‘Pokémon GO’ Christmas Event Tips, Tricks & Guide: Does The Santa Hat Give Special Powers To Pikachu & Raichu?

"Pokémon GO" players can now get a new, limited edition Pikachu with a Santa hat adorning its head thanks to Niantic's Christmas event. The question is: does the iconic red hat also show up on Raichu's -- Pikachu's evolution -- head? The answer is yes.

How can "Pokémon GO" trainers get Pikachu and Raichu with a Santa hat? The first thing players need to do is to catch a Pikachu wearing a Santa hat. The popular Pokémon's festive edition will appear on the app's Nearby tracker if a trainer is within the critter's location.

Pikachu's Santa hat edition is only available until Dec. 29 at 10 AM PST. "Pokémon GO" players should visit known Pikachu spawn nests to boost their chances of catching the Pokémon's Santa hat edition. A tip: fighting the transforming Pokémon Ditto disguised as a Santa hat Pikachu will only yield a normal Pikachu instead of its festive version.

But how about the Santa hat Raichu? Once a "Pokémon GO" trainer is successful in capturing a Santa hat Pikachu, he/she can now evolve the cute, yellow creature into Santa hat Raichu using 50 Candies.

Remember that in "Pokémon GO," the Santa hat is just a festive accessory and it does not provide Pikachu or Raichu with special powers or abilities. Regardless, a Pikachu or Raichu with a red hat on its head is definitely cute to look at and it's expected that players would want the limited edition Pokémon.

Niantic's "Pokémon GO" update this month has been huge. A hundred new Pokémon were added, the Nearby tracker was expanded to more regions, and the developer partnered with Starbucks and Sprint.

There are strong speculations that Niantic is preparing something bigger for the "Pokémon GO" Christmas event. In a blog post published on Dec. 14, Niantic said that the "month isn't even half over, and it's been a blast so far," telling players to "stay tuned for more."

Heavy speculated that the actual "Pokémon GO" Christmas event would happen on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The previous special events -- Halloween and Thanksgiving -- were launched on Oct. 26 and Nov. 23, respectively.

Both of those dates fall on a Wednesday and a week before the aforementioned holidays. It makes sense that the Christmas event would be the same. The "Pokémon GO" Halloween event gave double Candy amounts and for Thanksgiving, players got double XP and Stardust. It remains to be seen what the Christmas event has to offer.

Have you acquired a Pikachu or Raichu with a Santa hat yet? What do you wish to see in the Christmas event? Share your thoughts below!