Pokémon GO

[Champion Leon]

One thing to remind on MegaEvo.

Mega-Evo is supposed to be a form achieved by bonds. It would be very backwards if N'tic dares to apply FOMO business model to a thing that lore-wise literally needs strong bond, as if your previous past one is completely incapable of doing the same despite being with you for much longer time.
Alternate form here will have to require a mechanic that does not enable missing out, as mentioned.

Or maybe only maxed Mons can mega evolve
I imagine they will just give us stones and ignore the friendship part, like the main games did

Hmm, maybe only purified 'mons would have the capability to Mega Evolve. As far as I know, that's the one concrete way the game can be certain you've invested some effort into a Pokemon (apart from having something with a level higher than is possible to be caught at).

It will be likely the same for as growing happiness for evolving Eevee, that already works to improve the bond.

Remember, in the Games you have to Evolve Eevee into Espeon and Umbreon by growing Happiness during different times of the day, followed by a level up when you reach a certain theeshold.

Since happiness is achieved between a trainer and it’s Pokemon (winning battles, feeding it berries/puffins, etc.) they decided that a Walking Buddy officially does that. By walking a certain level of distance, that qualified as earning “happiness” which makes perfect sense.

Since Mega Evolution, like the Eeveelutions Espeon and Umbreon, are based on how strong the bond is with the trainer, walking a Pokémon would make the realistic (and lore wise) perfect sense.

Anyways, that solves that.

 

[Ivy]

I had totally forgotten about the distance walked being tracked and utilized for those Eevee. That definitely would make the most sense!

 

[Blitz]

Shadow Pokémon are now live! I've compiled a list of known information so far below, so please take a look if you have any questions / doubts regarding the new feature. I've tried to be as complete as possible:

Rocket Invasion and Shadow Pokémon Information:

Overworld:

- This feature is live everywhere in the world, and should be live for trainer levels above 8.

- PokeStops invaded by Team Rocket are a bit hard to distinguish from regular Stops, but they are a dark blue. Once you approach them, they turn darker blue / black and shake with the Team Rocket logo + Grunt. Click the Stop and exit out to trigger the Grunt dialogue and battle. You don't need to spin the Stop to trigger this.

- The battle is really easy, but do note that you need to heal your Pokémon afterwards, unlike regular PvP.

- Once the battle finishes, you get 500 Stardust and you can attempt to catch the Shadow Pokémon with Premier Balls. The amount of Premier Balls is dependent on your badges (more on this below) and how many Pokémon survived the battle.

- Additional rewards, as well as how long these invaded Stops last or if they rotate, are unknown at present.

- There are badges for them: 5 / 50 / 500 for Purifying Pokémon, and 10 / 100 / 1000 for Defeating Team Rocket Grunts.

Shadow Pokémon:

- Shadow Pokémon can be distinguished by their purple aura and angry red eyes.

- There are 5 confirmed species so far: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Rattata, and Zubat.

- Functionally, they have the same evolution costs as regular Pokémon. Yes, you may evolve your Shadow Charmander up to Shadow Charizard.

- Power-up costs are triple (3x) what they are for regular Pokémon. It is incredibly costly to max one, so beware!

- All Shadow Pokémon have the Charge Move Frustration, which is retained through evolution. It is the weakest move in the game, a Normal-type 3 bar move with 10 power.

- There is no IV floor for Shadow Pokémon, meaning they can range from 0/0/0 to 15/15/15. Level-wise, they seem to be on the low-end. You can seemingly get Shadow Pokémon until level 10.

- You can put them in gyms.

- You can trade them.

- For now, there are no shiny variants of them. Reports of them circulating are because those screenshots were taken with a modified app.

- There is a button that allows you to purify them for an amount of Stardust and Candy.

Purified Pokémon:

- Purified Pokémon can be distinguished by their white aura. They don't look nearly as cool!

- Evolution and Power-Up costs receive a 10% decrease on Candy and a 20% decrease on Stardust, so if you want to use them, keep them at base form and power them up after purification.

- All Purified Pokémon have the Charge Move Return, which is retained through evolution. It is slightly stronger than Frustration, but still pretty bad. It is a Normal-type 3 bar move with 30 power.

- Their levels go up to Level 25 when purified, and their individual IVs increase by a total of 2. For example, if you have a 1/2/3 Level 5 Shadow Charmander, it can be a 3/4/5 Level 25 Charmander after purification.

- You can put them in gyms.

- You can trade them.

 

[Kanburi]

So really the only point in getting Shadow Pokemon is to get one that's decent enough to purify for the +2 EV in each stat so it ends up stronger than your current Pokemon? Hoping there's more to it or it's a complete letdown.

 

[Blitz]

So really the only point in getting Shadow Pokemon is to get one that's decent enough to purify for the +2 EV in each stat so it ends up stronger than your current Pokemon? Hoping there's more to it or it's a complete letdown.

Yea, that's pretty much it. Aside from collecting / novelty purposes of having a Shadow / Purified Pokémon. They don't really offer much atm, and the limited selection furthers hampers this.

That said, Purification can be abused with the Lucky feature. Following the process, here's how it'd go:

1) Get Shadow Pokémon, trade said Shadow Pokémon to a Lucky Friend.
2) Buddy receives the Pokémon, IV floor is minimum 12/12/12.
3) Buddy purifies the Pokémon, gaining +2 IVs in each stat.

Thus, the minimum IV for this Purified Pokémon would be 14/14/14, meaning the odds of getting perfect specimens is incredibly high since all you need to do is roll a value that's not 12 during the Lucky Trade process.

 

[Blitz]

Shadow Snorlax is out now!

 

[Kanburi]

Yea, that's pretty much it. Aside from collecting / novelty purposes of having a Shadow / Purified Pokémon. They don't really offer much atm, and the limited selection furthers hampers this.

That said, Purification can be abused with the Lucky feature. Following the process, here's how it'd go:

1) Get Shadow Pokémon, trade said Shadow Pokémon to a Lucky Friend.
2) Buddy receives the Pokémon, IV floor is minimum 12/12/12.
3) Buddy purifies the Pokémon, gaining +2 IVs in each stat.

Thus, the minimum IV for this Purified Pokémon would be 14/14/14, meaning the odds of getting perfect specimens is incredibly high since all you need to do is roll a value that's not 12 during the Lucky Trade process.

Ah that makes sense. I forgot about Lucky Friends being a thing because... I don't have any lol.

 

[Chanderule]

I love how some fans used to despise GO and called it to be an improper Pokémon game but now it has more Mons than the next main series game

 

[Ivy]

I love how some fans used to despise GO and called it to be an improper Pokémon game but now it has more Mons than the next main series game

There is a little bit of schadenfreude to be hade there, yes. Although there's also a hopeful chance that SS will still have more Pokemon than the total size of the upcoming gen 5 dex; we'll have to wait for gen 6 in Go for that eclipse to truly happen.

 

[Chanderule]

I dont think so - the largest Dex was around 430? (correct me if Im wrong)
And I dont expect to see more than 500something Pokémon, Gen 5/release of SwSh will seal it once and for all

 

[Dargad]

So the Team Rocket invasion has stopped...

 

[Champion Leon]

So the Team Rocket invasion has stopped...

Love how Their twitter background image (behind their avatar) features TR but the event has discontinued so far.

Why don’t I make my avatar about an update and then end it the same day?

Niantic needs to make exclusive moves open for shadow Pokémon.

We have Dratini (new *non legacy* moves are outdone by new dragons) Snorlax without body slam - and an average move in Return, and minimal discounts on candy and stardust...

I think I’ll skip these quests unless they at least give out first time daily prizes like PVP battles or spinning poke stops and catches.

 

[JTD783]

Ralts CD confirmed for August

 

[Blitz]

For PvE, I don’t think there’s much you can do to improve these two. PvP looks more promising, so that said, some options:

- Future Sight is imo the most likely option. It’s the generic move given to most Psychic-types and would improve both Gardevoir/Gallade a tad bit. It is nothing to write home about though.

- Synchronoise was added to the game data around when Charm was added. In the main games, it just hits Pokémon that share the same type(s) as the user. In Go, this could be a pretty powerful Psychic option and an attractive option for PvP.

- Psyshock is seldom given to Pokémon in Go, but would make Gardevoir/Gallade much better in the PvP metagame.

Individual options, while less likely, could happen. I don’t think Gardevoir gains anything except Moonblast / Draining Kiss, both of which suck, but for Gallade, it could include the likes of Focus Punch and Drain Punch to make it an actual Fighting-type. Lacking Counter, an incredible move in both PvE and PvP, means it loses significantly unless these moves are really good though.

As Charm broke precedence with status moves, there’s a boatload of options that exist as incredibly unlikely as they are. The likes of Reflect, Light Screen, and Bulk Up could also be options to bolster them given their implications for PvP.

 

[Blitz]

Game Master Changes:

The following is a list of changes Niantic pushed 2 hours ago:

- All Shadow Pokémon now have a 5% Catch Rate. Comparable to Snorlax, Tyranitar, Dragonite, etc.
- They’re aggressive af. We’ll see them attacking constantly when they get reenabled.
- Shadow Pokémon are now considered Mythicals, so no trading.
- Purified Pokémon can still be traded.

With this, the Lucky Trade exploit I said above is now patched... You also can’t roll for good IV Shadows anymore, and they’re significantly harder to catch to boot. This honestly sucks and doesn’t make me too happy with the feature.

 

[Kanburi]

So really it's just a gimmick for Pokemon that "look cooler".

 

[Champion Leon]

Game Master Changes:

The following is a list of changes Niantic pushed 2 hours ago:

- All Shadow Pokémon now have a 5% Catch Rate. Comparable to Snorlax, Tyranitar, Dragonite, etc.
- They’re aggressive af. We’ll see them attacking constantly when they get reenabled.
- Shadow Pokémon are now considered Mythicals, so no trading.
- Purified Pokémon can still be traded.

With this, the Lucky Trade exploit I said above is now patched... You also can’t roll for good IV Shadows anymore, and they’re significantly harder to catch to boot. This honestly sucks and doesn’t make me too happy with the feature.

What is the point then? They have Dragonite and Tyranitar, but I would rather do a Tyranitar raid for a higher IV output and no waste to purify it with candy or stardust.

I am concerned this whole thing won’t become worthy of our time.

Maybe it will have something to do with Community Day, I wonder how this will play out long term.

It’s basically a Pokestop version of Raids. Eventually we will face Shadow Mewtwo (Pokken Tournament) and Lugia (Gale is Darkness) I assume.

 

[Dargad]

Team Rocket is BACK.

Trainers!
The world of Pokémon GO is in peril. An organization called Team GO Rocket has invaded PokéStops and is in possession of Shadow Pokémon that behave strangely and seem to be in pain. Team GO Rocket is clearly up to no good, and we need your help! Professor Willow and the team leaders have been hard at work observing and researching these happenings with Team GO Rocket, and they’ve come up with a plan to restore the PokéStops and rescue the Shadow Pokémon!
1. Encounter Team GO Rocket — Spark and Professor Willow have observed Team GO Rocket members hanging out at discolored PokéStops. It appears they’re after the PokéStops’ resources!
2. Battle Team GO Rocket — Once you begin the encounter with a Team GO Rocket Grunt, they’ll challenge you to a battle. We’re counting on you to accept their challenge and defeat them!
3. Catch the Shadow Pokémon — After a successful battle, you’ll have an opportunity to catch a Shadow Pokémon that Team GO Rocket carelessly abandoned. Candela and Professor Willow discovered that these Pokémon look unusual and behave strangely because Team GO Rocket tried to make them stronger through unnatural means. After additional research, Professor Willow has also found that Shadow Pokémon can’t be traded away by the Trainer who rescued them unless they’re Purified first!
4. Purify the Shadow Pokémon — Thanks to all your research, Blanche and Professor Willow have discovered a process called Purification. Not only does Purification help Shadow Pokémon return to a more normal state, but Purified Pokémon can also become stronger than their normal counterparts due to the gratitude they feel toward the Trainer who saved them!
We’ll need as many courageous Trainers as possible to help defeat Team GO Rocket Grunts. Keep an eye out, Trainers! It’s time to give everything we’ve got and put an end to Team GO Rocket's evil plans!
—The Pokémon GO team

 

[Blitz]

Rocket Event

Team GO Rocket comes back with a featured event. From July 25 until August 1, 2019, we get:

- Shiny Koffing and Ekans debutting
- Rocket-related Pokémon in eggs and raids

This on top of the current invasion and the mass amount of Shadows.

 

[Kanburi]

I live in the countryside and I haven't seen any Rocket Poke Stops, so I was just wondering what percentage (roughly) of Poke Stops are you guys seeing as being invaded by TR? Or is it just taking a while to roll out completely?

 

[Panic Station]

From what I've seen so far, it seems like one or two in an area of 20* will be TR. It's not a static condition, though, so the numbers are probably wobblier than that as locations shift over time.

I'd recommend hitting up a place like a zoo or a college campus, since those usually have a high density of stops.

*This anecdotal evidence is based on observations of two college campuses and a five to six block radius in a downtown district.

 

[Kanburi]

Cool, I'm gonna be out tomorrow for a bit and then in an urban area for two weeks (travel) so hopefully I'll see a lot more then, especially for the new research.

 

[Panic Station]

I think the real draw of purified pokemon is they cost less candy to evolve. The difference between 100 and 90 is two to four catches, depending on Pinap use, but I think that makes a difference.

 

[Blitz]

After the New York takeover today, Team Rocket has taken control of the Pokémon Go Twitter accounts and we have to look out for Sunday the 28th, where I assume a big thing will happen that involves Giovanni.

EDIT: Timer from the official YT account. They're really going all in with the marketing lol

 

[Ivy]

The best part about the timer is that the youtube chat is enabled, so you get 22 hours of bored/hyped youtube commenters spewing their thoughts in there idly.