hours.
Players can also find it in One-star Raids near the Field Museum in Chicago throughout the exhibit's run.
What's the Massive Catch on This Shiny Hunt?
Excavator Pikachu will be available only to trainers near the Chicago Field Museum during its business hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Remote Raids will not be available for Excavator Pikachu, which means that even if a Chicago friend is doing a Raid, they cannot invite players from elsewhere to join.
A shiny Excavator Pikachu can be obtained, according to ComicBook Gaming, but players who are not in Chicago for the entire exhibit timeline would not be able to get it unless they trade for it within "Pokémon GO."
The Shiny version of Excavator Pikachu wears the same excavation uniform but sports the golden yellow coloring of a standard Shiny Pikachu, making it a genuinely eye-catching prize for collectors willing to go through the effort.
Players hunting the Shiny will need to keep spawning and despawning Excavator Pikachu encounters until they either hear the Shiny chime or spot the alternate coloring. With the business hours restriction in play, that hunting window each day is limited to eight hours at most.
