Pokémon Go event to unlock Farfetch'd

UPDATE 23/11/17 9.40am: Three days in and the Pokémon Go community has passed the halfway point to Farfetch'd and the Travel event's 3bn catch end goal.

Pokémon Go players are now comfortably on track to hit the final goal before the end of the event, which is great news after a slightly wobbly start. The introduction of rewards at the first, 500k, milestone has helped accelerate progress. Now, players get double Stardust and a further increase to spawns as well.

That said, there's no need to get complacent - so get catching, and then we can all get that duck.

UPDATE 21/11/17 9.30am: Just over 24 hours in, and the Pokémon Go community has unlocked Double XP and six hour Lures by reaching the Pokémon Go Travel event's first - bronze - stage of rewards.

It's an encouraging first step, as a previous update on the global catch rate looked a little gloomy.

Overnight, that all changed. There was confusion over when the event started - which now seems to have been erased. Around 7am this morning, Niantic announced 500m Pokémon had been caught and the first set of rewards were live.

It's likely the rate of captures will now accelerate - as Double XP encourages more people to play, and this week's Thanksgiving holiday kicks off in the US.

ORIGINAL STORY 20/11/17 8.14am Pokémon Go has a new event - the Global Catch Challenge - which has the potential to unlock the Japan-exclusive creature Farfetch'd for everyone around the world.

(Japanese players, meanwhile, will get the Australia-exclusive Kangaskhan.)

But, doing so will require a lot of catching - of 3bn Pokémon - from now until this Sunday, 26th November.

The challenge is global, and Pokémon Go developer Niantic has shipped out a number of high profile Go players, Youtubers and the like to Japan to chronicle their "Pokémon Go Travel" journey.

Back to the rewards. As soon as the bronze, silver and gold milestones are reached, the following rewards will be unlocked:

The rewards will then last until 1st December (with the exception of Farfetch'd and Kangaskhan's availability, which will be just for 48 hours).

So, get catching. It's a lot cheaper than a plane ticket to Japan!