What is a Fashion Challenger in Pokémon Go?

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Every so often, Niantic throws a curveball at players in Pokémon Go. This will typically happen with the event quests or the exclusive rewards players receive for participating in limited Special Research. For those participating in Pokémon Go’s Fashion Week 2022 event, you may notice that Fashion Challengers are the Timed Research rewards for the event. What is a Fashion Challenger in Pokémon Go?

A Fashion Challenger is an exclusively NPC appearing during Fashion Week 2022 in Pokémon Go. They will appear for the Timed Research tasks for you to battle against them during the event. They will appear as a reward at the end of the three tasks, and you will need to use three Pokémon to prevail. Upon defeating these trainers, you will receive a Pokémon encounter. The first Fashion Challenge rewards you with a Coragunk encounter, the second is a Diglett encounter, and the third is an Absol encounter. Each of these Pokémon are their fashionable version, so they will have unique cosmetics tied to them.

Related: All Fashion Week 2022 Timed Research tasks and rewards in Pokemon Go

These cosmetic Pokémon have the chance to be shiny, and you can still mega evolve them, such as Absol. The battles with a Fashion Challenger should not be difficult to overcome, but you will want to bring your best Pokémon against these trainers. Primarily, they are used to show off some of the exclusive Pokémon appearing during Fashion Week 2022, such as Furfrou, Mareanie, Diglett, Blitzle, and others.

Outside of the Timed Research for Fashion Week 2022, you will not encounter these Challengers. They will not be available to encounter at Poké Stops, and you can’t find them while exploring the world.