1. the Solstice event
In just about a day, the Solstice Event will begin! As a reminder, Fire-type and Ice-type Pokémon will be spawning more often, Lucky Eggs will be discounted, and "accurate" PokéBall throws will reward more XP than usual. The event is meant to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Pokémon GO and 750 million downloads worldwide.
2. Gym rework is (finally) Coming!
This time, it's what after the event that may be more exciting to some. Niantic has said a new update promoting collaboration among Trainers will follow the Solstice Event. Before that update launches, Gyms will be shut down to prepare for the update. This will also allow for a clean slate when that update, the Gym system rework, launches. Remember, everything could change with this update (best defenders, movesets, etc.) so save your Candy, especially rare Candy, and Stardust!
3. Pokemon go fest: the first real-world event in chicago
Niantic has formally announced Pokémon GO Fest, a real-world event in Chicago. The real excitement has come from the promotional artwork. Underneath the Charizard's claw is an Unown and Heracross. Heracross, the Latin American region-exclusive, is not usually available in Chicago, but, with it being in the promo, it is possible that Heracross may be available. High-profile Pokémon GO YouTubers Trainer Tips and MYSTIC7 have opposed the possible move, saying it ruins the exclusivity of regionals. The Unown, although very small, resembles the exclamation point form of Unown (a form introduced in Gen 3, and not currently in Pokémon GO). There is also speculation that this event may be the first Legendary event, as (according to a leak of Niantic's permits) over 12,000 Trainers are expected. Obviously, spoofing is a concern of legitimate players. Whether Unown, Heraross, and Legendaries will spawn or not, based on the promo art, rare Pokémon will likely spawn. Trainer Tips proposed using the Promo Code feature to allow Trainers access to Legendaries, should they so spawn, but Trainers using iOS will not be able to access them, as Apple has not yet approved the feature for iOS devices. If you are interested in attending, the event will be in Grant Park on July 22. Tickets will go on sale on June 19 at 10:00 A.M. PT. No cost has yet been assigned to those tickets.
4. "Collaborative capture mechanics"
Niantic officials said that "collaborate capturing" may come to the game in the future. Trainers may have to work together to capture a Pokémon. As PNN pointed out, all Trainers in Times Square had to battle Mewtwo to capture it in the original trailer for Pokémon GO. This could be a hint for how Legendaries may work at events once they're added into the game, which we know will be this summer, possibly at Pokémon GO Fest Chicago.
5. AR Playground feature
Apple's new ARKit may drastically change the AR Camera feature in Pokémon GO. Niantic announced that they are working on the "AR Playground" to allow Pokémon to be placed in the real-world around you. Like in the Pokédex and Pokémon summary pages, tapping on the Pokémon will trigger it's attack animation. This feature is still in development, but it may come with the new iOS 11 in the fall.
6. The "winner" of adventure week is...
Yet again, Team Mystic has won an event with the most Rock-types caught. Team Mystic caught 473,000,000 Rock-types. Team Valor came in second, with 413 million Rock-type catches. And, as always, the underdog Team Instinct came in third place with 287 million captures. All together, this is more than one billion Rock-types caught! Well done, Trainers!
MYSTIC7 and GO Hub first reported on the AR Playground info