Mimikyu has arrived in Pokémon Go to celebrate April Fools Day 2026! This Ghost and Fairy-type Pokémon from Gen 7 disguises itself as Pikachu in an attempt to make friends since its actual appearance is meant to be a little scary.
Mimikyu’s release into Pokémon Go has been long awaited, with many players believing it would debut during a Halloween event. April Fools Day, however, is quite fitting for Mimikyu due to how it is trying to trick us, so let’s take a look at how to get Mimikyu in Pokémon Go!
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How to get Mimikyu in Pokémon Go
Mimikyu is spawning in the wild throughout the A Shockingly Good Time event, which ends on Monday 6th April at 8pm (local time).
Mimikyu encounters can also be obtained from two event-exclusive field research tasks:
- Catch 3 Pikachu
- Catch 5 different species of Electric-type Pokémon
Remember: event-exclusive field research tasks are earned by spinning PokéStops and the task offered change on a daily basis. Mimikyu is also not the only reward on offer from both of these tasks, so you might have to find and complete them multiple times to get a Mimikyu.
There’s one final way to get a Mimikyu. All you have to do is reach Rank 30 on the A Shockingly Good Time Go Pass to earn an encounter with Mimikyu.
Just keep in mind that you need to have reached this Rank by Monday 6th April at 8pm (local time) if you want to unlock this encounter. The good news is that there’s no daily Go Point limit from 12am (local time) on Saturday 4th April to 7:59pm (local time) on Monday 6th April. This means you can easily gather up enough points to reach Rank 30 if needed.
I highly recommend catching Mimikyu from one of the above methods as, at the time of writing, we don’t know how it will be spawning after A Shockingly Good Time ends.
The A Shocklingly Good Time event is currently running and its released Mimikyu! The An Egg-cellent Adventure event is also running exclusively in Europe. Don’t forget about the Pressure Rising Special Research quest.
There’s a lot to do in Pokémon Go outside of the current event! From the Go Battle League, Remote Trading, PokéStop Showcase, Routes and Max Battles. Don’t forget to catch rare Pokémon while you’re at it.
Mimikyu Busted Form explained
Busted Form refers to the second form Mimikyu can take in battle, with the first being Disguised Form. The visual difference between them is that Disguised Form is how Mimikyu typically looks, while Busted Form has its fake Pikachu head hanging at an angle.
In Pokémon Go, Busted Form is activated after Mimikyu is hit by a Charged Attack and protects it from any damage said attack would inflict. This means that Mimikyu has a hidden shield! It’s a useful feature since it means you don’t have to spend one of your two shields to protect Mimikyu.
Such a useful feature does, of course, come with a cost. Once in Busted Form, Mimikyu’s Defense will be lowered until the end of the battle. So, while it’s saved from one large impact of damage, it will take more from Fast Attacks and any Charged Attack you don’t protect it from. Still, this doesn’t fully negate how useful Busted Form’s ability can be as it could absorb a nasty Charged Attack meant for another Pokémon if you switch Mimikyu into battle at the right time!
Is Mimikyu shiny in Pokémon Go?
No, shiny Mimikyu is not in Pokémon Go at the time of writing. This does mean we’ll have to wait a little longer to add Mimikyu to our shiny collections, but maybe we’ll get lucky during a future event. Maybe a Halloween one…
When it does arrive, you’ll want to catch Mimikyu because it looks fantastic. (It’s actually one of my favourite shinies!) Considering how Mimikyu is attempting to disguise itself as Pikachu, you’d expect it to copy shiny Pikachu’s darker yellow colouring but it actually doesn’t. Instead, shiny Mimikyu leans its ghostly side with a black an white design. It reminds me a lot of the original black-and-white pixel art for Pikachu on Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy.
Best of luck catching Mimikyu!