You know that feeling when you check your phone at 5:55 PM on a Tuesday and realize you’ve got five minutes to clear your item bag? Yeah, we’ve all been there. December is usually a chaotic month for Pokémon GO players because Niantic loves to cram every possible holiday event into a four-week window. Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour December 2024 was no exception. It wasn't just about catching a bunch of random spawns; it was a calculated test of who had enough Razz Berries and storage space left after the massive GO Wild Area events.
The schedule this year felt a bit different. Usually, we get a predictable rhythm, but the December lineup leaned heavily into the "Winter Holiday" theme, which meant a lot of Ice-types and a lot of costume variants. If you were looking for meta-relevant attackers, you had to be picky. If you were just hunting shinies, well, you probably spent a lot of time squinting at your screen hoping for that slight color variation.
The December 3rd Opener: Magnemite and the Stardust Grind
We kicked things off on December 3rd with Magnemite. Honestly, this was the sleeper hit of the month. While everyone gets excited about "cool" Pokémon, seasoned players know that a Magnemite spotlight hour is basically a gift from the developers for one specific reason: the 2x Catch Stardust bonus.
Stardust is the literal lifeblood of this game. You can’t power up your Master League beasts or purify your Shadows without it. Catching a Magnemite is relatively easy—it has a generous catch circle—and when you layer a Star Piece on top of that 2x bonus, the numbers get pretty wild. You could easily walk away with over 100,000 Stardust in sixty minutes if you were fast-catching in a high-density area like a local park or a mall.
Magnezone, the final evolution, still holds its own in the PvE meta as a solid Electric-type attacker. It's not Xurkitree, sure, but it’s a budget-friendly option for players who don't have a team of six legendaries. Plus, the shiny version—a sort of washed-out, gold-tinted silver—is actually distinct enough to notice without the sparkle animation.
Wooper and Quagsire: The December 10th Double XP Trap
Next up was Wooper on December 10th. This included both the Johto and Paldean variants, which was a nice touch for those still trying to fill out their Paldea medals. The bonus was 2x Catch XP.
Here’s the thing about XP bonuses during spotlight hours: they are kind of a trap unless you’re a master at hitting Excellent Throws. If you’re just catching normally, the XP gain is negligible compared to what you get during a Community Day. However, Paldean Clodsire (the evolution of Paldean Wooper) is an absolute unit in the Great League. It’s bulky, has a fantastic typing (Poison/Ground), and punishes the ubiquitous Fairy-types that dominate the lower tiers of GO Battle League.
If you missed out on the Wooper Community Day a while back, this hour was your redemption arc. You needed those XL candies. Seriously. To get a Clodsire or a Quagsire up to the competitive cap for certain limited cups, those XLs are mandatory. Most players I know spent this hour grinding specifically for the "hundo" or the "rank 1" PvP IV spreads rather than the XP.
The Mid-Month Slump? Not with Smoochum
December 17th brought us Smoochum. Now, I know what you’re thinking. "A baby Pokémon? In the wild?"
Niantic occasionally breaks the "rules" of the game for December. Usually, Smoochum is an egg-only hatch. Seeing them spawn in the wild during the Pokémon GO Spotlight Hour December 2024 was a bit of a shock to the system. The bonus was 2x Catch Candy, which was... fine. Jynx isn’t exactly breaking the meta these days.
But—and this is a big "but"—Smoochum appeared wearing a ribbon.
Collectors go absolutely feral for costume Pokémon. Since you can’t evolve some of these costume babies, they remain rare trade bait for years. If you managed to snag a shiny Smoochum with a holiday ribbon, you basically secured yourself a ticket to trade for almost any legendary you want later. It’s the "Pikachu Libre" effect on a smaller scale. The catch rate for babies is also slightly higher, making this an easy hour for casual players to participate in without burning through Great Balls.
The Christmas Eve Pivot: Swinub's Return
December 24th was a bold choice. It’s Christmas Eve. Most people are eating dinner, traveling, or desperately wrapping gifts. Niantic scheduled Swinub for this slot, almost as if they were daring us to ignore our families.
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And frankly, it worked. Swinub is one of the most important Pokémon in the entire game. Mamoswine is the undisputed king of non-mega Ice-type attackers. If you want to take down a Rayquaza, a Landorus, or any of the plethora of Dragon-types in raids, you need a squad of Mamoswines.
The bonus was 2x Transfer Candy. This was the "Inventory Cleanup" hour. Smart players spent the first 50 minutes catching every Swinub they saw and the last 10 minutes transferring the hundreds of junk Pokémon they’d been hoarding all month. It was a meta-game of inventory management. If you were lucky enough to have a GO Plus+ or a Poké Ball Plus, you could leave it running in your pocket while you had dinner, effectively "passive-farming" one of the best attackers in the game.
Finishing the Year with Bergite
The final Tuesday, December 31st, featured Bergmite. This felt like a bit of an afterthought given the New Year’s Eve celebrations, but for those grinding the "All-in-One #151" shiny Mew quest or other long-term research, the 2x Evolution XP bonus was the main draw.
Bergmite’s evolution, Avalugg (especially the Hisuian version if you had energy or specific raid catches), is a niche pick in the Master League Premier Cup. It’s a literal wall of ice. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective. However, most people used this hour to evolve all the Magnemites and Woopers they caught earlier in the month to maximize that 2x XP bonus. It was a bookkeeping hour. A way to start 2025 with a clean storage and a few extra million XP.
Why This December Felt Different
Looking back at the data provided by community contributors like LeekDuck and the Silph Road archives (bless the people keeping those mirrors alive), the spawn rates for December 2024 felt slightly boosted compared to the autumn months. There was a clear push to keep player engagement high during the winter lull in the Northern Hemisphere.
One thing people often get wrong about Spotlight Hours is thinking they have to play the full sixty minutes. You don't.
- The 15-Minute Sprint: If you only have a few minutes, focus on the first 15. Spawns refresh at the top of the hour, and cluster spawns at PokéStops are at their peak.
- The Bonus Priority: Only play the full hour if the bonus matches your needs. Stardust? Play the whole time. Evolution XP? Just play the last 15 minutes to dump your backlog.
- The Fast Catch Trick: If you aren't using the "skip animation" glitch (holding the berry tray and swiping while throwing), you’re catching at 30% of the speed you could be. In a month with Swinub and Magnemite, speed was everything.
What to Do Now
The December 2024 window has closed, but the impact on your storage remains. If you’ve got a bunch of Swinub candy and some high-IV Mamoswines, now is the time to invest your TMs.
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Make sure your Mamoswines have Powder Snow and Avalanche. Don’t settle for Stone Edge unless you’re running a specific PvP set. For your new Clodsires, look for Mud Shot and Stone Edge/Earthquake.
The next few months of raids usually feature Dragons or Flying-types, meaning those Ice-types you farmed in December are about to become your MVP team. Clean out the tag "Dec2024" in your search bar, keep the 3 stars, and trade the rest to a friend for that extra distance candy. You'll need it for the 2025 Tour events coming up.
Stop hoarding those costume Smoochums unless they are shiny or hundos. They take up space, and let’s be real, you’re never going to trade 50 of them. Keep the best three and move on. Your storage will thank you when the January events start rolling in.
Next Steps for Players:
- Audit your Mamoswine team: Ensure you have at least four powered up to level 40 for upcoming Tier 5 raids.
- Tag your Trade Pokémon: Mark any leftover costume Smoochums or Bergmites for distance trades (100km+) to maximize XL candy gains.
- Save your Stardust: With January's competitive circuit starting, avoid "vanity" power-ups and focus on the meta-relevant catches from the Wooper hour.