Pokémon Pokopia Halloween event art with Ditto in human form, Pumpkaboo, Gourgeist and a Pikachu in a witch hat at night

The Pokopia Pumpkaboo event is running now on Switch 2, and it’s your chance to add two Ghost-type pumpkins, Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, to your town in time for Halloween. Nintendo’s Pumpkaboo’s Sweet Surprises! event ends on Sunday, November 1, at 4:59am your local time, and it won’t show up at all until your save meets a few requirements first.

When the event ends

The event started on Saturday, October 17, at 5:00am and ends on Sunday, November 1, at 4:59am. Nintendo lists both times as local time, so it wraps up at 4:59am wherever you are rather than at one global moment. Nintendo says the event won’t appear if your system date is outside that window, so there’s no extending it by changing the clock.

How to unlock it

Here’s what Nintendo says you need:

  1. Update the game to Ver. 2.0.1. You can check from Options on the HOME Menu, and the title screen shows the version too.
  2. Finish one of your town’s important requests and rebuild the Pokémon Center.
  3. Learn Camouflage from Zorua in Bleak Beach.
  4. Set your Switch 2 clock to the real date and time.
  5. Launch the game while you’re online. You only need the connection the first time you play the event.

If you hit those requirements while the event is already live, Pumpkaboo won’t appear right away. Move to another town once, or pick Save & Quit from the main menu and load back in. Nintendo also says the event still triggers if you meet the requirements on November 1, but that only leaves the hours before 4:59am, so don’t count on it.

How the event works

Once it’s on, Pumpkaboo hangs around near the Pokémon Center with a request. Talk to it and you’ll befriend it. From there it’s all about pumpkin candy, an event-only item. You earn candy by using Camouflage to disguise yourself as furniture or an item Pokémon like, then surprising them when they wander up.

Ditto uses Camouflage to surprise a Charmander in Pokémon Pokopia's Pumpkaboo event
A Charmander walks up to a sign, then Ditto drops its Camouflage disguise to surprise it. Image: Nintendo / The Pokémon Company

Take the candy to the Pokémon Center and trade it for midnight-festival furniture and decorations. Some of those items are what you need to build a habitat for Gourgeist, and once the habitat is ready, Gourgeist moves in and you can befriend it too. Anything you befriend stays in your town after the event ends.

Gourgeist stands beside a stack of glowing jack-o'-lanterns in the woods at night in Pokémon Pokopia
Ditto makes a heart pose next to Gourgeist and a tower of glowing jack-o’-lanterns in the woods at night. Image: Nintendo / The Pokémon Company

A few catches

The event doesn’t happen on Cloud Islands or in Bubbly Basin, so play it in a regular town. If you want to do it with friends over Link Play, use Palette Town and talk to Pumpkaboo before you start multiplayer. Spectator Mode isn’t supported.

If you’re still deciding whether to pick up Pokémon Pokopia, the bundle with the Expansion Pass is coming October 29, the same day as the Legends: Z-A bundle we covered in our Mega Dimension Bundle story.

Get your Camouflage ready and go scare some Pokémon for candy before November 1.

Joel Lisenby
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