Turns out it’s all related to a new Ghost-type ‘Coin Chest’ Pokémon, Gimmighoul from the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet mainline games. This is all clearly a tie-in to the games, but what does this all mean for the world of Pokémon Go? Here we cover everything we know about this strange event, and what it means for the future. On this page:
What are the Gold PokéStops and how do you find them?
The Golden PokéStops appeared for Trainers as soon as the Dratini Community Day event ended on 5th November, with random PokéStops changing from their standard blue to a golden colour. Spinning these either dropped a lot of items – like a normal PokéStop, but more so – or you got a mysterious ?????? coin. In the days after release, the Golden PokéStops continued to spawn in-game. If you see one, go spin it and try to get mysterious coin! To find them, simply walk around the overworld and check your local map. The Golden PokéStops appear at random, but you can see whether they’re Golden or not from any distance – unless you want to spin it, you don’t need to approach the PokéStop at all! However, in the days following the start of the event, community testing and reporting (from the likes of Unessential across two threads and eevvee33 on reddit) has revealed a couple of interesting observations:
Golden PokéStops stay Golden for at least 15 minutes, but no more than 30 minutes after they become golden. If a PokéStop is going to become Golden, it will do so between 00 and 15, or 30 and 45 past the hour (e.g., 1:00–1:15, or 1:30–1:45) If a PokéStop is going to become blue again (i.e. stop being Golden), it will do so at half-past or on the hour. There are conflicting reports about there being two types of Golden PokéStop – the idea being that you have a central Golden PokéStop that causes other PokéStops around it to turn Golden; however, there are questions as to the accuracy of this theory.
Since Niantic doesn’t tend to explain how Pokémon Go’s mechanics work, instead leaving it up to the community to figure out together, we will contine to work with the community to figure out how these PokéStops work! Once you have a coin, Gimmighoul will stand next to your avatar with a speech bubble above its head, telling you about where it senses your next coin. You can spin the map to check the direction, and then head that way to see if you can find what your new friend is looking for! Remember, you can only carry a maximum of 100 mysterious coins at the moment. But what do they do?
What is the mysterious coin in Pokémon Go?
When you spin a Golden PokéStops, you have a chance of receiving a mysterious coin in your inventory. According to the in-game item description, this coin is: “A coin with a mysterious air. It seems to have originated in the Paldea region.” Interestingly, you can carry a maximum of 100 of these coins at present, although their exact usage is unknown. Whether this becomes part of a challenge, or more likely is used to try to catch or transform Gimmighoul, remains to be seen. The first time you encounter one of these coins, a conversation triggers with your old friend Professor Willow, who calls his fellow Digglet enthusiast, Jacq – a new character from the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet/Violet games (which, of course, are set in the aforementioned Paldea region), who seems to know more about these coins than we do. Jacq is a biology teacher at the academy your character attends in the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, releasing November 18 2022. You can read the full dialogue between Willow and Jacq below. Willow: What’s that you’ve got, [Trainer name]? Ah! Yes, I see – this appears to be a very old coin. I picked one up myself, actually. There’s something mysterious about them… Telephone: Professor Willow? Can you hear me? Willow: Oh – hello, Jacq! It was great hearing you speak at the World Pokémon Ecological Society conference the other day! Jacq: Thank you. Your lecture, “Strolling through the World of Pokémon,” was fantastic, too! Willow: [Trainer name], this is Jacq. He teaches biology at an academy in the Paldea region. Jacq: It’s very nice to meet you! Hm? Oh! That coin…! Willow: Hm? Do you know something about this, Jacq? Jacq: I think I might… I know we were supposed to discuss Diglett, but can I get a rain check? This is something that I want to look into! Willow: Of course! I’ll get right on researching this with [Trainer name]. And I’ll be sure to take a video of the coin and share it with you soon. Jacq: Thank you! I’ll see you later, then. Happy exploring! Willow: All right, [Trainer name] – let’s get cracking! I’d like to find a few more coins, so why don’t we start looking around? These coins are a little suspicious, but I can’t help feeling excited all the same! I believe a thorough investigation is in order. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover – so I’ll start my search over there! Are you ready? Then let’s GO! The Season of Mythical Wishes continues with the Winter Holiday event, which has brought Mega Glalie to Pokémon Go. Don’t forget to partake in the new Go Battle League season. Elsewhere, be sure to use Daily Adventure Incense for the chance of encountering Galarian Articuno, Galarian Zapdos and Galarian Moltres.
Everything we know about Gimmighoul
Right now, we don’t know much about Gimmighoul, as Niantic and the Pokémon Company are doing their best to drip-feed information, but we do know the following:
Gimmighoul originates from Paldea, the region in the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games. We know there is an upcoming link between the these two and Pokémon Go some time in 2023, but the specifics are still a little murky. Roaming Form Gimmighoul has been spotted in the world of @PokemonGOApp! Mr. Jacq and Professor Willow have joined forces to figure out how to catch them. Stand by for future announcements about their research results.❤️💜 #PokemonScarletViolet pic.twitter.com/YbRYyZsI1R— Pokémon (@Pokemon) November 6, 2022 To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings Gimmighoul has two forms: Chest Form, in which it’s slightly reminiscent of a Mimic from [whichever fantasy game you like most], and Roaming Form, which is the form seen in Pokémon Go. Chest Form Gimmighoul is a Ghost-type Pokémon, which is 0.3m tall and weighs a sturdy 5kg. In true ?????? fashion, we don’t know anything about the Roaming Form, other than that it has significantly fewer coins. One of the teaser videos shows something happen when the chest is full, so perhaps giving it more coins will help it transform or even evolve?
According to the official Pokémon Go website, we will find out more about catching Roaming Form Gimmighoul and how to use mysterious coins in “the next research report”. There’s currently a gap in the event schedule from November 17–23, so it’s likely this research will take place then! A promotional video with Jacq and Willow discussing Gimmighoul has been released online. In this, Jacq tells Willow: “In Paldea, I’ve seen some Gimmishoul that hide in treasure chests and some that don’t … The fascinating part is, as far as I know, no-one has ever caught a Gimmighoul that’s not in a chest – the second you get near, they high-tail it out of there, dropping a coin as they flee!”The thinking is that while both forms exist in Paldea, only Chest Form is catchable in Scarlet/Violet, while only Roaming Form will be catchable in Pokémon Go – that is until the link event in 2023, when this soft-excusivity will end and you an transfer Roaming Form from Pokémon Go into Scarlet/Violet.
Those of you who want to pick up Scarlet/Violet can do so on November 18. Linking either of these games to your Pokémon Go account will allow you to catch Roaming Form Gimmighoul in Pokémon Go. This is the third Pokémon to debut in Pokémon Go, after Meltan and its evolution, Melmetal. Dataminers have found that Gimmighoul is referred to in the in-game code as ‘pm1080’. Players are now speculating that this is Pokémon #1080 in the national Pokédex as a result. This is entirely possible, as the Pokédex currently sits at 905 with Enamorous. Meltan and Melmetal still lack an official National Pokédex designation.
