1. POKEMON GO FEST 2018
One week ago, Pokémon GO Fest 2018 took place in the beautiful Lincoln Park in Chicago. The event was a definite improvement from last year's GO Fest, and was largely free of problems. Attendees of the event got the first-ever access to Unown ? and Celebi, plus the opportunity to catch the region-exclusive Torkoal. The world also got in on the fun with special spawns, the introduction of Geodude and Diglett's regional variants, and the Shiny forms of Plusle and Minun.
2. A TEASE OF SINNOH
A short time before Pokémon GO Fest, Niantic released a special image on social media to commemorate the second anniversary of Pokémon GO. This image, much like last year's, features the Pokémon GO characters and some Pokémon significant to the year. However, unlike last year, this image featured the starters of the upcoming generation.
These starters are the three starters of the Sinnoh Region (Generation 4), the Fire-type Chimchar, the Grass-type Turtwig, and the Water-type Piplup. It is unknown when they or the rest of the Sinnoh Pokémon will be released, but the image implies it to be soon.
SOURCE: Niantic
These starters are the three starters of the Sinnoh Region (Generation 4), the Fire-type Chimchar, the Grass-type Turtwig, and the Water-type Piplup. It is unknown when they or the rest of the Sinnoh Pokémon will be released, but the image implies it to be soon.
SOURCE: Niantic
3. NEW UPDATE
A new update has been released for Pokémon GO, which teases at some very significant updates. Read our Update Report of v0.111.2 here.
4. NEW CHEATING POLICY
Niantic has transparently outlined their new policy to punish those who break their terms of service. The policy comes in three strikes.
STRIKE 1: Rare Pokémon will be unable to be caught for seven days. EX Raid Passes will not be able to be received during this time.
STRIKE 2: You will be unable to access your Pokémon GO account for 30 days.
STRIKE 3: A permanent ban of your Pokémon GO account.
SOURCE: Niantic
STRIKE 1: Rare Pokémon will be unable to be caught for seven days. EX Raid Passes will not be able to be received during this time.
STRIKE 2: You will be unable to access your Pokémon GO account for 30 days.
STRIKE 3: A permanent ban of your Pokémon GO account.
SOURCE: Niantic
5. COMMUNITY DAY
The Community Day for August 2018 will feature the Normal-type Pokémon Eevee. The event will also have the effects of three-hour Lures and triple Stardust for catching Pokémon. In an unprecedented move, Niantic has made it so this Community Day event will be for the usual three-hour window, but on both Saturday and Sunday.
SOURCE: Niantic
SOURCE: Niantic
6. ZAPDOS DAY
Yesterday was the second "Legendary Raid Day," which featured Zapdos this time around. Every Gym (excluding those hosting EX Raids) had a three-hour Zapdos Raid where each Zapdos caught knew the exclusive move Thunder Shock. Shiny Zapdos was also made available.
SOURCE: Niantic
SOURCE: Niantic
7. UNRELEASED ADDITIONS
Prior to Pokémon GO Fest, Niantic added some new Pokémon to the network traffic. These Pokémon are Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Smeargle, Clamperl, Huntail, Nincada, Ninjask, and Shedinja. Do note that only Celebi has been released so far, we have no word on when the others will be released, and we are still missing Kecleon, Spinda, and Gorebyss.
SOURCE: Chrales
SOURCE: Chrales
8. STEEL REPLACES ICE
Registeel has replaced Regice as our current Legendary Raid Boss. The Iron Pokémon is sticking around until August 16. It has also brought with it a whole roster of new Raid Bosses, including the never-before-seen Alolan Raichu and Alolan Marowak. For a full list of possible Raid Bosses, we refer you to the Raid Boss Chart in the navigation menu above.
SOURCE: Niantic, Community Reports
SOURCE: Niantic, Community Reports
9. NEW DETAILS ON LGPE
Two new trailers have been released for Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! They reveal the following information:
CUSTOMIZATION: We have known that your partner Pikachu and Eevee will be able to wear costumes from past trailers. But we now know that you will be able customize your Trainer avatar in the same way. Additionally, you can give Pikachu and Eevee special hairstyles.
GENDER DIFFERENCE: In the past, Pikachu has had a gender difference, but Eevee. In Pokémon: Let's Go, at least, this will be changing. Eevee will also have a gender difference in this game.
VERSION EXCLUSIVES: The Sandshrew, Growlithe, and Oddish families will be exclusive to the Pikachu version. The Meowth, Vulpix, and Bellsprout families will be exclusive to the Eevee version.
TEAM ROCKET: A brief frame of the second trailer showed the three most famous members of Team Rocket, James, Jessie, and Meowth. This confirms that, just as in Pokémon Yellow, these three anime characters will appear in the games.
LEGENDARY BATTLES: The biggest piece of information was the showcase of battling Legendary Pokémon. This confirms that capturing Legendary Pokémon will function as it has done in previous main-series titles.
SOURCE: TPC Trailers, Serebii
CUSTOMIZATION: We have known that your partner Pikachu and Eevee will be able to wear costumes from past trailers. But we now know that you will be able customize your Trainer avatar in the same way. Additionally, you can give Pikachu and Eevee special hairstyles.
GENDER DIFFERENCE: In the past, Pikachu has had a gender difference, but Eevee. In Pokémon: Let's Go, at least, this will be changing. Eevee will also have a gender difference in this game.
VERSION EXCLUSIVES: The Sandshrew, Growlithe, and Oddish families will be exclusive to the Pikachu version. The Meowth, Vulpix, and Bellsprout families will be exclusive to the Eevee version.
TEAM ROCKET: A brief frame of the second trailer showed the three most famous members of Team Rocket, James, Jessie, and Meowth. This confirms that, just as in Pokémon Yellow, these three anime characters will appear in the games.
LEGENDARY BATTLES: The biggest piece of information was the showcase of battling Legendary Pokémon. This confirms that capturing Legendary Pokémon will function as it has done in previous main-series titles.
SOURCE: TPC Trailers, Serebii