Renewed rare Pikachu in Pokemon GO shocks betrayed veterans
Yes, there are Pokemon GO veterans already, the game's been out for several years and SOME cool people have played even BEFORE day 1! It's that sort of attitude that's already begun to clash with the release that'll happen in Pokemon GO in the very near future. That very near future will include not JUST one fancy new Pikachu, but SEVERAL super-rare Pikachu that'd been released in the game Pokemon GO in the past.
Rarity of the Hat
The rarity of each individual Pikachu is marked by the date of release, the length of time the monster was available in the wild, and additional factors like SHINY availability. You see, each individual SPECIAL Pikachu is a unique unit in the game Pokemon GO.
We are talking, of course, about Special Hat Pikachu. This special Pikachu is actually a collection of different Pokemon in the game that don't have any special powers or abilities. They're just Pikachu, really, with the same powers and limits as the standard monster.
The difference is that each individual Special Hat Pikachu keeps its hat forever. It's like a tattoo. So it's like catching a Shiny Pokemon, but limited by window of availability rather than limited by rarity.
The full list of Pikachu with Special Hats is as follows. This image was captured from the always-helpful Bulbapedia at Bulbagarden. You can get entirely too much information about Pikachu there if you do so desire.
Why so serious?
While Niantic never specifically stated that each of these Special Hat Pikachu would NEVER appear in the game again... there was a sort of implication that this was the situation. One way or the other, be it fair or no – Pikachu doesn't just pop a hat on at a random time, right? Thus, there is rage in the world from those that only find items special if they know they're one of the few that has said item.
NOTE: I won't be posting any of the... ah... extreme reactions to this news as described above, primarily because of the language. I just want everyone to know that this game summons deep emotion in some players, be it for good or ill. This game makes people FEEL THINGS in their HEART.
OK but when, though?
The big Special Hat Pikachu event date is August 6 from 10AM JST. That's just the beginning. This event lasts until the 12th of August at 5PM JST. And what the heck is JST, you might be asking – it's Japan Standard Time, as this Special Hat Pikachu event takes place at the same time as that month's Pokemon GO Fest Yokohama.
Japan's clocks reach dates/times before the USA (in a manner of speaking), so when they're just starting this event in the morning, it's dinner time the day before, here in the USA. So for the USA, time conversions are a bit confusing.
If you live in the USA, look to these times: Start time for this event is August 5 at 6PM Pacific (PT). End-time then is August 12 at 1AM Pacific (PT). That'll be weird because some areas in the game do not deliver the same in-game experience in the deep dark of the night that they do during the day... so...
Some people might get desperate to get all those Special Hat Pikachu. If you're wildly addicted to the game, I'd recommend against buying plane tickets, and instead just CONSIDERING looking at this set of steps and using your secondary not-too-important account to... maybe digitally visit Japan? It's up to you!