To mark this year’s World Space Week, The Pokémon Company has joined forces with the European Space Agency (ESA) for a series of in‑person Pokémon GO activities across Europe. The collaboration runs from October 4 to October 10, aligning with the United Nations‑designated celebration of space exploration.
During the week, participating museums will host two distinct gameplay modes: a Field Research challenge and a Wild Encounter boost. Both are designed to encourage players to visit the venues, spin PokéStops, and complete space‑themed tasks.
Field Research at European Museums
When players spin a PokéStop inside any of the partner locations, they trigger a set of mission‑style Field Research tasks that reference World Space Week. Finishing these objectives awards exclusive Pokémon and, in some cases, special background art that highlights the event’s celestial theme.
The featured Pokémon for the Wild Encounter portion include familiar faces such as Pikachu, Blipbug, and Clefairy, as well as cosmic‑inspired species like Elgyem, Lunatone, Magnemite, Solrock, Starmite, and Starmie. These creatures have a higher spawn rate in the skies surrounding the museums, giving trainers a better chance to catch them during the celebration.
Wild Encounter Sky Events
Among the highlighted Pokémon, Solrock, Lunatone, and Starmie are shown in promotional artwork released for the event. The increased encounter rates make the museum visits feel like a real‑life space mission, blending scientific curiosity with the familiar thrill of Pokémon hunting.
The partnership also revives a longer‑running raid series that will be active from the start of the week through April 30, 2027. Trainers who complete these raids can battle for the chance to capture Astronaut Pikachu, a special version of the iconic mascot that previously spent 67 days orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station.
Long‑Term Raids and Astronaut Pikachu
The Astronaut Pikachu raid pays homage to the plush toy taken to space by French astronaut Sophie Adenot, which completed over a thousand orbits. This nod to real‑world space travel underscores the event’s goal of celebrating humanity’s reach beyond our planet.
World Space Week, established by the UN in 1999, commemorates the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and the signing of the Outer Space Treaty on October 10, 1967. This year’s theme, “Rocket Revolution,” focuses on the technologies that propelled humans into orbit.
For a full list of participating museums—including ESA headquarters in Paris, ESA sites in the UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, as well as additional science centers like the Cité de l’espace in Toulouse and the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg—see the official Pokémon GO announcement. Further details on the astronomical backdrop of the week are available via Star Walk’s coverage and a Space.com feature.
Featured image: ©Pokémon/Nintendo/Creatures/GAME FREAK – ESA
Source: Anime Corner