Pokémon GO

[Blitz]

We say goodbye to Kyogre and now Groudon is live. It will be here until July 10, after which we don't know what Raid Boss is coming.

Go's Third Anniversary:

Alright, it's been a long three years. Those of us who joined on day 1 on July 5/6 can probably remember the many changes and memories (for better or worse) that this game has elicited.

Naturally, this special occasion is backed up by an event. Starting on June 28th, we are getting the following:

- Shiny Alolan Pokémon: Rattata, Sandshrew, Vulpix, Diglett, Meowth, Geodude, Grimer, and Exeggutor will now be released.
- Team Leader items will be in the shop (think like Candela's shirt or whatever).
- Until July 6, Party Hat Pikachu will be the photobomber instead of Smeargle. Once per day.
- Until July 6, Party Hat Pichu also joins 7Ks.
- Until Sept 2, Special Research that focuses on giving new players a jump-start / things they've missed out on will debut.
- Until Sept 2, Raid Bosses can be taken down faster and you can earn more Premier Balls.
- Until Sept 2, Trading Pokémon will cost ¼ less Stardust.

Additionally, the picture in the blog teases Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, so we should be getting Gen 5 soon. Mime Jr. is also teased (and it is not currently released). Mewtwo and Mew can be seen on the top right, presumably because of the Rocket event we'll be getting eventually.

 

[Kanburi]

Shiny Pokemon and Costume Pokemon need to stop being a feature of events. Or am I in the minority and people actually care about them? This is bringing back nightmares from Pokemon Shuffle.

 

[Blitz]

They basically amount to the "new content" this game has to offer. It's unfortunate but it is what it is and they will continuously be a feature of events for years to come. At least we'll probably be able to add Shadow Pokémon to the mix soon enough.

 

[Kanburi]

I'm really hoping for the Team Rocket stuff to come out soon (hopefully not long after July 6th when Party Hat stuff leave), though to be honest, Pokemon Masters looks wayyyyy more attractive as a mobile game and its release might signal the end of my Go adventure.

 

[Expert Evan]

- Until Sept 2, Raid Bosses can be taken down faster and you can earn more Premier Balls.

I'm not sure I understand this part, so maybe a groudon can be easier to take down with 3 players one of which may not have the best counters nor friendship associated? If that's so it would make legendary raids more of an incentive to do since I often feared we didn't have enough. I know with 2 accounts that were loaded with machamps and fighting types it was easier to take down tyranitar and during the double candy event made that all so much sweeter as well.

 

[Blitz]

I'm not sure I understand this part, so maybe a groudon can be easier to take down with 3 players one of which may not have the best counters nor friendship associated? If that's so it would make legendary raids more of an incentive to do since I often feared we didn't have enough. I know with 2 accounts that were loaded with machamps and fighting types it was easier to take down tyranitar and during the double candy event made that all so much sweeter as well.

They didn't specify what it means. They just said Raid Bosses are easier to beat, so presumably their net HP is lower. We'll see tomorrow.

 

[PsychicAcademic]

Eh, Gen 5 and they haven't even finished through many things in Gen4. Darkrai and whoever isn't out yet, and we're still stuck with Jirachi at the furthest, while they just easily skip the lake guardians, making it regional (then again, it's probably for the better; they suck and doing it like the Regis would be bad although this time I personally don't mind with thesis haunting me). When there are Manaphy + Phione and 2 Shaymin formes....
Gen 5 is even worse in legendary + mythical numbers they'll have to go through.
Then again, this is mitigated by later gens having aversion to legendaries, particularly lesser ones (Kalos has none, Alola has only one set of Kapus).

Oh well, then again, I can take my time. I need to remember to stash my Sinnou Stones and make that dex golden too. And I don't know what mon will keep my interest over BW.


Well, I see Pokemon Master. Good thing I have spare phone and it being likely Gacha games, I can just leave it open while doing laptop stuffs and go GO when I'm going. Funnily this maybe my end of the main series game.

 

[Chanderule]

Gen 5 is going to be great, but Ive expected them to only have Gen 5 spawn for a month when they release, akin to BW

 

[Ivy]

Gen 5 is going to be great, but Ive expected them to only have Gen 5 spawn for a month when they release, akin to BW

That would be amazing, but I doubt they'd dump the full regular 'dex out on the first few weeks and make it really easy to clear. Would definitely solve the problem that's emerging with how much species diversity is out there now, though.

 

[Kanburi]

Can anyone here who isn’t on my friend list yet add me to help with the special research? My code is 1799 4985 2840. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: got my adds, but feel free to add if you need it yourself. Looking for a battle in Great League.

 

[Oglemi]

Add me too y'all

5617 4230 4109

Can't believe I haven't done this yet

Also I got the Professor message before the app updated, and I got this funny tidbit:

I was like.. the fuck you talking bout dude? lol

 

[JTD783]

Nice to have more research, it gives me something to do while I'm not at college over the summer.

Trainer Code: 3413 8682 1489

 

[Expert Evan]

I'm almost at the end of this research and just a reminder that when you complete steps 5 & 6 be sure to have a lucky egg ready before claiming your prizes especially the ones with a ton of XP which is equivalent to becoming best friends. Some of us at level 40 and above may not care as much but those of you not yet at level 40 should take advantage of this by all means.

Edit: not sure if double XP worked as journal shows 100000 XP in big letters instead of 200000 XP, am confused now.

 

[willempju]

I'm almost at the end of this research and just a reminder that when you complete steps 5 & 6 be sure to have a lucky egg ready before claiming your prizes especially the ones with a ton of XP which is equivalent to becoming best friends. Some of us at level 40 and above may not care as much but those of you not yet at level 40 should take advantage of this by all means.

Edit: not sure if double XP worked as journal shows 100000 XP in big letters instead of 200000 XP, am confused now.

I already experienced that star pieces do not work on these rewards so I guess lucky eggs will not work as well.

 

[Blitz]

Wrong. Amounts may not be reflected on the onset, but ALL rewards are increased from Star Pieces or Lucky Eggs. Observe your Stardust count and EXP counts before and after so you see this reflected.

 

[Blitz]

Armored Mewtwo is coming to Raids!

Short and simple. July 12 is the release of the movie in Japan iirc, and we’ve known code about this has existed for a while. Leaked screenshots of the raid show that it has the same boss CP aka stats to reg Mewtwo!

 

[PsychicAcademic]

This is pretty much just cosmetic, is it?
Consider that this form would be untransferable to LGPE/HOME/whatever too.

On another note now I wish flower accessory Eevee is transferrable to LGPE....

 

[Kanburi]

Armored Mewtwo is coming to Raids!

Short and simple. July 10 is the release of the movie in Japan iirc, and we’ve known code about this has existed for a while. Leaked screenshots of the raid show that it has the same boss CP aka stats to reg Mewtwo!

July 12th, but yeah small error.

 

[Blitz]

Unlike Raikou, Niantic rushed the shit out of Entei’s challenge and we successfully “completed” it already. For a week, we get:

3× Catch XP
1-hour Lucky Eggs
3× Hatch XP
2× Raid XP

And of course Entei’s Raid Day on July 14.

 

[Expert Evan]

The pending XP bonus will certainly be nice for those below level 40 should use a lucky egg especially when doing multiple hatches at once. I'm excited about Armored Mewtwo coming soon as I ran out of previous mewtwo for trading purposes tried few lucky trades and got dud IVs. Speaking of which I just became lucky friends with OM! and yes I noticed the name change since I nickname all my best friends into smaller groups usually based on location. Not sure if I'll ever get to trade with most any of my 18 best friends unless remote trading were allowed. I had one lucky trade which involved spoofing to my location so I certainly didn't mind that at all.

 

[Blitz]

Good news! We finally have Armored Mewtwo's assets, including its shiny variant, hinting at a potential release in the future (maybe November, when the English movie comes out).

Now the bad news: It is a shit Pokémon in Go:

Stats:
Sta: 214
Atk: 182
Def: 278

Quick Moves:
Confusion
Iron Tail

Charge Moves:
Rock Slide
Dynamic Punch
Earthquake
Future Sight

For comparison, base Mewtwo's stats are:

Sta: 214
Atk: 300
Def: 182

It looks like they just swapped Atk/Def and lowered the 300 stat all the way to 278.

Unfortunate, Armored Mewtwo is just another Regi and it isn't even usable in Great League.

EDIT: CP values

Max CP: 3187

Raid CP: 1740-1821

Raid weather boosted CP: 2175-2276

Raid boss Tier 5 CP: 41299

Raid Boss "T6" CP: 50581

 

[Ivy]

Gah! Was really hoping it would have had a chance to sneak into the sub-1500 range, considering how effortlessly Deoxys-D did so. Rats! It'll be novel for, uh, ultra league, I guess.

 

[Rarycaris]

Isn't this thing strictly worse than Lugia?

 

[Kanburi]

New update!

Community Note: New attacks and updates for Trainer Battles
Trainers,
In our previous Community Note, we outlined some changes that came to Pokémon GO that affected your Pokémon’s performance in Raid Battles, as well as other additions to the game. In this update, we’re excited to announce more changes, focusing on Trainer Battles!
In a continued effort to make Trainer Battles a fun and competitive experience, switching Pokémon will now briefly pause the battle. This will grant you more time to choose which Pokémon to call out, and it will avoid Pokémon causing damage to each other while they are withdrawn into their Poké Balls. Charged Attack gameplay will also be updated with new, fun swiping and tapping mechanics. (Want to know more? Check out our Niantic Help page for more info.)
More attacks will also be coming to Pokémon GO!
The following Pokémon will be able to learn attacks they couldn’t before:

• 026 Alolan Raichu: Grass Knot - Alolan Raichu currently can only learn Electric- and Psychic-type attacks. Grass Knot will give it more type coverage and help cover its weakness to Ground-type attacks.
• 045 Vileplume: Sludge Bomb - Sludge Bomb provides Vileplume with a strong Poison-type Charged Attack to take full advantage of its Grass and Poison types.
• 097 Hypno: Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch - These attacks provide Hypno with coverage to help it in the Great League.
• 101 Electrode: Foul Play - All the attacks Electrode can currently learn are Normal type or Electric type. Foul Play provides more type coverage for Electrode.
• 142 Aerodactyl: Rock Throw - Rock Throw allows Aerodactyl to compete in the Great League against other Flying-type Pokémon, such as Altaria.
• 144 Articuno: Ancient Power, Ice Shard - Ice Shard will help Articuno use its Charged Attacks more frequently in battle. Ancient Power offers additional type coverage.
• 145 Zapdos: Ancient Power, Drill Peck - Zapdos currently can only learn Electric-type Charged Attacks. Drill Peck gives another type option and is a natural fit for this Pokémon. Ancient Power provides Zapdos with additional type coverage.
• 146 Moltres: Ancient Power, Wing Attack - Wing Attack provides Moltres with a Fast Attack alternative to Fire Spin, and Ancient Power gives it a new type option for its Charged Attacks.
• 254 Sceptile: Dragon Claw - Dragon Claw gives Sceptile additional coverage to compete with Dragon-type Pokémon in the Great League and the Ultra League.
• 306 Aggron: Smack Down - The Fast Attack Smack Down should make Aggron a formidable choice to use in any league.
• 344 Claydol: Mud Slap - This Ground-type alternative to Claydol’s Psychic-type Fast Attacks provides it with additional type coverage, improving its capabilities against Pokémon resistant to Psychic-type attacks.
• 437 Bronzong: Bulldoze, Psyshock - Bulldoze and Psyshock are Charged Attacks that Bronzong can capitalize on to differentiate it from other Psychic-type or Steel-type Pokémon, like Metagross.
• 466 Electivire: Ice Punch - All the Charged Attacks Electivire can currently learn are Electric type. Ice Punch provides more type coverage for Electivire.

Attacks New to Pokémon GO
Certain Pokémon will soon be able to learn attacks that hadn’t yet been seen in Pokémon GO!

• Charm: A Fairy-type Fast Attack - Raichu, Clefable, Wigglytuff, Wobbuffet, Granbull, Donphan, Gardevoir, Delcatty, Latias, Togekiss, Gallade
• Skull Bash: A Normal-type Charged Attack that increases the Defense stat of the user 100 percent of the time - Blastoise, Raichu, Lapras, Snorlax, Rhyperior

We’re excited to see the teams you build with these changes, Trainers. Stay tuned, as we’ll be sharing more updates like these in the future. Good luck on the battlefield!
—The Pokémon GO team

 

[Blitz]

Isn't this thing strictly worse than Lugia?

Stat-wise, yes. However, Mewtwo-A's coverage over Lugia (namely, Rock Slide and Dynamic Punch) give it an edge for the higher PvP Leagues if you're into that sort of thing. It's still pretty shit.

New update!

As a non PvPer, the most interesting additions here are Wing Attack Moltres for pure Flying sets with the event exclusive Sky Attack, and Charm for Gardevoir so it becomes a top counter to things like Fighting-types and Dark-types. Togekiss and Granbull shouldn't be far behind either.