Background (GO)

A background (Japanese: 背景 Background) is an image displayed behind a Pokémon when viewing its summary in the Pokémon Box. By default, all Pokémon display an animated background based on their primary type. Lucky Pokemon and Shadow Pokémon override the type background with a gold or dark blue background, respectively.

Certain Pokémon caught during events can also receive a Location Background (also known as a Location Card), to commemorate the real-life location where the event took place, or a Special Background, to commemorate an aspect of the event or the Pokémon. If a Pokémon has a Location or Special Background, when viewing the Pokémon's summary, the background will periodically fade between the type/Lucky background and the Location/Special Background.

Filters

Main article: Pokémon Box (GO)#Search queries

Players can filter their Pokémon Box to search for Pokémon with certain backgrounds with the following filters:

• lucky for Lucky Pokémon
• shadow for Shadow Pokémon
• background for Pokémon with a Location Background or a Special Background
• locationbackground for Pokémon with a Location Background
• specialbackground for Pokémon with a Special Background

List of backgrounds

Standard

• 
  Normal
• 
  Fighting
• 
  Flying
• 
  Poison
• 
  Ground
• 
  Rock
• 
  Bug
• 
  Ghost
• 
  Steel
• 
  Fire
• 
  Water
• 
  Grass
• 
  Electric
• 
  Psychic
• 
  Ice
• 
  Dragon
• 
  Dark
• 
  Fairy
• 
  Lucky

Locations

Except where noted, all of these backgrounds required purchasing a local event ticket.

Background	Location	Eligible Pokémon	Guaranteed?	Source
	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA		No	Raid Battles: February 18–19, 2023
	Jeju Island, South Korea		No	Raid Battles: July 28–30, 2023
	Osaka, Japan		No	Raid Battles: August 4–6, 2023
	London, England		No	Raid Battles: August 4–6, 2023
	New York City, New York, USA		No	Raid Battles: August 18–20, 2023
	Seoul, South Korea	********	Yes	Special & Timed Research: October 7–8, 2023
	Barcelona, Spain	********	Yes	Special & Timed Research: October 13–14, 2023
	Mexico City, Mexico	********	Yes	Special & Timed Research: November 4–5, 2023
	Los Angeles, California, USA		No	Raid Battles: February 17–18, 2024
	Bali, Indonesia		No	Raid Battles: March 2–3, 2024
	Tainan, Taiwan	********	Yes	Special & Timed Research: March 9–10, 2024
	Surabaya, Indonesia		No	Raid Battles: May 11–12, 2024
	Sendai, Japan	**	No	Raid Battles: May 30–June 2, 2024
			Yes	Special Research: May 30–June 2, 2024
	Madrid, Spain	**	No	Raid Battles: June 14–16, 2024
			Yes	Special Research: June 14–16, 2024
	New York City, New York, USA	**	No	Raid Battles: July 5–7, 2024
			Yes	Special Research: July 5–7, 2024
	Honolulu, Hawaii, USA		No	Raid Battles, Field Research, Timed Research: August 16–20, 2024 (no ticket required)
	Yogyakarta, Indonesia		No	Raid Battles: August 24–25, 2024
	Jakarta, Indonesia		No	Raid Battles: September 21–22, 2024
		********	Yes	Special & Timed Research: September 21–22, 2024
	Incheon, South Korea	*	No	Field & Special Research: September 27–29, 2024

Special

Except where noted, all of these backgrounds did not require purchasing an event ticket.

Background	Eligible Pokémon	Guaranteed?	Source
	**	No	Raid Battles: July 8–14, 2024
		Yes	Timed Research: August 26, 2024–December 31, 2025
		Yes	Special Research: July 14, 2024 (ticketed)
		Yes
		Yes	Fusing a Necrozma with the Ultra Wormhole background and a Solgaleo with the Radiance background
		Yes	Fusing a Necrozma with the Ultra Wormhole background and a Lunala with the Umbra background
	*	Yes	Timed Research: August 26–31, 2024
	**	Yes	Timed Research: August 28–31, 2024
		Yes	Timed Research: August 29–31, 2024

Trivia

• No Shadow Pokémon have been released with a Location or Special Background.
• Since the type backgrounds only display depending on a Pokémon's primary type:
  • The Dark-type and Steel-type backgrounds were unused until the release of most Generation II Pokémon on February 16, 2017.
  • The Flying-type background was unused until the release of Tornadus on February 4, 2020.