Can you believe it's been three years since Pokémon GO released?! The game is still going strong, and Niantic wants to celebrate. They are throwing a Three-Year Anniversary Event to celebrate, which is now live. Here's what you need to know.
NEW ADDITIONS
To start off, this event releases some new things. First is avatar clothing inspired by Spark, Blanche, and Candela's outfits. Second are the Shiny variants of the Alolan forms. Alolan Marowak and Alolan Raichu's Shiny forms have already been made available, but now Exeggutor, Vulpix, Meowth, and the rest of the Alolan forms have their Shiny forms available.
PHOTOBOMB
A hat-wearing Pikachu is crashing your photoshoots! Pikachu wearing a party hat is photobombing your snapshots, and Pichu wearing party hats are hatching out of 7KM Eggs. But the party cannot last forever. Party-hat Pikachu will disappear once again at 1:00 PM PDT on July 6.
SPECIAL BONUSES
TRADING DISCOUNT: The Stardust costs for trading have been reduced. They are now 75% of their normal cost. This, plus the other two bonuses, will all conclude at 1:00 PM PDT on September 2.
FRIENDLY RAIDERS: It's time to get together with your friends and break out the Raid Passes.
SPECIAL RESEARCH: If you or a friend have gotten out of the Pokémon GO world and feel behind, this event is exactly the time to jump back in. Limited-time Special Research is now available. You must begin this research during the event window if you wish to continue it after the event concludes.
FRIENDLY RAIDERS: It's time to get together with your friends and break out the Raid Passes.
SPECIAL RESEARCH: If you or a friend have gotten out of the Pokémon GO world and feel behind, this event is exactly the time to jump back in. Limited-time Special Research is now available. You must begin this research during the event window if you wish to continue it after the event concludes.
HINTS AT NEW POKEMON
Finally, we have a tease at some new Pokémon with the promotional image. That image shows Mime Jr. and the Generation 5 starters: Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott.
Set the Unova starters aside for a moment, and lets speak about Mime Jr. All the anniversary images to date have showcased Pokémon relevant to the recent news. This year, we see the recently released Garchomp, multiple Pokémon that use Sinnoh Stones to evolve, Jirachi, Team Rocket, etc. Logic would dictate that Mime Jr. might finally be released soon, which would leave Mr. Mime's future as a regional-exclusive Pokémon in question.
Now, back to Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. Their inclusion in this poster isn't exactly surprising. Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig were shown off in the second anniversary poster, being the first tease at Generation 4 Pokémon coming to GO. But their inclusion did not mean their release was imminent. It was still months before we actually got to see them on our screens. So, we should be excited at Niantic's confirmation that Unova Pokémon will be coming to the game within the next year, but we should not expect them until this fall at the soonest.
Set the Unova starters aside for a moment, and lets speak about Mime Jr. All the anniversary images to date have showcased Pokémon relevant to the recent news. This year, we see the recently released Garchomp, multiple Pokémon that use Sinnoh Stones to evolve, Jirachi, Team Rocket, etc. Logic would dictate that Mime Jr. might finally be released soon, which would leave Mr. Mime's future as a regional-exclusive Pokémon in question.
Now, back to Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott. Their inclusion in this poster isn't exactly surprising. Piplup, Chimchar, and Turtwig were shown off in the second anniversary poster, being the first tease at Generation 4 Pokémon coming to GO. But their inclusion did not mean their release was imminent. It was still months before we actually got to see them on our screens. So, we should be excited at Niantic's confirmation that Unova Pokémon will be coming to the game within the next year, but we should not expect them until this fall at the soonest.
Thanks for reading, Trainers!