Pokémon Go is having a Machop Community Day event on Saturday, May 24, from 2-5 p.m. in your local time. As expected with a Community Day event, Machop will spawn in huge numbers with a high chance for it to appear shiny in Pokémon Go. There are also several other bonuses and perks, which we’ve listed out below. How do I catch a shiny Machop in Pokémon Go? As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), Shiny rates on Community Days are about 1 in 24, which means that if you keep playing throughout the three-hour window, you should find quite a few shiny Pokémon. If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, you can pop an Incense, then quickly tap each Machop to check for shiny ones, running from any that aren’t shiny. Notably, any Machop you’ve already tapped will face where your player is standing, so that should help identify which ones you may have already checked. This is a great time to practice your quick catch, too, to max out your Machop Candy gains. What Community Day move does Machop’s evolution learn? If you evolve Machoke into Machamp from May 25 at 2 p.m. until May 31 at 10 p.m. in your local time, it will learn the charged move Payback. If you miss out on evolving it during this period, you will likely be able to evolve it during a Community Day weekend event in December to get Payback. If you don’t want to wait, you can use an Elite TM to get the move. How does Machamp do in the meta? Whew, okay! Let’s talk about it. In short, Machamp is a powerhouse when it comes to PvE content. While yes, it does get outclassed by Legendaries, shadows, and Megas, it remains a really solid pick, ranking only below Lucario and Conkeldurr when you factor out those aforementioned categories. I personally love using my powered-up Machamp to help me take out the Team Rocket leaders and Giovanni. While veteran players might shrug at the thought of a Machamp (who needs that when you can just run a Mega Lucario or powered-up Terrakion?), this event is a great one for newer players who might not have that stuff yet. This is all compounded with the fact that Machamp is getting its Gigantamax debut on May 25, literally the day after this Community Day event. That said, Gigantamax Machamp is the definitive fighting-type pick in Max Battles. So if you may want to hold off on powering up any of the Machamp you get on the Community Day and instead opt to power up the Gigantamax Machamp you can get the next day (if you’re into Max Battles). That Gigantamax Machamp will be able to be used as a regular attacker in the various types of game content, so we recommend just powering up a Gigantamax one if you only have enough candy for one. (That being said, you should get out there and try to grab as much Machop Candy as you can during this event.) Machamp’s best PvE moveset is Counter and Dynamic Punch, so you don’t have to worry about evolving it during the Community Day period or anything like that. Specifically, you’ll likely want your Gigantamax Machamp to use Low Kick instead of Counter, since it’s a shorter attack and thus grants more max energy. For PvP, shadow Machamp actually isn’t a horrible choice, but you’ll want to set it up with Karate Chop, Cross Chop, and Stone Edge (according to PvPoke). How do I make the most of Machoke Community Day? The following bonuses will be active during Machoke Community Day: Tripled Stardust for catching Pokémon Incense lasts three hours Lure Modules lasts three hours Machop special photobombs when taking snapshots That said, you should definitely pop a Star Piece and an Incense and try to nab some powerful Machop. If you can Mega Evolve Heracross, Blaziken, Medicham, Lopunny, Lucario, or Gallade, you’ll score additional Machop Candy per catch. As a reminder, you can trade your Machop or Machoke before evolving it to completely negate the candy cost to turn it into a Machamp. (Usually it’ll cost 100 Machop Candy, but if you trade it ahead of time, it’ll cost none! Yay!) There will also be “Community Day Continued” Timed Research until May 31 that will reward more Machop, including ones with special themed backgrounds. This research will keep the increased shiny rate for Machop, even after the three-hour event is over, so make sure you complete them for extra chances to get a shiny.

Pokémon Go players can now evolve Kubfu into Urshifu, but the big fighting bear has two forms: Single Strike and Rapid Strike. Which one should you evolve your Kubfu into? How do you even evolve the Kubfu to begin with? We’re here with the answers. Since the Kubfu can only Dynamax (not Gigantamax), the choice is pretty clear, based on what’s available in-game right now. Below we explain how to evolve Kubfu into Urshifu in Pokémon Go and which of the two forms (Single Strike or Rapid Strike) you may want to pick, if you only have one. How to evolve Kubfu into Urshifu in Pokémon Go Depending on which version of Urshifu you want, you’ll need to complete a slightly different task. No matter which one you want, you will need to set Kubfu as your buddy. For Single Strike Urshifu, you’ll need to defeat 30 dark-type Pokémon in raids or max battles with Kubfu as your buddy. For Rapid Strike Urshifu, you’ll need to defeat 30 water-type Pokémon in raids or max battles with Kubfu as your buddy. Kubfu does not need to be used in these battles, just set as your buddy. (It’s the same kind of thing as Bisharp/Kingambit, though this counts max battles, too.) Once you meet that requirement, you can use 200 Kubfu Candy to evolve your little bear into a big bear. Should you pick Single Strike or Rapid Strike Urshifu? The general consensus is that the Single Strike (dark-type) form is the better of the two forms across the board. For PvP, Silph Road expert JRE47 gets into the nitty gritty in his own post, but notes that Single Strike is the correct choice among the two. As for PvE content, the main lens to look at Urshifu through is aimed at Max Battles. Both versions of Dynamax Urshifu have their faults — Single Strike (dark) is technically outclassed by Gengar, and Rapid Strike (water) is outclassed by Inteleon. Both of these are also not great fighting-types when compared to Gigantamax Machamp. That being said, there’s just not many dark-type Max Battle attackers around right now, so Single Strike is probably the better choice. (For water-types, you have Kingler, Blastoise, and Inteleon, so…) As of this writing, we don’t know how Gigantamax Urshifu is going to roll out. Will it be another research? A raid day event? But we’ll tackle that bridge when we get there. You can also totally just pick which one you like better. In the image below, Single Strike Urshifu is on the left and Rapid Strike Urshifu is on the right. They have few differences outside of their stance. How to get more Kubfu in Pokémon Go As of writing this, there’s only two ways to get Kubfu (so you can technically have two, and thus one of each type of Ushifu). Complete the first step of the “Might and Mastery” seasonal Special Research. This research needs to at least be started by June 3 at 10 a.m. in your local time, or you lose the chance to get it (probably forever, based on past seasonal research). Buy the “Fuzzy Fighter” Special Research for $7.99. This research is available again until May 27 at 8 p.m. in your local time. Once you buy it, you can take your time completing it. It was previously available at the start of the season for a limited time. If you bought this research at the start of the season, you cannot buy it again. But, yep. That’s it! Though keep in mind that like we mentioned above, Gigantamax versions of Urshifu will likely debut in the game at some point. We don’t know how or when, but seeing as the Kubfu we got is Dynamax and not Gigantamax, you’ll be able to get both big bears at some point (and a stronger version of them, at that) in the future.

Gigantamax Machamp is making its Gigantamax debut in Pokémon Go, and given its a bit of a powerhouse, it’ll need some coordination to take down. It’s expected to hit hard, so you’ll want to bring out the tankiest of your tanks to help you out with this. Machamp will specifically appear as part of Gigantamax Machamp Max Battle Day on Sunday, May 25, from 2-5 p.m. in your local time, appearing at power spots every 30 minutes or so. (This also comes hot off the heels of a Machop Community Day event the day before, so make sure to stock up on Machop Candy!) Below we list Gigantamax Machamp’s best counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go, as well as general battle tips for the big guy. Gigantamax Machamp weakness Machamp has a few weaknesses, though there’s only a few we can really take advantage of: flying-, psychic-, and fairy-type moves. That being said, it’ll be resistant against rock-, bug-, and dark-type moves, so don’t use those unless they’re just fast moves to help charge the max meter. Gigantamax Machamp best counters Try to bring at least one of these attackers: Dynamax Metagross with Zen Headbutt (Max Mindstorm) Dynamax Moltres with Wing Slash (Max Airstream) Dynamax Unfezant with Air Slash (Max Airstream) Dynamax Charizard with Air Slash (Max Airstream) Yep, you read that right — Dynamax Charizard, not Gigantamax. Gigantamax Charizard will always have G-Max Wildfire as its attack, regardless of what its fast move is set to, and in this case, you want a flying-type max move. That said, you can still bring a powered-up Gigantamax Charizard if that’s what you’ve got! Bring anything that can bring the damage; the list above is just the best stuff to bring. As of this writing, there’s a Timed Research set that will reward you with a Dynamax Beldum, alongside Beldum Candy to help you prepare for this tough fight, so you should invest in that if you can. For defenders/tanks, bring one or two of the following: Dynamax Blissey with Pound Dynamax/Gigantamax Gengar with Lick Dynamax/Gigantamax Venusaur with Vine Whip Dynamax/Gigantamax Blastoise with Water Gun These guys’ job is just to soak up the damage from Machamp while generating as much energy as possible with their fast attacks. Note that your mileage may vary here — if Machamp knows Close Combat, your Blissey may have a harder time. If Machamp knows Payback, then your Gengar might be in trouble. If possible, bringing one of each and then swapping depending on Machamp’s moveset is going to be the to-go strategy here when it comes to tanking. Consider just bringing the strongest Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon you have. If you have a maxed out Gigantamax Toxtricity and your Dynamax Metagross isn’t leveled (and you don’t have the means to power it up), just bring your Toxtricity. General Gigantamax Machamp tips If you’ve been struggling in Max Battles, here’s some general tips to survive — and make sure you’re an asset to your team. Gigantamax battles involve way more strategy than the usual rampant tapping that you do in raids, so make sure to know what you’re doing before jumping in. Make sure you have enough players. High-efficiency groups with maxed out investments can take down the Machamp with fewer people, but practically, if you don’t have hundreds of spare candy and even more Stardust laying around, this isn’t going to be an option for you. Make sure you have as many people as possible to ensure that you get your beefy muscle man. Don’t sleep on Max Spirit and Max Guard. Teams work best when there’s a variety of moves, not just maxed-out attacks. Each player should bring Pokémon with the defensive and healing moves unlocked as well. Max Guard will focus single-target damage towards you and reduce the damage taken; Max Spirit will heal the whole party. These moves are really important to make sure your damage-dealers can keep dishing. Remember to swap to super effective moves when it’s time to Dynamax. For Dynamax Pokémon, their max moves are determined by whatever type their fast move is. This means if you have a Darmanitan with Fire Fang, it will know Max Flare. A Gengar with Lick will know Max Phantasm. Take advantage of this and make sure to swap to a Pokémon that will deal super effective damage to your target before Dynamaxing, if you can. Focus on your fast moves. You want to spam your fast moves to build up that Dynamax meter and often times, using your charge move is actually a DPS loss when compared to the damage you could be doing with your max move will be. Spam those attacks! Level up a few ‘mons, but you don’t have to go too hard. Depending on your group size, you absolutely do not need to max out all your Dynamax Pokémon to level 40-50. While this will make it easier on the rest of your group, if this isn’t an investment you can make, you don’t have to stress about it. Power things up as high as you can afford to, but don’t fret if you don’t have a maxed out Pokémon. All of that said, make sure to come as prepared as you can be. This is a team effort and there’s a chance that a full group of four can still fail. Do not just bring your unleveled Dynamax Wooloo expecting a free ride to a powerful Pokémon. (After all, if everyone does that, then you certainly won’t clear the battle.) Again, you don’t have to completely max out your Pokémon, but it will be better for everyone involved if you bring something helpful to the table. Keep your eye out for a shiny Machamp! If you clear the raid, there is a chance that the Machamp you catch will be shiny — which also means it’ll be a guaranteed catch. Use a Pinap Berry to score extra candy if you get lucky enough to find a sparkly Machamp.