Rookidee Community Day — How to Nab a Shiny, Double Your Candy and Get Corviknight’s Air Cutter Fast

Pokémon Go’s Rookidee Community Day runs on Saturday, Aug. 30 from 2–5 p.m. local time. During that window Rookidee will appear everywhere, with extra bonuses and a boosted shiny rate, and Corvisquire’s evolution can learn a special move if you time it right.

• How to catch a shiny Rookidee
• Community Day move for Corviknight
• Corviknight in the meta
• How to make the most of the event

How do I catch a shiny Rookidee?

Community Days typically raise the shiny odds a lot. According to research by The Silph Road (via the Wayback Machine), Community Day shiny rates are around 1 in 24, so playing through the three-hour window should get you multiple chances.

If you’re short on time or Poké Balls, use an Incense and quickly tap each Rookidee to check for shininess. Also, any Rookidee you already tapped will face your player, which helps you track which ones you’ve inspected.

What Community Day move does Rookidee’s evolution learn?

If you evolve Corvisquire into Corviknight between Aug. 30 at 2 p.m. and Sept. 6 at 10 p.m. local time, your new Corviknight will learn the charged move Air Cutter. That makes timing an evolution during the event window important if you want that move without spending resources.

Alternatively, you can wait for a future Community Day or use an Elite TM to teach Air Cutter if you miss the window.

How does Corviknight do in the meta?

Corviknight is a solid pick in PvP, especially the Great and Ultra Leagues. A common moveset is Sand Attack, Payback, and Air Cutter, which covers offense and consistency.

However, Corviknight isn’t a top choice for PvE raids or gym attackers. Several flying-types, like Staraptor and Braviary, tend to outpace it in raw damage. If you’re a collector, note that Corviknight has a Gigantamax form, so saving candy for powering up one could be a reason to hold onto some Rookidee Candy.

How do I make the most of Rookidee Community Day?

Niantic will enable a number of bonuses during the three-hour event. Plan around those to maximize candy, stardust, and catches.

Active bonuses

During the event the following bonuses apply:

• 1/4 hatch distance for eggs placed into Incubators during the event
• Doubled candy for catching Pokémon
• Doubled chance for Level 31+ trainers to get XL candy from catches
• Incense lasts three hours
• Lure Modules last three hours
• Rookidee special photobombs when taking snapshots
• One additional special trade
• Stardust cost halved for trading

Practical tips

Put eggs into Incubators before the event to take advantage of the 1/4 hatch distance. Also, pop an Incense and use extended Lure Modules to spawn more Rookidee.

If you have a Mega that boosts Flying-type catches—like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Pidgeot, Mega Pinsir, Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Salamence, or Mega Rayquaza—use it to earn extra Rookidee Candy per catch.

Finally, there’s a “Community Day Continued” Timed Research that runs until Sept. 6 and provides more Rookidee encounters, some with special backgrounds. That research keeps the increased shiny rate even after the three-hour event, so completing it gives extra chances at shiny Rookidee.

For the shiny-rate reference, see research from The Silph Road (archived).