You would think that the Pokémon GO would’ve died down by now, and developer Niantic Labs would’ve moved on to another franchise while still making slight improvements to the once-popular game.
Oh how wrong you are.
Pokémon GO Welcomes The Johto Region
If you’ve played on a Gameboy the second generation of the Pokémon franchise, Gold and Silver, names such as Chikorita, Cyndaquil, and Totodile will definitely be familiar.
With them, over 80 more Pokémon is set to be released into the wild as part of a larger game update to be rolled out later this week. Along with these Pokémon from the Johto region, you will soon be able to see “gender-specific variations” coming to all Pokémon.
Let’s not forget evolutions too. Through the new update, certain Pokémon that you may already have can evolve into one of the Johto Pokémon.
Pokéstops will soon drop special evolution items as well, and these items will be needed to evolve some Pokémon.
Everything Else
The way you encounter and catch new Pokémon will be slightly different as well. According to Niantic, Pokémon will now react differently when you are trying to catch them.
The next change also sees a much needed addition to the screen when catching Pokémon. The encounter screen will now include a carousel from which you will be able to choose either the berry or the type of Pokéball that you want to throw at the Pokémon. So no more scrolling through your long list of inventory trying to find the perfect item for the occasion.
Speaking of berries, the Razz Berry will be welcoming two new addition to the berry family – the Nanab Berry and the Pinap Berry.
Nanab Berries will let you easily catch a Pokémon by slowing down their movements while Pinap Berries doubles the Candy if you successfully catch that Pokémon.
Lastly, you will now have expanded options to customise your avatar. The limited wardrobe of hats, shirts, pants, and other items will see new additions so that you can put on your best outfit for your next Pokémon hunt.
Let The Madness Begin (Again)
Throughout much of 2016, Niantic Labs has been busy fixing bugs in the game and also releasing Pokémon GO to additional countries.
The relatively recent release in large markets such as South Korea and South Asia in countries like India are sure to draw in a huge intake of new players.
This update comes rather timely in a way – it lets these new players who have only started out to continue playing it for longer, and for those who have been playing since 2016, lets them reignite their interest to catch new Pokémon.
Judging from all the positive responses on Pokémon GO’s social media pages, as well as the many local communities, the game is far from being dead.
Note that the current Pokémon Sun and Moon on the Nintendo 3DS is the seventh generation in the franchise. That’s FIVE more generations for Niantic Labs to include.
So grab a powerbank and a bottle of water – you will need it when the update is live.
