We're nearing the end of October, but there's still a lot happening in Pokemon Go this month. Players have a variety of events and activities to look forward to over the next few days, including the game's annual Halloween celebration and new Spotlight Hours. On top of that, a couple of spooky legendary and mythical Pokemon are returning to raid battles this month just in time for Halloween. Here are all the biggest events going on in Pokemon Go in October 2021.

Pokemon Go Halloween 2021 event

Pokemon Go's Halloween 2021 event runs from Oct. 15-31. This year, the festivities are being divided up into two parts. Part 1 runs until Oct. 22 and introduces Galarian Slowking to the game, as well as a new Halloween Special Research story revolving around Galarian Yamask. Part 2 picks up right afterward and introduces four new ghost Pokemon from the Kalos region: Phantump, Trevenant, Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist. There will also be themed Timed Research tasks and bonuses throughout the entire event, including increased candy.

October Research Breakthrough encounter: Yamask

Pokemon Go is offering a new batch of Field Research tasks and rewards all October long. Along with the tasks, a spooky new Research Breakthrough encounter is available this month. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough in October, you'll earn a chance to catch the ghost-type Pokemon Yamask.

To achieve a Research Breakthrough in Pokemon Go, you must first earn seven stamps. You'll receive one stamp for the first Field Research task you complete each day, so you'll need to complete tasks over at least seven days to achieve a Research Breakthrough and earn a chance to catch Yamask.

October raid rotation

Several spooky legendaries are returning to five-star raids throughout October. Douse Drive Genesect will be available during the first part of the month, marking your first chance to catch this form in Pokemon Go. After it leaves raids, Altered Forme Giratina will make a return from Oct. 12-22. Finally, the dark-type mythical Pokemon Darkrai will close out October, and this time, each one you encounter will know the Charged Attack Sludge Bomb. You can see October's legendary raid schedule below:

Oct. 1-12

Oct. 12-22

Oct. 22 - Nov. 5

In addition to the legendaries, two Mega-Evolved Pokemon will appear in Mega Raids throughout October. Mega Gengar will be the featured raid boss until Oct. 22, after which point will be replaced by Mega Absol. You can check out October's Mega Raid schedule below:

Oct. 1-22

Oct. 22 - Nov. 5

October Pokemon Spotlight Hours

Pokemon Go holds a weekly Spotlight Hour event every Tuesday evening from 6-7 p.m. local time. During that hour, a certain Pokemon will spawn much more frequently than normal, and a special bonus will be active in the game, netting you additional experience points, candy or Stardust. Here are all of October's spotlight Pokemon and bonuses:

Oct. 5

• Spotlight Pokemon: Drifloon
  
• Spotlight bonus: 2x evolution XP

Oct. 12

• Spotlight Pokemon: Gastly
• Spotlight bonus: 2x catch Stardust

Oct. 19

• Spotlight Pokemon: Gothita
• Spotlight bonus: 2x catch XP

Oct. 26

• Spotlight Pokemon: Murkrow
• Spotlight bonus: 2x evolution XP

Zarude Secrets of the Jungle movie event

Pokemon Go kicked off October with a crossover event based on Pokemon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle. From Oct. 1-10, Pokemon featured in the film appeared more frequently in the game, and there was a new Special Research story that lead to an encounter with Zarude. While the event has since ended, you can still encounter Zarude if you finish the Special Research story, and Team Rocket's Jessie and James will continue appearing in the game until Oct. 15.

October 2021 Duskull Community Day

Pokemon Go's October Community Day event took place on Saturday, Oct. 9. The star of this month's Community Day was the ghost-type Pokemon Duskull. Niantic also offered triple the usual amount of Stardust for catching Pokemon during the event, and Duskull's evolved form, Dusclops, was able to learn the Community Day-exclusive move Shadow Ball if it evolved into Dusknoir before the event ended.

Safari Zone events

Pokemon Go's delayed Safari Zone events, which were originally scheduled to take place in early 2020, will now be held in October and November. Players who purchased a ticket for their respective event will be able to participate either remotely or at the designated venue. However, those interested in joining in-person must first RSVP. The dates and venues of the three Safari Zone events are as follows:

• Liverpool Safari Zone in Sefton Park: Oct. 15-17
• Philadelphia Safari Zone in Fairmount Park: Oct. 29-31
• St. Louis Safari Zone in Tower Grove Park: Nov. 12-14