The Pokémon Company (TPC) published an article on their website yesterday about celebrating Halloween with the Pokémon franchise. In addition to new merchandise, a new hashtag, and a collection of episodes from the anime, TPC confirmed that the Halloween Event will return this year in Pokémon GO. Their announcement is quoted below:
The Halloween season is a special time in Pokémon GO. Plenty of good stuff is coming to the game later this October, and we can't wait to get out and about to see what sort of excitement we can scare up while catching new Pokémon to fill out our Pokédex.
Stay tuned for more details about Pokémon GO's Halloween event coming soon!
That line about filling Pokédexes is causing a stir throughout the Internet. People say that this confirms Generation 3, but lets take a step back and analyze.
THE POKÉDEX LINE: The now-infamous Pokédex line does not confirm Generation 3. Firstly, if it does refer the Hoenn region's Pokémon, this is only a hint. Without Niantic or TPC outright saying, "Generation 3 is coming soon," (or something to that effect), nothing is confirmed.
The line could also be another common marketing move by gaming companies: reaching out to the casual, new, and / or rural player base that seems to commonly be forgotten in large games. Although it seems most players have a majority of their Dex complete, there are those miscellaneous gaps (Lapras, Aerodactyl, regionals, Girafarig, Miltank, etc.) that still need to be filled. So it could be referring to the same sort of filling gaps we saw with the Equinox Event.
PREDICTIONS FOR THE RELEASE OF GEN 3: As we have done with "leaks" in the past, we will update our predictions for Gen 3's release. We honestly cannot see the Hoenn Pokémon coming with Halloween, as the servers would undeniably overload and crash. We saw poor servers after the launch of Halloween 2016 and Generation 2, so it would not be a good idea to release them both at the same time.
We truly believe that Generation 3 will launch within the coming two weeks. Most of the code is here, with the rest likely already prepared, but not put into the APK to avoid spoilers. These two events and this major update will definitely keep the hype going until the Holiday Events. And releasing the new Pokémon right between two of the biggest events this year will definitely live up to the monstrous month of October that TPC promised.
THE HALLOWEEN EVENT: As for the event itself, we have no details beyond confirmation that it is actually happening. Double Candy and an increased spawn-rate of "spooky" Pokémon like we saw in 2016 seem like they'll be annual staples of the event, but Niantic will definitely need to add on effects (special Eggs, new "spooky" Pokémon, etc).
Whatever happens, Trainers, get excited for October (but don't give your hopes up)! Enjoy Raiding your new Beast!
THE POKÉDEX LINE: The now-infamous Pokédex line does not confirm Generation 3. Firstly, if it does refer the Hoenn region's Pokémon, this is only a hint. Without Niantic or TPC outright saying, "Generation 3 is coming soon," (or something to that effect), nothing is confirmed.
The line could also be another common marketing move by gaming companies: reaching out to the casual, new, and / or rural player base that seems to commonly be forgotten in large games. Although it seems most players have a majority of their Dex complete, there are those miscellaneous gaps (Lapras, Aerodactyl, regionals, Girafarig, Miltank, etc.) that still need to be filled. So it could be referring to the same sort of filling gaps we saw with the Equinox Event.
PREDICTIONS FOR THE RELEASE OF GEN 3: As we have done with "leaks" in the past, we will update our predictions for Gen 3's release. We honestly cannot see the Hoenn Pokémon coming with Halloween, as the servers would undeniably overload and crash. We saw poor servers after the launch of Halloween 2016 and Generation 2, so it would not be a good idea to release them both at the same time.
We truly believe that Generation 3 will launch within the coming two weeks. Most of the code is here, with the rest likely already prepared, but not put into the APK to avoid spoilers. These two events and this major update will definitely keep the hype going until the Holiday Events. And releasing the new Pokémon right between two of the biggest events this year will definitely live up to the monstrous month of October that TPC promised.
THE HALLOWEEN EVENT: As for the event itself, we have no details beyond confirmation that it is actually happening. Double Candy and an increased spawn-rate of "spooky" Pokémon like we saw in 2016 seem like they'll be annual staples of the event, but Niantic will definitely need to add on effects (special Eggs, new "spooky" Pokémon, etc).
Whatever happens, Trainers, get excited for October (but don't give your hopes up)! Enjoy Raiding your new Beast!