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Shiny Galarian Ponyta, evolution chart, 100% perfect IV stats and Galarian Rapidash best moveset in Pokémon Go

How to get the most out of Ponyta’s Community Day!

Image credit: Niantic

If you think friendship is magic - especially when it involves ponies with candy floss for hair - you are going to love September’s big event in Pokémon Go! This month sees Galarian Ponyta Community Day, bringing you not one, but two flavours of pony! That’s right, but Kantonian and Galarian Ponyta are reigning supreme today!

The most beautiful horse in Pokémon has two forms - the original Fire Horse original from Kanto and its Galarian Cousin, the Unique Horn Pokémon. Both Ponyta and Galarian Ponyta share Ponyta Candy as their resource, but to make the most of this event, you should pick which Pokémon you really want to focus on, since they have different typings and different uses in Pokémon Go.

This page focuses on the original Galarian Ponyta. If you would prefer to focus on the one that looks like it has fire for a mane, check out our Kantonian Ponyta page.

But first, what is a Community Day? For the uninitiated, this is a reoccurring Pokémon Go event that celebrates a specific Pokémon, while boosting shiny rates and offering an exclusive move, along with a whole host of other bonuses!

Ponyta will be spawning en masse throughout the event, this is the best chance we've had for catching an Galarian Ponyta with 100% perfect IV stats and, if you achieve this feat, it's a good idea to know its evolution Rapidash's best moveset.

Even if you're not fussed on this month's Community Day Pokémon, there are a multiple other bonuses that may get you out and about, including the double catch candy and triple catch Stardust bonuses.

On this page:

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Galarian Ponyta 100% perfect IV stats in Pokémon Go

This month’s Community Day is a great opportunity to catch a Galarian Ponyta with perfect IV stats.

Galarian Ponyta.

'Perfect' means two things in Pokémon Go, depending on how you plan to use a given Pokémon. First, there’s the maxed out, 100% IV version, which is the 15/15/15 you’re looking for your 4* Pokédex, raids and Master League. Yet, because of how CP is calculated using three stats, a perfect IV Pokémon is generally only ever the best version of itself in the Master League.

Of course, you can’t see the IV of a Pokémon without catching it first, but with a little research beforehand, you can quickly spot a perfect Ponyta based on the CP alone.

If you’re at Level 30 (or above), you’ll ideally be looking for the following CPs for a perfect 15/15/15 Galarian Ponyta:

  • Level 30 (wild CP maximum) - 1455 CP
  • Level 35 (weather-boosted wild CP maximum) - 1576 CP
  • The wild CP value aligns with your Trainer Level until you reach Level 30 and, due to the majority of the player base now being above this level, we’ve kept to these values for the sake of simplicity. These values will, however, be different if you’re currently below Level 30.

    Meanwhile, perfect for Great League and Ultra League are completely different, as the goal is to get the highest level you can without going over the CP cap (1500 for Great League and 2500 for Ultra League). Since attack raises CP more than defence, the highest-level Pokémon in these leagues tend to have low attack and high defence.

    If you want to run Rapidash in Go Battle League (you shouldn't), you're looking for different stats:

    • A perfect Great League Rapidash is 0/13/15, reaching 1499 CP at Level 23
    • A perfect Ultra League Rapidash is 0/15/14, reaching 2495 CP at Level 47
    • A perfect Master League Rapidash is 15/15/15, reaching 2782 CP at Level 50
    Community Day always comes with a selection of cute stickers featuring the day's special Pokémon. (Image via pokemongolive.com)

    Galarian Ponyta evolution chart: What does Ponyta evolve into?

    At a glance, Galarian Ponyta, the Unique Horn Pokémon, is pretty on the nose. It's a Ponyta, but it's a Psychic-type, so we'll make it pink and sparkly. In reality, the design is a little deeper than that.

    Galarian Rapidash

    It is thought since the Galar region is the in-world equivalent of the UK, Galarian Ponyta is likely based on the Shetland pony. Since the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn (nobody tell them that they aren't real), and since Kantonian Rapidash is literally a unicorn, they rolled this all into one and thought why not make this the Unique Horn Pokémon?

    Also, for all of you who just realised why the UK's emblem is a lion and a unicorn having a dance party, you’re welcome. For everyone else, it's because back when James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603, he put the national animal of England (the lion, again, nobody mention the natural lack of lions here) on the emblem with the unicorn, in celebration of the two countries uniting under one banner. (Nobody mention Wales unless you want a really cool dragon on the embl... Hey Wales, what are you up to over there?)

    Back to Pokémon: Galarian Ponyta evolves into Galarian Rapidash with 50 Ponyta Candy in Pokémon Go. Galarian Rapidash is like Galarian Ponyta, but bigger, a more obvious unicorn and it absolutely slays. Look at those locks, it clearly just got back from the salon.

    If you want to read more about these two majestic Pokémon, their official entries are as follows...

    Galarian Ponyta: Its small horn hides a healing power. With a few rubs from this Pokémon’s horn, any slight wound you have will be healed. This Pokémon will look into your eyes and read the contents of your heart. If it finds evil there, it promptly hides away.

    Galarian Rapidash: Brave and prideful, this Pokémon dashes airily through the forest, its steps aided by the psychic power stored in the fur on its fetlocks. Little can stand up to its psycho cut. Unleashed from this Pokémon’s horn, the move will punch a hole right through a thick metal sheet.

    When we said 'slays', we meant literally.

    Ponyta’s evolution line. (Image credit: pokemon.com)

    September's Community Day event runs between 2pm and 5pm (local time), so you'll have three hours to gather as much Ponyta Candy as possible, to ensure you can fully evolve it!

    If you're hurting for Candy, use Pinap Berries and Silver Pinap Berries to double the amount of candy you earn from catching, and make sure to have a Psychic-type Pokémon mega evolved - Mega Latios/Latias, Mega Alakazam or Mega Medicham will do fine, but there are plenty of options at this point so use whatever works for you!

    Galarian Rapidash's moves and best moveset recommendation

    Galarian Rapidash is pretty naff in Pokémon Go and is not recommended for PVP.

    If you absolutely feel the need to run Galarian Rapidash in Go Battle League, you’re looking at the moves Fairy Wind (Fast), Wild Charge (Charged) and Body Slam (Charged). It’s a spammy moveset that can apply shield pressure, but it's also a glass cannon that runs a move that drops your defense by two stages (Wild Charge), which isn't exactly a great tactic for the long game.

    In Great League this means wins against Malamar, Azumarill, Mandibuzz, Shadow Feraligatr and Dunsparce. Losses come from Serperior, Clodsire, Gastrodon, Jumpluff and Wigglytuff.

    Ultra League, is where you can beat Golisopod, Obstagoon, Greninja, Cobalion and Walrein. Losses will come from Giratina Altered, Lickilicky, Cresselia, Virizion and Talonflame.

    With a CP cap of 2782, you do not want to run Galarian Rapidash in Master League.

    If you want to see the full move set, here it is:

    Rapidash Fast Moves

    • Fairy Wind (Fairy)
    • Low Kick (Fighting)
    • Psycho Cut (Psychic)

    Rapidash Charged Moves

    • Body Slam (Normal)
    • Megahorn (Bug)
    • Play Rough (Fairy)
    • High Horsepower (Ground)
    • Psychic (Psychic)

    Rapidash Legacy Charged Moves

    • Wild Charge (Electric)

    The Max Out Season is here and includes a new global event, Wild Area! Galarian Expedition is currently running in Pokémon Go and it's possible to grab another Master Ball from the pay-to-play Masterwork Research: Master Ball quest. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.


    What do shiny Ponyta and Rapidash look like?

    The opportunity to catch a shiny form of the highlighted Pokémon is one of the biggest draws of any Community Day event. This is thanks to the increased shiny rate for the event's highlighted Pokémon combined with how catching Pokémon of the same type naturally increases said rate making it easier to encounter shinies.

    To find a shiny Pokémon, you need to either start a catch encounter with a Pokémon in the wild or earn said encounter by completing an activity like a raid. From there, it's easy to see if you've encountered a shiny Pokémon due to its alternative colouring, the sparkles that appear when the encounter begins and the shiny icon next to the Pokémon's name.

    Shiny Ponyta was trotted out in May 2018, as part of the Luminous Legends X event, and it looks pretty decent, we must say.

    As you can see below, shiny Galarian Ponyta swaps its purple and turquoise mane for a cream and green combo. If the regular version is bubblegum flavour, the shiny is vanilla and mint, or banana and grape. Both pretty weird combos, but they don't look half bad.

    Shiny Galarian Rapidash conserves this colouration through evolution, though the green is possibly a little darker!

    Shiny Galarian Ponyta Comparison
    byu/wreak_hav0c inTheSilphRoad

    Thanks to Reddit user wreak_hav0c for the handy preview.

    If you want to evolve shiny Galarian Ponyta, and want the exclusive move, we recommend waiting until after the event, where you will have until five hours (until 10pm local time) to evolve and gain its exclusive move. This way you'll have ample time to, hopefully, catch a couple of shiny Ponyta, along with enough candy to evolve them, without having to worry about sorting through your collection at the same time!

    Other Galarian Ponyta Community Day Bonuses

    Community Days in Pokémon Go always come with a string of bonuses, and September’s Community Day is no different.

    Rapidash.

    Some of these bonuses are always the same - like increased spawns and increased shiny rates. However, there is a rotating set of other bonuses that come with Community Days, such as double or triple catch Candy, Stardust or XP.

    A full list of Galarian Ponyta Community Day bonuses can be found below:

    • Increased spawns
    • Increased shiny rate
    • Double catch Candy
    • Double chance to receive Candy XL from catching Pokémon (for trainers Level 31 and up). This stacks with your Mega Evolution bonus, so if you have an active Level 3 Mega Evolved Pokémon, you will have whatever 'double excellent chance' works out to be!
    • Triple catch Stardust
    • 3-hour Incense duration (not including Adventure Incense)
    • 3-hour Lure duration (not including Golden Lures)
    • Photobombs - Take a snapshot of your buddy to earn a surprise encounter with Ponyta (and increase your Cameraman medal) up to five times during the event.
    • Field Research - Spin Pokéstops to get event-exclusive tasks, similar to previous Community Day events. This is likely to be 'Catch 3 Ponyta' for a couple of Great Balls or Ultra Balls, Stardust, or a Ponyta encounter.
    • Special Research - For $1.00 (or the equivalent pricing tier in your local currency), you can take part in the exclusive Ponyta Special Research story.
    • Stickers - Get event-themed stickers by spinning Pokéstops, opening Gifts and from the in-game shop.
    • One additional Special Trade can be made for a maximum of two for the day (until 10pm local time).
    • Trades made will require 50% less Stardust (until 10pm local time).
    • Exclusive move - Evolve Ponyta during the event or up to five hours afterward to get a Rapidash that know the exclusive attack Wild Charge (until 10pm local time).
    • Ponyta raids - After the three-hour Community Day event ends, Trainers will be able to take on four-star Raid Battles. Defeating Ponyta will cause more Ponyta to appear in a 300m radius around the Gym for 30 minutes. Note: Remote Raid Passes cannot be used for these raids, and the Pokémon that spawn will have the increased shiny rate that they did during the three-hour Community Day window!

    Hope you enjoy Ponyta's Community Day, and good luck finding a perfect shiny!

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