January 2020 is here, which means Pokemon GO players are eagerly racing around their towns trying to confirm any rumored changes to the available Field Research tasks and rewards. At this point, it looks like there are some new tasks to discover this time around while out earning your Research Breakthrough for an exclusive move Lapras. As if the new Breakthrough rewards weren't enough to be excited about, a new batch of encounter rewards full of shiny opportunities are sure to bring many players out this month.
In recent months, Niantic seems to have moved away from fully rotating in new Pokemon GO quests and encounter rewards on the first of every month. This is a little disappointing for players who liked a frequent change of pace, but it does make it a little easier to remember which quests are the most rewarding. This month is changing things up and it seems like we'll have a fresh rotation of Tasks, which will probably stick around until at least early February or March.
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Keep in mind that as different events rotate in and out of the game additional limited-time quests are sure to be added to the available pool (including some of the best Unova region Pokemon). If there are any more significant changes to the available Research Tasks and Encounter Rewards, we'll be sure to update the following list.
All January 2020 Research Tasks and Rewards
Battle another trainer 3 times - Shellder
Battle in a Gym - Mankey
Battle in a Gym 5 times - Machop
Battle in a raid - Swinub
Catch 3 different species of Ice-type Pokémon - 3 Rare Candy
Catch 3 Normal, Water, or Ice-type Pokémon - Dewgong
Catch 5 Fire-type Pokémon - Snorunt
Catch 5 Pokémon with Weather Boost - Poliwag - Vulpix
Catch 10 Pokémon - Magikarp
Catch a Dragon-type Pokémon - Dratini
Defeat a Team Rocket Grunt - Sneasel
Earn 5 hearts with your buddy - Stantler
Evolve a Pokémon - Cubchoo or Eevee
Hatch 3 Eggs - Magmar
Hatch 5 Eggs - Chansey
Hatch 7 Eggs - Vulpix (Alola) or Lapras
Hatch an Egg - Exeggcute
Make 3 Excellent Throws in a row - Larvitar
Make 3 Great Throws - Lileep or Anorith or Gastly
Make 3 Great Throws in a row - Onix
Make 5 Great Curveball Throws in a row - Spinda
Make 5 Nice Throws - Voltorb
Power Up Pokémon 5 times - Bulbasaur or Charmander or Squirtle
Send 10 Gifts to friends - Clamperl
Take a snapshot of your buddy - Snover
Trade a Pokémon - Glalie
Transfer 3 Pokémon - Lotad
Use a supereffective Charged Attack in 7 Gym battles - Electabuzz
Win 3 Gym Battles - Jynx
Win 5 raids - Aerodactyl
Win a Gym Battle - Bulbasaur 0r Charmander or Squirtle
Win a Level 3 or higher raid - Kabuto or Omanyte
Due to the recent Legendary Raid Boss rotation, many players are likely building up their roster by taking down those Gyms frequently, there are still some valuable Pokemon here worth questing for. The inclusion of so many shiny chances makes a lot of the quests worth the time, even if the Pokemon rewards themselves aren’t very relevant to the metagame.
Fans are likely very excited by this new list, just because it's something a bit different, even if it doesn't impact the Pokemon GO metagame in a major way. This will keep players busy through the fall and hopefully a new batch of tasks will arrive once the winter events kick off later this year. Switching to a seasonal sort of rotation for the long list of tasks would be a bit of an adjustment from the original monthly rotations, but it likely saves a lot of time for the developers and removes some margin for error, thanks to less code changing on a month to month basis.
There are also rumors floating around that in addition to the new Research Tasks and Rewards, there are a few new shiny creatures making appearances, as well. This rumor hasn't been confirmed yet, so be sure to check back to find out more as we investigate the claims. Collecting shiny Pokemon doesn’t give the trainer any kind of advantage in battle, but it is still a fun additional challenge to add into the game. Shiny Pokemon are perfect for leaving in Gyms to show off to the rest of the community.
Be sure to check back for more Pokemon GO news, updates, and strategy guides in the coming days. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Source: Pokemon GO Hub