January Community Day – Spheal Rolls On In!

Hey, Trainers! Happy New Year! Hope 2022 is treating you well so far.

This month’s Community Day star is a cute little fella from Hoenn – Spheal.

Spheal has been available in Shiny since the 16th of December, 2021, so this move is a little surprising to me, honestly. Still! I Hadn’t gotten one yet, so, I’ll take it.

Community Day for January is Sunday the 16th, from 11:00am till 5:00pm, local time. And here are the bonuses:

3X Catch XP! Let’s GO! Level 50, here we come!

Lure Modules and Incense activated during event times will last 3 hours.

For $1 or your local equivalent, you can take part in a Special Research story – The Spheal Deal!

30 Ultra Balls will be available in the Shop at no cost.

1280 Pokecoins, however, will snag you a box containing 50 Ultra Balls, an Elite Fast TM, 5 Super Incubators, and 5 Lucky Eggs. (Crack a few Lucky Eggs to increase your Catch XP yield to 6X during event hours.)

Photobombs will happen during event hours – generally 5 if past Community Days are anything to go by.

Spheal will be rolling in by the ton, so be sure to catch as many as you can!

Evolve your Spheal or Sealeo all the way to Walrein during event hours or up to 2 hours after to have it learn 2 Community Day moves! The Fast Attack Powder Snow and the Charged Attack, Icicle Spear.

You may be lucky enough to encounter a Shiny Spheal.

So, now that we have the special event details taken care of, let’s check out the star of the show – Spheal!

Spotlight on Spheal

Spheal was introduced in Generation 3 and was one of the cuter designs of that generation if I do say so myself. Looking like the lovechild of Seel and Marril…

…this round, bouncy boy could be found in Shoal Cave in the East of Hoenn.

The Pokedex informs us that this Pokemon is poorly shaped for both swimming and walking, so, it rolls around instead. (Maybe it’s imitating Sonic the Hedgehog’s spindash technique?) They have two-layer cold protection, being covered in both plush fur and blubber, and as such, they never feel cold on the ice they like to live on. They provide lookout services for the Walrein in their herd, calling to them whenever they see prey underwater. They clap their fins when happy, so, feeding a large group of them can be a noisy affair.

Researching these guys and their real-world counterpart, seals, I actually learned that there’s no one term for a group of seals. The Pokedex says herd, which I thought was wrong because I’ve only ever heard the term colony used… but it actually isn’t! You can also call a group of seals a rookery, a harem, a pod and perhaps my favorite… a bob. A bob of seals! Adorable.

Spheal evolves into Sealeo and then Walrein.

Walrein moves in bobs of about 20 to 30 individuals helmed by one leader. This leader will attack any intruders into bob territory with ferocity and bravery – Walrein will give their lives to protect the bob.

Those impressive tusks can shatter ice floes weighing 10 tons or more. Sometimes this rough treatment causes a tusk to snap off, but don’t worry! They grow back to full size within a year. Despite being a little more streamlined than Spheal, it still retains a thick coating of blubber which protects it not only from cold but attacks.

So. Can this Pokemon shatter ten tons worth of opponents in Pokemon GO?

With a Max CP of 3081, Attack of 182, Defense of 176, and Stamina of 242, it’s not terrible. That classic combo of Water and Ice makes it vulnerable to 4 Types – Electric, Fighting, Grass and Rock. It’s extremely resistant to Ice and has a normal resistance to Water. It outshines Dewgong, Cloyster, and even Lapras in terms of Stats and CP and it offers some interesting possibilities re: Attacks in the form of Earthquake.

Attacks it has access to are Waterfall and Frost Breath as well as the Community Day move, Powder Snow for Fast Attacks (Latter 2 are STAB) and for Charged Attacks you get Water Pulse, Earthquake and Blizzard, along with Icicle Spear from Community Day. Surprising no one, your best bet is Powder Snow and Icicle Spear. But you’re going to want to spend the Candy and Stardust to keep Earthquake on there, too – this gives you coverage against both Electric and Rock Types, while your Ice moves take out Grass leaving you open only to Fighting Type attackers. Not bad!

Shinies of all three evolutions are a bright purple, so, easy to spot and pretty standard for Gen 3 Shiny Water Types.

And that’s all I’ve got for you this time, Trainers! Good luck tackling those bobs of Spheal! As always, I wish you all the best and hope you enjoy your Pokemon GO adventure this Community Day!