'Pokémon Go' Christmas Event: Holiday update brings free incubators, more starter spawns

Are you ready for your holiday Pokémon Go presents? The Pokémon Go Christmas event is here!

Niantic announced today a Pokémon Go holiday event that will make it easier to hatch the new Gen 2 baby Pokémon. It should also give fans of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle something to be excited about.

Pokémon Go Christmas event: Holiday update begins with free incubators for all

The baby Pokémon introduced to Pokémon Go on Dec. 12 cannot be caught in the wild. They have to be hatched from eggs that you could only begin collecting after Dec. 12. That means any Pokémon Go players who wanted the new baby Pokémon not only had to clear out their inventories of any eggs gathered prior to Dec. 12 but also likely had to invest in more incubators to quickly hatch new eggs.

By offering up free incubators at PokéStops, this Pokémon Go Christmas event should be a huge improvement for anyone struggling to add the baby Pokémon to their collection.

"Starting the morning of Dec. 25, 2016, and through the afternoon of Jan. 3, 2017 (PST), PokéStops will award one single-use incubator each day after your first photo disc spin," Niantic explains.

One free incubator per day is still a great deal, even if you can only use the incubator once.

Pokémon Go Christmas event: Higher chances to find baby Pokémon eggs

Not only are incubators free, but your chances of hatching a Gen 2 Pokémon have also improved.

"As you visit PokéStops during this time period, there will be a greater chance of finding eggs that hatch Togepi, Pichu and several other recently found Pokémon, originally discovered in the Johto region," Niantic notes.

Pokémon Go Christmas event: Look out for Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle during the holidays

When you first started playing Pokémon Go you had three starters to choose between: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Depending on where you live and what Pokémon spawn in your area, you may not have seen very many of those starter Pokémon since then.

Niantic is fixing that temporarily for the holidays by increasing their spawn rates. Additionally, you'll also see their evolutions in the wild. So keep an eye out for Ivysaur, Venusaur, Charmeleon, Charizard, Wartortle and Blastoise as well.

More Pokémon Go news, tips and tricks

If you're ready to celebrate your Pokémon Go holiday, you may also want to check out Mic's other Pokémon Go content. Here are guides on how to catch Gen 2 baby Pokémon, the 98 Gen 2 Pokémon that have yet to be added to the game, how to catch Pikachu and his adorable new Christmas hat, our analysis of post-update Chansey and Rhydon, everything you need to know about finding the long-awaited Pokémon Ditto, how to create new PokéStops, how to maximize your chances of catching Pokémon and how PokéStops distribute Pokémon eggs.