Tasks, rewards and the best choice

Updated May 19, 2026: There's a new 'Choose your pathA Timed Research event is in progress Pokemon Go. Starting on May 19th at 10am and ending on May 26th at 8pm, players will be able to choose from three paths with different rewards. Most of the quests are the same from the event at the beginning of the month, but we've updated the guide to reflect the changes.

From 19 May 2026 at 10:00 local time until 26 May 2026 at 20:00 local time you can watch 'Choose Your Path Timed Research' at Pokemon Go. If you go to the Research tab in the game and then go to “Special” you will see 'Choose your way' option. The three paths are Explore, Capture and Fight. Here are the rewards for each route and the one you should take!

GameRant Quiz

Easy (15s) Medium (10s) Hard (5s) Permadeath (5s)

All “Choose Your Timed Research Path” Quests and Rewards in Pokemon GO

If you decide to go along 'ExploreYou can hatch eggs at half distance until May 26th via the Timed Research route. You also get these two quests (one step):

Explore 5 km (x10 Great Balls)
Spin 50 PokeStops or Gyms (x10 Ultra Balls)
- Total reward: 3 Pinap Berries, 5 Rare Candies

If you select 'Catch' the way in Pokemon Goyou will get extra candy for nice throws or better. You will also gain access to the following research tasks and rewards:

Make 15 Great Throws (x10 Great Balls)
Make 50 Curved Ball Throws (x10 Ultra Balls)
- Total reward: 3 Pinap Berries, 5 Rare Candies

And finally, if you go with 'Battle'way, you will get extra components from Rocket Grunt battlesand you will receive the following research tasks and rewards:

Win 5 Raids (10x Great Balls)
Use 25 Super Powerful Charged Attacks (10x Ultra Balls)
- Total reward: 3 Pinap Berries, 5 Rare Candies

Should you choose the path of battle, exploration or capture?

As someone who doesn't travel much while gaming Pokemon GoI I think the best option is the Catch route. You won't have to rely on participating in raids or doing a lot of exploring to reap the benefits of extra XP – just catch Pokemon. It's also not that hard to get nice throws or better during Pokemon encounters, so you're bound to get tons of XP just by playing. Pokemon Go at home.

However, if you're planning on going somewhere soon where you'll be walking a lot, like a new city or an outdoor event, going with the Explore route may not be a bad choice. Just make sure you go somewhere with a lot of PokeStops to spin for 5x bonus XP.