09/03/2019: News Roundup

Welcome, Trainers! Here's a roundup of recent Pokémon GO news we haven't covered on the site yet.

ULTRA BONUS

The first phase of 2019's Ultra Bonus event went live yesterday as Rayquaza left. This phase centers around Johto Pokémon and will last until September 9 at 1:00 P.M. PDT.

NEW UPDATE

A new update was released for Pokémon GO, bringing support for the Pokémon of the Unova region. It also brings support for a new evolution item, the Unova Stone, and trade-based evolutions. In addition to this, sprites for some of the Unova Pokémon were found in the network traffic.

RESEARCH SHAKEUP

While they have become less frequent than they used to be, a research shakeup has occurred in GO. Field Research has changed, bringing back Spinda #3 and releasing Shiny Electrike. The Research Breakthrough has also changed, replacing the quartet of Legendary Pokémon with the controversial Flower Crown Eevee.

Outside of any special Field Research for events, research will not undergo another shakeup until November 1 at 1:00 P.M. PDT.

SAFARI ZONE

A Pokémon GO Safari Zone event will take place from October 3 to October 6 in New Taipei City's Metropolitan Park. This event is un-ticketed, and will feature Grass-, Water-, and Bug-type Pokémon. Unown and Heracross are among the special spawns at the event.

COMMUNITY DAY

Niantic have announced the dates for the remaining Community Day events in 2019.

October 12
November 16
December 14-15

Some Notes: Sadly, November 16 was the date chosen for 2019's penultimate Community Day. Likely featuring Chimchar, this Community Day unfortunately occurs the day after the launch of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. While not every Pokémon GO player also plays the main-series, it is a negative situation for those who do because it does create a "pick-and-choose" scenario. Do you go out and catch some new Shiny Pokémon in GO or continue your Galar journey in Sword and Shield?

Also, it is worth noting that December's Community Day is a two-day event. It will be interesting to see what Niantic has up their sleeve for 2019's final community event. The widespread theory is that this will be another "Mega Community Day," featuring all the Pokémon from earlier in the year, but do note that has yet to be confirmed.

MISCALLENOUS

Here's some other recent headlines from the Pokémon GO world:

The 2019 Water Festival event has come and gone. The event featured increased encounters with Water-type Pokémon, as well as the release of Shiny Carvanha and Shiny Barboach.
Team-themed happi coats and sandals were also added to Style Shop as a tie-in to the Water Festival. They must be purchased.
The time limit for Trainer Battles has been increased by 30 seconds.
"Adventure Sync 2.0," which allows for the capture of new Pokémon when Adventure Sync is active, has now been released in North America.
The PokéStop submission system has expanded to Level 40 Trainers in Sweden.

Finally, here's some headlines from some of the other wings of the Pokémon franchise:

Shiny Necrozma is being distributed in Japan in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.
Shiny Solgaleo is being distributed in the United States and Europe in Pokémon Moon and Pokémon Ultra Moon.
Shiny Lunala is being distributed in the United States and Europe in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Ultra Sun.
Pokémon Masters, the newest Pokémon mobile game, has been released on iOS and Android.
It was announced in Japan that the next Pokémon anime will be announced on September 29. It was confirmed that this anime, titled simply "Pocket Monsters" (Pokémon), will take place in all regions from Kanto to Galar.

Thanks for reading, Trainers! Normal news coverage is continuing on Twitter and will return to the website once the Unova Preview series comes to an end in the coming days.