Chrales has dropped the biggest, strangest bombshell overnight. Pokémon GO's network traffic may have leaked a never-before-seen Pokémon. And we aren't talking about a Pokémon from Generation 4, we're talking about the new Pokémon from Let's Go or possibly 2019's new games. Let's get into the news (as spoiler free as possible).

SO  WHAT  HAPPENED?

Some new sprites were uploaded to Niantic's servers, but under Kecleon's name. When Chrales looked into them, he found something far from Kecleon. He found what appears to be a brand-new Pokémon and its Shiny form. Assuming this is a new Pokémon, the most logical conclusion would be to say this is the new Pokémon that's being added in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!.

EVEN  STRANGER...

And that isn't the end of it! The Pokémon sprites have file names similar to that of "pokemon_icon_[Dex Number]" in Pokémon GO. The Pokédex number of this Pokémon is 891, which is far above the expected number of 808. Pokémon 891 is something we'd expect to see in the 2019 games, which have been confirmed to have many new Pokémon in them.

​But that doesn't seem reasonable. Even if this unarmed creature is a new Pokémon to be revealed in the eighth generation, why would it have a Pokémon GO model? Even though "Pokémon 808" will be added to the game years before we would expect, why would Niantic and The Pokémon Company release Gen 8 in Pokémon GO before Unova, Kalos, and Alola?

PLACEHOLDER?

Many fans are skeptical that this is a new Pokémon, and rather believe this is a placeholder image. Don't get us wrong, skepticism is just and healthy in this unprecedented instance; However, this image is a bit more elaborate than we would expect a placeholder to be. And given the fact it has a Shiny variant makes it seem much less likely to be a placeholder.

WHO'S  CHRALES?

We're sure some of you reading this from outside of the Pokémon GO community, and thus unfamiliar with Chrales. Chrales is a highly-credible dataminer, and he has figured out a way to peer into what the servers send to your phone. He's often found sprites for unreleased Pokémon species and Shiny variants.

Thanks for reading, Trainers!

SOURCE: Chrales