Once a month, Pokémon GO features one specific Pocket Monster in a Community Day. During this event, the Pokémon has its spawn rate and shiny rate dramatically increased. Additionally, it gains access to a new attack. Annually, the December Community Day event includes all Pokémon featured during the past year spawning in the wild.
In 2021, Pokémon GO gave players some incredible Community Days that included not only phenomenal Pocket Monsters but also great bonuses that lasted for the event's duration. With the Community Day event for December 2021 occurring on December 18 and 19, featuring different Pokémon appearing in the wild on different days, now is a great time to reflect on the monthly events from the past year that provided the most for players.
Duskull - October
October's Community Day featured a beloved Ghost-type Pokémon in the form of Duskull. Though Duskull has a great shiny variation that can be exciting to find, the event was not one of the better ones of the year.
The best thing the event had going for it was 3x Catch Stardust, which is a nice bonus that can help players to gain enough resources to power up their Pokémon, but it does not inherently make this Community Day exceptional. Despite Dusknoir's new access to Shadow Ball, one of the best Ghost attacks in the mobile game, the fully evolved Pokémon remains outclassed in PVP and PVE by many other Ghost-types, changing little about Dusknoir's meta-relevance and limiting this Community Day to mostly just collecting Stardust and shinies.
Roselia - February
While Roselia's Community Day was not met with the most enthusiasm by fans, it nevertheless provided some interesting features. Its evolution, Roserade, is one of the best evolutions added in a later Pokémon generation, and it is a capable Grass-type attacker for raids.
Its new access to Bullet Seed as a fast move and Weather Ball (Fire) as a charged move buffed it a decent amount for PVP, making it more viable for this aspect of the game as well. Additionally, players only needed to move a fifth of the usual distance to hatch eggs, which was useful because Budew, Roselia's pre-evolution, was hatching from 2 km eggs with an increased shiny rate during the event.
Machop - January
Even after several new generations have been added to Pokémon GO, Generation I's Machamp remains a solid choice for a Fighting-type attacker for raids and gym battles. It also works well in certain formats of the GO Battle League. When its primary evolution, Machop, received the first Community Day of 2021, players were able to obtain a large quantity of them, bolstering their teams.
While Machamp's new move option in Payback is somewhat helpful, letting it decently deal with Psychic and Ghost-types in PVP, it does not assist the Pokémon enough to be incredibly noteworthy. Along with this, Machop's Community Day featured 3x Catch Stardust, which allowed players to power up the Machop they caught during the event.
Oshawott - September
As the last Community Day for a Generation V starter, Oshawott's was an anticipated one. Unfortunately, as in the main series, Samurott is not the best among every Water starter's final evolution, and even the introduction of Hydro Cannon into its move pool, while welcome, did not give it enough power to excel.
Aside from the new shiny variation, the best feature of the event was the 3x Catch XP, which is always a phenomenal bonus for any player seeking to make their way to level 50.
Snivy - April
The first of the Generation V starters to receive a Community Day, Snivy perhaps benefitted the most from one. Its final evolution, Serperior, gained access to Frenzy Plant, which made it much more capable in PVP.
Though it is still not the best of its typing, it succeeds more than either of its fellow fully evolved Generation V starters, at least as far as the GO Battle League is concerned. The event also had the bonus of 3x Catch Stardust, which was a welcome addition and made April's Community Day more than worth the effort.
Swablu - May
The announcement of Swablu's Community Day was seen as underwhelming by some, but it proved to be a great addition to the event roster. Swablu requires four hundred Candy to evolve to Altaria, so the increased spawn rate helped many players to obtain the fully evolved Pokémon.
Additionally, Altaria is a viable option for the GO Battle League, especially in the Great League, and its new access to Moonblast gave it a slight boost to its already solid power. Also, during the event window, trainers only needed to move a fourth of the usual distance to hatch eggs, which was a nice bonus.
Eevee - August
Eevee first received a Community Day in August 2018, but its 2021 event gave players who were not playing at the time a chance to obtain a handful of shinies. Each of the Eeveelutions received a new move, and Eevee caught during the event knew the move Last Resort. Some of these new attacks were more viable than others, with Umbreon's new access to Psychic being one of the best additions.
Also, eggs could be hatched in a fourth of their usual distance, and the event lasted for two days instead of one, giving trainers a chance to catch a large number of the adorable Pokémon.
Shinx - November
Luxray is an incredibly popular creature, being one of the most used Pokémon for Diamond and Pearl. When its primary evolution, Shinx, received a Community Day in November 2021, the family got an event worthy of its reputation. The best part of the event was the fact that Shinx could now spawn in the wild for the first time, which was exciting for players to see.
The bonuses were also fantastic, with the distance needed to hatch eggs reduced to a fourth of the usual distance, 3x Transfer Candy, and 4x the odds of obtaining Candy XL from transferring Pokémon. The introduction of Psychic Fangs to Luxray's move pool was interesting, but it did not make much of a difference for its viability.
Fletchling - March
Though its initial appearance may seem non-threatening, players should not underestimate Fletchling's final evolution, Talonflame, especially in PVP. Fletchling's Community Day introduced Incinerate into the final evolution's move pool, a fast attack that makes Talonflame formidable in certain formats of the GO Battle League.
The Community Day also featured the incredible bonus of 3x Catch XP, and though Fletchling's small surface area makes it difficult to consistently hit an excellent throw on it, trainers got a lot of practice with the number that spawned during its Community Day.
Gible - June
The announcement of Gible's Community Day received polarized responses from many players. On one side, some were thrilled to have free access to the elusive shiny variation that, previously, the game essentially locked behind a paywall. On the other side, some players who previously hunted for the shiny felt that their efforts were now meaningless. Either way, the bonuses trainers received, as well as the viability of this Pokémon, made the June Community Day the best of 2021.
Garchomp was already a phenomenal competitor, but its new access to Earth Power made it even more deadly, both in PVP and in PVE. Because it is perhaps the best pseudo-Legendary Pokémon in the main series, this strength is appropriate. Along with this, the event gave players 3x Catch XP, solidifying it as a stellar example of what the game has to offer during a Community Day.