PORTABLE The Pokémon GO | OT

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go’s Halloween event datamine all but confirms gen three is on its way[/h]

[h=2]That’s one dang big leak[/h]

Pokémon Go’s big Halloween update could bring some exciting changes to the game, based on findings from big-time dataminers in The Silph Road guild. These range from bug fixes to anti-cheating tools, but the grabbiest one is our first look at what could the game’s first third-gen Pokémon.
A splash screen found in the game’s latest file package shows several ghost- and dark-type Pokémon, like the familiar Gengar, Zubat and Murkrow. Also included in the new assets are several Pokémon from the third-generation games: Dusclops, Duskull, Sableye, Shuppet and Bannette.


We’ve never seen these guys in-game before, and we still haven’t seen their in-game models. But the datamined illustration is an encouraging sign that they’ll make their debut during the annual Halloween promotion. There are also sounds included in Pokémon Go’s new update files for species up to Pokédex entry 386, or Deoxys — a range that encompasses the entirety of the third generation.
This is the closest we’ve gotten to a confirmation of new Pokémon’s arrival inPokémon Go. We’ve reached out to Niantic about the datamine and will update accordingly. Be on the lookout for Pokémon Go’s Halloween 2017 event, which the company has yet to officially announce — although fans have long suspected that the seasonal campaign would introduce new monsters into the game.

 

[manigamer]

Update: Another seeming gen-three leak appears: An ad for the game on the Apple Watch App Store shows several new and old Pokémon, as well as a special Pikachu wearing a Witch Hat.

ImgurIt’s looking increasingly likely that the Halloween event will introduce us to some new Pokémon, but Niantic has yet to comment.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go Fest returns this summer[/h]

[h=2]The Pokémon Go fan affair heads back to Chicago for a full weekend[/h]

2017’s inaugural Pokémon Go Fest is remembered far more for its failings than itssuccesses. Niantic is committed to giving the fan event another go this summer, expanding the outdoor celebration to a full weekend this July.
Pokémon Go Fest 2018 is subtitled “A Walk in the Park in Chicago,” which speaks directly to what Niantic will have players doing this summer. On July 14 and 15, visitors to Chicago’s Lincoln Park will follow a nearly 2-mile trail to discover rare Pokémon, check out physical guideposts and participate in “exclusive activities,” which Niantic remains vague about.
Niantic does sound more confident that this year’s event will be a better experience than last year’s, when visitors to Chicago’s Grant Park could hardly get online long enough to connect to Pokémon Go. What followed was mass refunds to all participants, free legendary Pokémon giveaways and a class-action lawsuit, which is still pending.
“After getting off to a bumpy start in Chicago last year, we hosted a number of record-setting events in Japan, Korea, and cities across Europe with attendance that ranged from tens of thousands to more than two million,” said Niantic CEO John Hanke. (Niantic will once again hold two international Safari Zone events, one in Japan and one in Germany, this summer.)
A ticket to Pokémon Go Fest will cost $20, just as it did last year. For those who just happen to be in Chicago that weekend, they’ll be able to catch rare Pokémon throughout the city, despite not making it onto the event grounds.
Tickets go on sale May 11 at 9 a.m. PT. They’ll be available through the Pokémon Go Fest website.
Update: Although Pokémon Go Fest will run for two full days this year, a Niantic representative confirmed that attendees will only be able to purchase a ticket for a single day.
“Pokémon GO Fest 2018 is a single-day event,” wrote NianticIndigo, a member of the company’s support team. “You can’t attend both days. However, both days will offer the same experience. This is to allow more players to have a chance at participating in this event.”

 

[NaNoW]

hmmm..is this still alive

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go update brings trading, friends list to the game[/h]

[h=2]Two huge social features arrive, nearly two years after launch[/h]
An update will go live for Pokémon Gousers this week, Niantic announced. The update is one of the game’s biggest ever, adding features that many current and former players have anticipated since Pokémon Go’s 2016 launch: trading and a friends list.
[h=3]MAKING FRIENDS IN POKÉMON GO[/h]Friendship in Pokémon Go comes with special bonuses, according to Niantic. The social feature will encourage players to exchange six-letter, personalized Trainer Codes (think Nintendo’s Friend Code system) in order to add each other to their list of friends. Once a friend request has been accepted, trainers then can check out their friends’ stats in the main profile screen, including what their most recent in-game activity was.
From there, players have the option to send each other gifts online. These new items will be found at PokéStops or gyms and can only be used for sharing with friends. The cool part is that these can include helpful items, but also exclusive Pokémon Eggs — a new, yellow Egg that requires players to walk seven kilometers to hatch. Once it does, they’ll receive an exclusive, Egg-only Alolan form of a classic Pokémon.
All of this is important, but the most significant thing about the Friends feature is the Friendship Level. When players befriend each other, they start out essentially as acquaintances. The more they interact, however, the higher their Friendship Level comes. Battling a Gym or in a Raid together (a local-only feature) adds to that gauge, as does giving presents to one another or trading Pokémon (more on that in a second).



The four tiers are Good Friend, Great Friend, Ultra Friend and Best Friend, with each granting additional bonuses. Battling a Gym with an Ultra Friend throws in a higher attack bonus than you’d get fighting with a Good Friend, for example. You’ll also get trading benefits and access to a unique version of Pokémon trading as you become better friends with someone.
[h=3]TRADING POKÉMON INPOKÉMON GO[/h]Friendship is a crucial addition to the game, but trading feels like an essential one. It’s certainly a long time coming; Niantic first teased that it would allow players to swap monsters in Pokémon Go in the game’s debut trailer. Since then, CEO John Hanke and others have continued to promise that trading was still on its way.
The first thing to know about the trading function is that, in its first incarnation, it only works locally. Players cannot exchange Pokémon online; they must be physically near each other in order to initiate a trade. They must also have reached level 10 in-game to gain access to the feature.
Once those boxes are checked, however, anything goes. There are no limitations on which Pokémon players can send to each other, pending approval from their trading partner. There is one extra step, however, and that’s the stardust required to complete each trade. Depending on your Friendship level, trades will cost more or less stardust; Best Friends may only have to spend 40,000 of the item while those who have just met may have to spend a million.



Where it really helps to have close friends is with Special Trades. These trades are only available to Great Friends and above, and they’re the only way to exchange the following: Legendary Pokémon, shiny Pokémon and Pokémon you’ve yet to log in your Pokédex (like regional exclusives). Special Trades come with an inherently high stardust cost, but that will also go down as your Friendship level goes up.
As for the trading process itself, it looks a lot like trading in the mainline games. Your Pokémon face each other on special screen, and you watch them transfer over from your phone to your friend’s. You then greet the Pokémon and can even change its nickname. A quirk of note is that trading randomizes the stats of the Pokémon, with higher Friendship levels increasing the likelihood that your new Pokémon will retain any of the high-powered stats it had under its previous ownership.
[h=3]WHAT’S STILL TO COME[/h]“Trading definitely changed a lot [from its original design], and we have to take a lot of safety considerations for players and also the safety for the game value,” Kirsten Koa, lead software engineer on the social features update, told a small group of gathered press during E3 2018. “We don’t want to devalue their effort by making trading so easy to complete your Pokédex.”
This is the philosophy behind restricting Pokémon trading to in person-only. Don’t expect remote trading any time soon, Koa told us; it’s against the point of the Pokémon Goexperience. For Koa and the Niantic team, these updates are all about increasing the social element of the mobile game, which remains a key part of the game’s roadmap.
“WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE GOT THINGS RIGHT”
The Friends feature is also something we should expect Niantic to continue toying with. The cap on Friends will start at 200, but that number may increase in later version updates. The hope is that players meet at events like Pokémon Go Fest, swap Trainer Codes (however unwieldy) and start gifting. It’s a bit tougher to maximize the benefits of a strong Pokémon Go friendship with people who live farther away, but perhaps that’s why events like Community Days and Go Fest just keep gaining ground.
“[I grew up] playing a ton of Pokémon games and watching the anime and collecting and trading the Pokémon, cards with my sisters and friends at school,” Koa said of her experience designing the update. “Friends and trading is a really important aspect of the Pokémon franchise, so leading the implementation has been one of the most exciting but stressful points of my career.
“We wanted to make sure that we got things right.”
Expect friends and trades to arrive by the end of this week — meaning players should be acclimated by July’s Go Fest, where they’ll be sure to make even more friendships and trades.
Update: Pokémon Go’s trading feature is now live in-game and available to all players level 10 and up. Players must also be at least 13 years old in order to participate.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go Fest 2018 ran without a hitch, unlike last year[/h]

[h=2]Last year was a mess, but Niantic bounced back in a big way[/h]





It’s fair to call 2017’s Pokémon Go Fest a total failure. The inaugural,outdoor event was plagued by connection errors, bad weather, angry fans, and a whole lot of nothing — and it was all streamed live around the world.
It was a learning experience for developer Niantic, clearly. This year’s Pokémon Go Fest showed that the developer has not only done major work to improve the game over the last year, but it’s learned a lot about how to put on an event, too. Pokémon Go Fest 2018 wasn’t without its own faults, but it was a heck of a lot more fun than any of us survivors from last year expected.
[h=3]STABLE CONNECTIONS (MOSTLY)[/h]Pokémon Go lives or dies by your phone’s ability to get online, which is something largely out of our hands. Last year, our data networks failed us; this year, the majority of phone carriers held steady. That detail alone made spending an entire day in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, amid mud and humidity, a painless experience. We could call people! And use Twitter! And scroll through Instagram ad nauseam!
Oh, and we could play Pokémon Go, so that was good. One glitch: There was supposed to be free, public Wi-Fi available throughout the park for those of us with limited data plans, although getting it to work for more than 10 minutes was impossible. But it’s 2018, so we’ve always got a backup plan to get online.


[h=3]A REAL TRAINER’S CHALLENGE[/h]That wasn’t the case in 2017, of course. Another change from Year One was that Year Two gave all attendees a clearer purpose for the event, and one that felt far more independent than the team-based goal of last year. Pokémon Go Fest 2018 cohered around three major research challenges, the quests that Niantic introduced earlier this year into the game that further incentivize daily play. There was a storyline to this one that drew on the fact that we were hanging out in this park all day. It also was an obvious path towardunlocking a new mythical Pokémon.
As I wrote on Saturday, clearing all those tasks to win a Celebi took time. Yeah, the most hardcore players had it done before the afternoon. But us normies spent a few hours and walked along the two-mile trail of PokéStops to catch Pokémon, hatch Eggs and complete the quest. It was tough but not impossible, and it was probably the most I’ve walked while playing Pokémon Go since it started. (I had 25,000 steps on my pedometer by the end of the day.)
It’s hard to compare the focus of Go Fest 2018 to Go Fest 2017’s, considering nothing worked as planned last time. But the premise of the 2017 event was that each team would compete to catch the most Pokémon and unlock a Raid Battle with Lugia, the first in-game legendary. We weren’t able to do that properly, so Niantic gave every single person a Lugia without putting in the work. For us normies: Great! For the hardcore fans: Bad.
[h=3]A SOLO JOURNEY[/h]An easier comparison to make between the two events, however, is with that team-based focus. Because everyone had to catch their own Celebi, there wasn’t a point to work as a group. A lot of people traveled together, walked together, sat together; no one played together, because that wasn’t the point. There were neither Gyms nor Raid Battles for people to do together. I’m not huge into those, but Pokémon Go Fest is the rare time where those competitive features actually make sense.
At least we had trading, I guess. Not that anyone was giving me anything good.
That being said, focusing on playing the game on your own felt like a natural Pokémon experience. Sprawling Lincoln Park was a good setting for doing things on our own, and Niantic set up specific meetup points throughout the path. There were four type-based areas with surprisingly great designs, each one loaded with specific Pokémon.



Still, I often felt like I was among just a handful of other players working on their own quests. There were no crowds this year to overwhelm us; no shouting packs of players running to catch some rare Pokémon in the distance. Niantic dubbed this event “A Walk Through the Park,” and that’s what it was — walks are often solitary. There were still 21,000 people who came through over the two-day event, according to the developer, and it was easy to run into other players all throughout Chicago. (Niantic also said 180,000 logged in while playing in the city during the Go Fest weekend. There’s no available numbers for 2017’s event. )
[h=3]POKÉMON GO ... IS FUN AGAIN[/h]The game continues to hinge on its community, despite a much more dispersed crowd in 2018. That community just is more intimate, faithful and ... calmer than the Pokémon Goplayer base of its first two years, and certainly of Pokémon Go Fest 2017. And even though it was raining and hot and terrible to be outside for half of this year’s event, I came out with a much more positive review: It was fun playing the game again.

 

[GloriousChicken]

I'm hooked to this for the past week.... Almost died. e.e

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go’s region-exclusive Pokémon coming worldwide — for a limited time[/h]

[h=2]Mewtwo and several other hard-to-get Pokémon are available for a short time[/h]

Pokémon Go’s next event is a big one for anyone in need of hard-to-find Pokémon. Called the Ultra Bonus Event, the campaign will send four different legendary Pokémon back intoRaid Battles, including one for the first time.
But perhaps more exciting is that Niantic will also make several Pokémon almost impossible to obtain in the West available as part of the event. Four different regional exclusives can be found in Pokémon Eggs through the end of the month, which is a big deal for anyone without the means to travel.
First off, the legendaries: Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres will be at gyms worldwide for legendary Raid Battles, including their special shiny versions. They’ll be hanging out from Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. EDT, when the Ultra Bonus Event kicks off, until Sept. 20.
Once they leave, an even rarer Pokémon will take their place: Mewtwo will take over from Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. EDT and will be available in Raid Battles all the way until Oct. 23 at 4 p.m. EDT. This is huge news for people who have been neglected by the controversial EX Raid invitation system thus far; until now, Mewtwo could only be caught through these exclusive battles, which players could only get into through (seemingly random) special selection.
Last are the four regional exclusives that will be hidden in 7-kilometer Eggs until Oct. 8. Those are Farfetch’d, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime and Tauros; they’re generally exclusive to Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America, respectively. Farfetch’d has traveled West before, but this will be the first chance that players outside of European and Oceanic countries will be able to hatch Kangaskhan and Mr. Mime.
The Ultra Bonus Event is pitched as a special end-of-season promo following the various summer Pokémon Go events Niantic held this year. Based on what’s offered here, this may be the most exciting of all.
Update: Niantic has extended the availability of Farfetch’d, Kangaskhan, Mr. Mime and Tauros for an extra week. Players will have the chance to hatch them from 7-kilometer eggs until Oct. 8; we’ve updated the date above.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go’s Halloween event introduces Sinnoh legendary[/h]

[h=2]Spooky, scary Pokémon send shivers down your spine ...[/h]

This year’s Pokémon Go Halloween event will highlight the freshly released generation-four Pokémon. No, it’s not just Bidoof getting the spotlight: Starting on Oct. 23 and continuing until Nov. 1, ghost- and dark-type Pokémon from Sinnoh — such as Drifloon and Stunky, which will make their first appearances — will pop up more frequently. Trainers will also earn double candy for every Pokémon caught.
There’s also some special research tasks from Professor Willow, focusing on a mystery Pokeémon roaming around Professor Willow’s lab after he found a strange stone. The tasks will highlight all the spooky-scary dark- and ghost-type Pokémon that roam the world.
And, of course, how spooky would a Pokémon event be without highlighting one of the scariest Pokémon of all? Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, is making its Pokémon Go debut. For the first time, the Pokémon Platinum mascot and fourth-gen legendary will be appearing in Raid Battles — but snatch it up fast. Giratina returns to the Distortion World on Nov. 20.
Special Halloween avatar items will also be available, so your trainer can complete their spoopy look with a Drifloon hat or a Gengar backpack.
Get ready for a spookin’ good Pokémon time.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go has legendary trios as December’s big research rewards[/h]

[h=2]Throughout December, trainers will get to catch some birds and beasts all over again[/h]

Pokémon Go players have another chance to receive two sets of popular legendaries in December, in case they missed out on them in the past. That is, if you’re good about doing your daily research tasks — as the legendary bird and legendary dog trios will be exclusive rewards for anyone who completes their seven-day research breakthrough streak.
The Pokémon Go Twitter account confirmed that December will bring the following Pokémon to gift boxes awarded to players who fill out their quest checklists for the entirety of December: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres (the birds), and Raikou, Entei and Suicune (the dogs). It sounds like which one you get is random, however, so all you can do is cross your fingers and hope you’ll get the exact legendary you’re looking for.

All six of these legendary Pokémon have been available during Raid Battles before, and the whole set entered the game more than a year ago. In April, Moltres was even available for players to capture after completing the first-possible research breakthrough, which they unlock after seven straight days of questing. But it never hurts to get more of some of the most powerful Pokémon in the game, right? In December, there will be no Raiding required to have a chance at collecting these legendaries, either.
Also coming soon, and perhaps more excitingly, is a mega-reprisal of 2018’s community days. Niantic will bring back every Pokémon it celebrated for its weekend events for a large celebration where players will be able to catch each of these popular Pokémon once more. On the list are Charmander, Chikorita, Larvitar, and Pikachu, among many others. This special campaign begins this Friday, Nov. 30, and will conclude next Monday, Dec. 3.

 

[Shevchenko]

did anyone know about PVP in Pokemon Go, when developers will add this issue?

 

[Shevchenko]

I'm using this version of game , but still didn't see PvP mode, maybe I must update this add, cam anybody check?

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Team Rocket and Shadow Pokémon added to Pokémon Go[/h]

Purify those poor Pokémon

A new update to Pokémon Go has Team Rocket grunts popping up at Pokéstops to battle trainers.
Team Rocket grunts will battle you at a Pokéstop, similarly to how you can battle team leaders. If you win, they’ll run off and leave their Shadow Pokémon behind. From there, you can catch the Pokémon with Premier Balls, as you do in a raid. These Shadow Pokémon need to be purified on their information screens using their respective candy and dust. The button to purify sits right above the button to power them up.
Shadow Pokémon have a dark aura around them. Their CP is heavily reduced when shadowed. Shadow Pokémon also learn Return, a normal-type attack, when purified, which makes them well worth the trouble. Some players are reporting right now that purified Pokémon also appear to require less candy to evolve and less dust to power up.
The mechanics for Shadow Pokémon seem to be inspired by Pokémon Colosseum andPokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for the GameCube. Both the games focused on taking Shadow Pokémon away from trainers who received them from a suspicious organization. In those games, you would purify the Pokémon through battling with them or using a special chamber. We’ll keep tabs on the update to see if any more new features or mechanics are hidden inside.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go temporarily won’t make you leave the house due to coronavirus[/h]


Monster collecting will be slightly easier now

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the world, entire businesses and industries are shifting to accommodate increased social distancing. In the case of Pokémon Go, a game that typically requires you to go out into the real world and congregate around points of interest, Niantic will temporarily change various mechanics to help increase the safety of its players.
In a statement to Polygon, a Niantic representative said that the studio is currently “prioritizing updates to Pokémon GO features and experiences that can be enjoyed in individual settings.” Notably, the game will be increasing habitats so that trainers can see more monsters nearby while playing closer to home.
Incense packs, which increase monster spawns, are also going on 99% discount — and when they’re active, they will now last an hour.
Incubators, which ask players to accrue a certain number of steps before hatching eggs containing Pokémon, will now be more effective. “Trainers can hatch Eggs twice as fast,” Niantic said.
Finally, PokéStops are dropping Gifts with more frequency. All of these changes are in effect immediately, and will continue until “further notice,” Niantic told Polygon. In addition to these tweaks, Niantic has already postponed its previously-planned Abra Community Day, along with some other real-world events. Existing events, such as the first season of the game’s Battle League, will allow players to compete with one another without being in the same place, while the upcoming Special Research adventure that will debut Genesect will require tasks that can be “completed by individuals,” Niantic says.
“While we’ve made these updates based on the current global health situation, we also encourage players to make decisions on where to go and what to do that are in the best interest of their health and the health of their communities,” Niantic said.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go’s next special event is changing so players can do it solo[/h]




With players practicing social distancing, Niantic is adapting

While Pokémon Go special events, like a planned Safari Zone and the Abra Community Day, have been postponed or canceled, developer Niantic is going ahead with this weekend’sSpecial Research story event based on the mythical Pokémon Genesect. In response to the spread of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, however, Niantic is making changes to that event so players can complete the required research tasks on their own — and likely from the comfort of their own homes.
Niantic has made a series of changes to the Genesect event that will let Pokémon Go players complete the required Special Research tasks solo. Those new tasks will include the following challenges:

• Catch Pokémon of various types
• Play with your Buddy
• Power up Pokémon
• Battle another Trainer (this includes Go Battle Leauge)
• Hatch Eggs

The Genesect Special Research story event will run from Friday, March 20 at 8 a.m. through Thursday, March 26 at 10 p.m. To take part in the Genesect Special Research story event,Pokémon Go players need to purchase a ticket to the event. That item costs $7.99 and grants access to the “A Drive to Investigate!” story event, as well as cosmetic and in-game consumable items: five Premium Battle Passes, three Super Incubators, three Charged TMs, three Fast TMs, three Incense, three Star Pieces, one Poffin, 15 Rare Candies, and one Glacial Lure.
Previous Special Research story events that have required paid access have involved tasks that require players to compete in raids or hunt down certain Pokémon.


Niantic recently made
other changes to Pokémon Go to adapt to the coronavirus and players quarantining themselves. Those changes include heavily discounted Incense (so players can lure Pokémon to their location), as well as an increase in habitats, more gifts from PokéStops, and halved Egg-hatching distances, so players don’t have to venture too far from home.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go makes more changes to help players stuck at home[/h]


Niantic offering cheap Poké Balls and a boost in gifts

Pokémon Go players are stuck inside while (we hope) practicing good social distancing and self-isolation habits, and that’s making it difficult to play the social mobile game. Niantic is quickly adapting, however, and offering relief for Pokémon Go fans who suddenly find themselves with a dearth of Poké Balls.
Similar to the cheap Incense offering that rolled out in Pokémon Go earlier this month, Niantic is now selling a 100-pack of Poké Balls through the in-game store for just one PokéCoin. Niantic says it plans to offer weekly bundles so players can stock up on items. The super cheap Incense and Poké Ball bundles will be available until Monday, March 30 at 1 p.m. PDT.
Players who can make it to nearby to PokéStops should do so, because Niantic has increased the number of gifts players can hold to 20, and increased the number of gifts players can open per day to 30. (The developer previously increased the frequency of gifts at Pokéstops.) So send gifts to your Poké Ball-starved friends right now if you can.
Finally, Pokémon Go is also offering 3x Stardust and 3x XP for players’ first catch of the day.
Niantic says these changes will be available in Pokémon Go “until further notice.”

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Pokémon Go Fest 2020 announced, will be playable from home[/h]








Mobile game’s annual gathering will take place virtually

Pokémon Go Fest, the annual fan gathering for Pokémon Go players, is on for 2020. This year’s event will take place entirely online and will be playable from home, developer Niantic and The Pokémon Company announced Wednesday.
Pokémon Go Fest 2020 will take place on July 25 and 26, and is described as “an all-new, completely reimagined global event in a virtual format.” Traditionally, Pokémon Go Fest has been held at physical locations, primarily in Chicago, but in 2019 Niantic expanded the festival to Yokohama, Japan and Dortmund, Germany. More than 600,000 players attended the three Pokémon Go Fest events last year.
This year’s version of the event will be a two-day experience, and players will be able to virtually attend both days. Unlike previous years, where tickets to Pokémon Go Fest were limited, Niantic says it’s “taking steps to make tickets available to as many Trainers as possible.”
Pricing and event details were not announced. Niantic did tease “bonuses, Pokémon encounters, and Special Research,” as well as “exciting ways to connect with other Trainers and experience other fun surprises throughout the entire summer.” Additional information on Pokémon Go Fest 2020 is promised in the coming weeks.

 

[manigamer]

[h=1]Mega evolution is coming to Pokémon Go[/h]

Time for a huge meta change

Mega evolution is finally coming to Pokémon Go, as announced in a special Wednesday stream from The Pokémon Company.
The sixth generation extra evolution was added in Pokémon X and Y, originally. While we haven’t seen any Pokémon from the Kalos region, where mega evolution originated, we’ll be seeing this special mechanic sooner than later.
Mega evolution will shake up the game’s meta, making Pokémon who are already strong even stronger. It’s unknown if all Pokémon that can mega evolve will be able at launch, or if you’ll need a special item or version of that Pokémon to get their more powerful form.
In the mainline games, mega evolution is temporary per battle and you need a special mega evolution stone in order to get your Pokémon to evolve mid-battle. While you’ll likely need a stone of some kind in Pokémon Go, we can only speculate about the specifics.
Mega evolution is slated to release in 2020, with no further specifics announced.

 

[manigamer]

 

[manigamer]

Pokémon Go is breaking records despite coronavirus limitations



Still gotta catch ’em all ... from home

You’d think that a video game predicated on getting out there and going places might take a nosedive in 2020, when coronavirus is forcing the world to stay indoors and socially distance, but no. According to a new report, Pokémon Go is doing incredibly well right now.

Mobile app tracker Sensor Tower said Monday that players have spent more in Pokémon Go(an estimate $445 million) in the first half of 2020 than in the same timeframe in previous years — including the game’s first year, when Pokémon Go basically took over the world.

Blockbuster title @PokemonGoApp from publisher @NianticLabs had its best first half-year ever, generating $445M in H1 2020, and surpassing $3.6B in its first four years since launch:https://t.co/Alh0NyTFyF #pokemongo #mobilegaming #mobilegamespic.twitter.com/82aTscoFmR
— Sensor Tower (@SensorTower) July 6, 2020

How is this possible? Niantic did not respond in time for press, but since Polygon has some avid players in its ranks, as well as friends who love the game, we have some theories.

The first thing worth noting is that Niantic has done its best to make the game easier to play while at home — you can now earn coins by completing daily tasks, for example. Raids can now be done remotely, while new events are also doable from the comfort of your couch. The annual big Pokémon Go Fest bash is also an online-only event this year.

Niantic has also added more paid microtransactions to Pokémon Go. In addition to in-game purchases of items of convenience like Incubators and Remote Raid Passes, 2020 has already seen multiple paid events, including three Safari Zones and Special Research story events for legendary Pokémon like Genesect and Community Days for Seedot and Abra. 2020 has given players more flexibility, but also more ways to spend money.

Also, while COVID-19 requires keeping a safe distance from other people, folks are still going outside just for the sake of maintaining sanity or getting some exercise. With added reason to do daily walks, anecdotally, we’ve seen some players pick up the game in the midst of coronavirus to make those strolls more interesting.

Perhaps these record-breaking months shouldn’t be surprising; prior to 2020, Pokémon Gohad its best year ever in 2019. Apparently, even coronavirus wasn’t enough to stop that momentum.