Pokémon GO

Ivy

resident enigma
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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more time to choose which Pokémon to call out, and it will avoid Pokémon causing damage to each other while they are withdrawn into their Poké Balls.
As a PVPer, hell yeah, brother! Lotta juicy stuff in this update...
 
I don't play PvP at all but I enjoy PvE (while I'm at college instead of being stuck at home over summer). I'm really excited for the new moves. Armored Mewtwo is garbage though, and I won't be going out of my way to catch one.
 
Still waiting for coverage for the Vees. Or at least Waterfall Vaporeon. What is with Ntic and their vendetta to Vappies, when it is their fault Watergun was broken?

Well, today's catch include near PvP perfect bluebird Tylt. But the face when you got one best Tyltalis/Altaria only to see Charm is going to murder her anyway :pikuh: I kinda miss my Mt. Moon biome so I can get good Clefs....
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Still waiting for coverage for the Vees. Or at least Waterfall Vaporeon. What is with Ntic and their vendetta to Vappies, when it is their fault Watergun was broken?

Well, today's catch include near PvP perfect bluebird Tylt. But the face when you got one best Tyltalis/Altaria only to see Charm is going to murder her anyway :pikuh: I kinda miss my Mt. Moon biome so I can get good Clefs....
Clefable can boss up with Meteor Smash too. She smokes other fairies. She is a canabble when it comes to Fairies.
Altaria can still be used after their fairy is handled though, or certain Silph Road Cups.

Stay positive, Altaria is still a queen.
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
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It was done yesterday, but Niantic reverted the new switching mechanics and updated their blog with said change.

I know Niantic gets (and sometimes deserves) its fair share of bashing, but this is one of the better things they’ve done. They listened to their playerbase, and updated everything accordingly. Switching in PvP, while having certain quirks, is one of two things that make up “strategic” play (the other being knowing the type chart), so to see this acknowledged gives me hope that Niantic might strive to further improve PvP and potentially have more people playing it.

Those of you who have TSR Cups / tournaments this weekend, enjoy!
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
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ELI5 why the switching change was bad?
Here’s a breakdown from the Arena subreddit. I’d suggest reading it. The switching change removed what was a part of “indepth” PvP by way of sacrificial charge moves or countering bad matchups, as you could no longer use or abuse these tools due to the cooldown imposed, as well as the whole battle stopping. This is done by abusing the quirks of the old PvP system, but in good faith as to add some competitiveness to the system (like wavedashing in Super Smash Bros. Melee).
 

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
While I certainly don't intend to use Armored Mewtwo in raids, it still has a few things going for it:
- Double XP event certainly helps especially for accounts lower than level 40, not sure if they'll ever raise the level cap which I really don't see much benefit for.
- Mewtwo candies, unless you have a ton of rare candies, it's always nice to be able to unlock that 2nd move ideally ice beam.

I've been pleased with the turnout for these raids especially after the disappointment of the ones the past few months even if there was a shiny possible of them.
 
Straw Hat Pikachu and Straw Hat clothing will be available for a week starting July 22nd.



This is Pokemon Go's way of supporting Oda Eiichiro's efforts in restoring Kumamoto after the April 2016 earthquake. July 22nd this year not only marks the 3rd year anniversary of Pokemon Go in Japan, but also 22 years since the beginning of One Piece. In addition, the One Piece bronze statues in Kumamoto will also be turned into Poke Stops.

Also, looks like the Team Rocket event will happen soon.

 
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Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
With the new update now out for Android users in the form of the APK, a lot of QoL things have been added to improve on the user experience. I'd figure I'd highlight these in a post:

1) The New Appraisal System

So, appraisal has been substantially modified to not only give you a better overview of the mon's IVs, but it is also faster when checking Pokémon in your storage. The Team Leader also tells you when and where you caught it as a bonus!

When you appraise, you are now met with a series of bars that narrow down the IV of the Pokémon. Since each IV has a defined length in the chart, you can now narrow down every single IV by memorizing these thresholds and eyeballing your Pokémon, which will help massively for low level Pokémon or fringe cases where you can't tell if the stat is 13 or 14.

There is also a stamp on the top left that has stars and changes colors based on the IV total of the Pokémon. For example, a 100% Pokémon will have a red stamp with 3 stars. The breakdown is as follows:

0 stars: IV of 0%-49%
1 star: IV of 51%-64%
2 stars: IV of 67%-80%
3 stars IV of 82%-100%

You can also use the appraisal on Pokémon that are also in gyms, which you previously couldn't do.

Overall, a very much welcomed change that should change the way we view IVs going forward and decreases the reliance on 3rd party apps.

2) New Search Strings

The new update has brought a few select search strings to improve usability. These are:

A) IV Tiers:

By searching either 0*, 1*, 2*, 3* or 4*, you are able to look up Pokémon with specific IV ranges - these are based on the appraisal tiers we are already familiar with. These are:

0* = IV of 0-49%
1* = IV of 51%-64%
2* = IV of 67%-80%
3* = IV of 82%-98%
4* = IV of 100%

You can combine them and also use them to do things like sort by IVs or mass transfer. Particularly useful for Community Days!

B) Gender

Gender is now a search term. Male, Female, and Genderless are the options that will pull up all Pokémon with the specified criteria.

C) Shadow and Purified

I'll elaborate on the new additions to the upcoming event further down, but the new update includes search strings for both Shadow and Purified Pokémon, meaning you can search for all of your Shadow Pokémon or Purified Pokémon. They both have icons to identify them as well.

3) New Charge Move Mechanics for PvP

Tap fest galore and potential carpal tunnel syndrome are a thing of the past with the new mechanics! If anyone is familiar with Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, the new Charge Moves are done in a similar fashion: To charge them up, simply follow the patterns that the type bubbles outline and you charge the move! This should be a welcomed change that will lead people to paying a bit more attention to their PvP battles.

On another note, the UI for PvP was also redesigned! It looks much cleaner now.

4) Charge Move Attack Button moved to the bottom

Straightforward, but no more accidental purchasing of a move when powering up Pokémon!

5) Cherubi Evolution

Cherubi can now evolve into Cherrim-Overcast or Cherrim-Sunshine, rather than just Overcast. Not confirmed if it is random or if it is tied to weather (evolve in Clear for Sunshine).

6) Shadow Pokémon Update

QoL updates aside, this new feature is pretty much ready to be rolled out as Niantic and the official Pokémon Twitter are now teasing it, and we have seen some new additions to the code in regards to this. The community dataminer Chrales has put these assets into a custom server to show the general populace.

The appearance of Shadow Pokémon is very reminiscent of the GameCube games, with the shadowy aura being the most distinguishable feature, as well as red, angry eyes - every species found so far seems to have these characteristics. Here's another example comparing a Shadow Bulbasaur, a regular Alolan Vulpix, and the icon for Shadow Pokémon.

Based on what we know so far, these Pokémon will have the move Frustration and will seemingly cost far more to power-up in terms of Candy / Stardust. 3x more Stardust / Candy seems to be the norm.

Here is a Purified Bulbasaur and the accompanying icon that goes with it, which is not very interesting. From what we know, these Pokémon learn Return, lose the exorbitant Stardust / Candy cost, and "grow stronger" - presumably either an increase in IVs or level.

Now, to close, the known list of Shadow Pokémon when we first heard about this feature was a bit small, with some select Kanto species and things like Wurmple and Mudkip. Now, the list has increased substantially as of 2 hours ago, with Pokémon such as Articuno, Mawile, Magnezone, Tyranitar, and Shuckle featuring. Based on this, we now officially have more Shadow Pokémon in Go than in Colosseum or XD combined.

This is going to be a huge part of Go, and I presume we will either see this around Mudkip Day this week, or at worst during Yokohama's Go Fest. Let's get hype!
 
Thank god they finally added a decent appraisal system. Shadow Pokemon are interesting, although I'm not sure what they add to the game? The purified Pokemon don't really seem to have an advantage over others, aside from the "growing stronger" thing, unless that means they can go over the IV or level limit?
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
it seems like Swampert will be able to compete with Kyogre, qualify as the best starter unless Ash-Greninja with Hydro Cannon and Water Shuriken outpace it’s potential Mega Form, and really stay ahead of even Palkia.

While Primal Kyogre and Origin Pulse are still likely to surpass it, the only other powerful Water moves are potentially Muddy Water, Water Spout, and Steam Eruption. Swampert will likely get Muddy Water, Kyogre doesn’t need Water Spout due to Origin Pulse (and would be the strongest user of it anyways), and Volcanion’s Steam Eruption would also fringe on its type matchup - being weak to Ground and Rock types (the types it’s supposed to hit for super effective Damage), and only becoming stronger against Fire types.

Although being able to hit Grass types off of a STAB attack rather than just Ice moves is a potential advantage, as it’s not weak to Grass either, but then it competes with other Fire types, who resist grass...

Community day Comparison-

Pokemon Fast Move Charged Move DPS TDO DPS^3*TDO CP
Kyogre Waterfall Origin Pulse 17.439 647 3431.3 4115
Kyogre Waterfall Hydro Pump 15.91 590.3 2377.2 4115
Swampert Water Gun Hydro Cannon 15.61 494 1879.1 2974
Samurott Water Gun Hydro Cannon 16.001 441.2 1807.6 2826
Samurott Waterfall Hydro Cannon 15.541 428.5 1608.5 2826
—————
Using the current stats on Gamepress:
Primal Kyogre (Waterfall/Hydro Pump)- 21.019 DPS
Mega Swampert (Water Gun/Hydro Cannon)- 20.258 DPS
Primal Kyogre (Waterfall/Origin Pulse)- 23.047 DPS
Using Kyogre's current water set would place Primal Kyogre at #2 in pure DPS behind Attack Forme Deoxys and #1 when accounting for bulk (by a land slide).
Using Swampert's community day move set, a Mega Swampert would be #3 in DPS, right behind Primal Kyogre and would follow again when accounting for bulk, taking the #2 overall spot behind Primal Kyogre and ahead of Metagross.
Adding Origin Pulse to Primal Kyogre would place him above Attack Forme Deoxys in DPS and increase his dominance as the overall best monster in the game. Of course this doesn't account for Primal Groudon or other megas as I've only included Primal Kyogre (with two move sets) and Mega Swampert.
Moral of the story is Primal Kyogre wins no matter what and when you consider bulk, it's not even close. This is all assuming they have the same move sets I used above and Gamepress has the correct stats

Do we know when the QoL update occurs for iOS?
With the new update now out for Android users in the form of the APK, a lot of QoL things have been added to improve on the user experience. I'd figure I'd highlight these in a post:

1) The New Appraisal System

So, appraisal has been substantially modified to not only give you a better overview of the mon's IVs, but it is also faster when checking Pokémon in your storage. The Team Leader also tells you when and where you caught it as a bonus!

When you appraise, you are now met with a series of bars that narrow down the IV of the Pokémon. Since each IV has a defined length in the chart, you can now narrow down every single IV by memorizing these thresholds and eyeballing your Pokémon, which will help massively for low level Pokémon or fringe cases where you can't tell if the stat is 13 or 14.

There is also a stamp on the top left that has stars and changes colors based on the IV total of the Pokémon. For example, a 100% Pokémon will have a red stamp with 3 stars. The breakdown is as follows:

0 stars: IV of 0%-49%
1 star: IV of 51%-64%
2 stars: IV of 67%-80%
3 stars IV of 82%-100%

You can also use the appraisal on Pokémon that are also in gyms, which you previously couldn't do.

Overall, a very much welcomed change that should change the way we view IVs going forward and decreases the reliance on 3rd party apps.

2) New Search Strings

The new update has brought a few select search strings to improve usability. These are:

A) IV Tiers:

By searching either 0*, 1*, 2*, 3* or 4*, you are able to look up Pokémon with specific IV ranges - these are based on the appraisal tiers we are already familiar with. These are:

0* = IV of 0-49%
1* = IV of 51%-64%
2* = IV of 67%-80%
3* = IV of 82%-98%
4* = IV of 100%

You can combine them and also use them to do things like sort by IVs or mass transfer. Particularly useful for Community Days!

B) Gender

Gender is now a search term. Male, Female, and Genderless are the options that will pull up all Pokémon with the specified criteria.

C) Shadow and Purified

I'll elaborate on the new additions to the upcoming event further down, but the new update includes search strings for both Shadow and Purified Pokémon, meaning you can search for all of your Shadow Pokémon or Purified Pokémon. They both have icons to identify them as well.

3) New Charge Move Mechanics for PvP

Tap fest galore and potential carpal tunnel syndrome are a thing of the past with the new mechanics! If anyone is familiar with Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs, the new Charge Moves are done in a similar fashion: To charge them up, simply follow the patterns that the type bubbles outline and you charge the move! This should be a welcomed change that will lead people to paying a bit more attention to their PvP battles.

On another note, the UI for PvP was also redesigned! It looks much cleaner now.

4) Charge Move Attack Button moved to the bottom

Straightforward, but no more accidental purchasing of a move when powering up Pokémon!

5) Cherubi Evolution

Cherubi can now evolve into Cherrim-Overcast or Cherrim-Sunshine, rather than just Overcast. Not confirmed if it is random or if it is tied to weather (evolve in Clear for Sunshine).

6) Shadow Pokémon Update

QoL updates aside, this new feature is pretty much ready to be rolled out as Niantic and the official Pokémon Twitter are now teasing it, and we have seen some new additions to the code in regards to this. The community dataminer Chrales has put these assets into a custom server to show the general populace.

The appearance of Shadow Pokémon is very reminiscent of the GameCube games, with the shadowy aura being the most distinguishable feature, as well as red, angry eyes - every species found so far seems to have these characteristics. Here's another example comparing a Shadow Bulbasaur, a regular Alolan Vulpix, and the icon for Shadow Pokémon.

Based on what we know so far, these Pokémon will have the move Frustration and will seemingly cost far more to power-up in terms of Candy / Stardust. 3x more Stardust / Candy seems to be the norm.

Here is a Purified Bulbasaur and the accompanying icon that goes with it, which is not very interesting. From what we know, these Pokémon learn Return, lose the exorbitant Stardust / Candy cost, and "grow stronger" - presumably either an increase in IVs or level.

Now, to close, the known list of Shadow Pokémon when we first heard about this feature was a bit small, with some select Kanto species and things like Wurmple and Mudkip. Now, the list has increased substantially as of 2 hours ago, with Pokémon such as Articuno, Mawile, Magnezone, Tyranitar, and Shuckle featuring. Based on this, we now officially have more Shadow Pokémon in Go than in Colosseum or XD combined.

This is going to be a huge part of Go, and I presume we will either see this around Mudkip Day this week, or at worst during Yokohama's Go Fest. Let's get hype!
the fact that bulbasaur before purification was 48 IVs, and after didn’t get a renamed IV means that even with the potential of the “grow stronger”, if you can already also catch a 98 IV shadow Pokémon, you don’t really have an advantage to trying to purify a weaker one, because unless it becomes perfect each time, you are better off just transferring/sending it to the professor.

Way more work, way little reward. And with legendaries like Articuno, requiring rare candy, it seems pretty sad that they don’t guarantee a perfect IV.

At this point you are better off just scoring Lucky Trades bc even if they are not perfect, at least they include a reduction in Stardust.
Also, I am sure shadow Pokémon won’t be traded until after purification bc they could then become lucky and lose half of their increased Stardust cost and still have whatever “benefits” they offer from purification.
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
Update should start rolling out this week for iOS users, so let's see what happens.

We unfortunately don't know much regarding the IV / levels of Shadow Pokémon as we can only test the available assets that exist to us, but hopefully that's cleared up in time. They are probably useless if you have a perfect specimen / maxed out high IV one already, but still.

For your Water-type analysis, don't forget Hydro Cannon Primarina. It doesn't outpace Primal Kyogre or Mega Swampert as a Water-type (iirc) but it's the best regular Water in terms of DPS. Probably too far away to count though.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Update should start rolling out this week for iOS users, so let's see what happens.

We unfortunately don't know much regarding the IV / levels of Shadow Pokémon as we can only test the available assets that exist to us, but hopefully that's cleared up in time. They are probably useless if you have a perfect specimen / maxed out high IV one already, but still.

For your Water-type analysis, don't forget Hydro Cannon Primarina. It doesn't outpace Primal Kyogre or Mega Swampert as a Water-type (iirc) but it's the best regular Water in terms of DPS. Probably too far away to count though.
Well, it loses to Samurott. Speaking off, the Calcs I copied and pasted from Reddit show Samurott’s DPS as higher with Water Gun than with Waterfall.

Here are the final results:
6362DB33-92B4-4C9A-9E37-F823CD844314.png

From Reddit, cont’d:
EDIT: Looking forward, Samurott in gen 5 will outclass both Kyogre and Swampert once it has its community day (in DPS), but its lack of bulk keeps it at #3 overall. This is all assuming Kyogre doesn't get Origin Pulse anytime soon because once that happens it's basically king for eternity.
———
Since Gen 6 happens before Gen 7, Megas happen before Primarina either way, however, Z-moves, especially its exclusive Z-move in Oceanic Operetta can serve as a hidden Charge move likely activated once per battle. I could see that being a huge factor, maybe like a 1 time per battle Charge Move that gives it a head start and is able to keep up with Kyogre-Primal by the time it faints.
1 year from now is Gen 6, Megas will likely draw out Gen 6 since Gen 7 has such a small pool of Pokémon (especially with Alolans already released), similar to how Alolans drew out Gen 3 before Gen 4 was released.

Wow, time flies and it will be here before we know it.
 
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Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Bold to assume either Megas or Z-moves will exist considering what's happened for generation 8 of the mainline games. Then again, even Shadow Pokémon are being added to Go, so there's really no precedent.
I won’t be surprised if they are used. They are introducing Pokémon Home, and that is specifically so we can store Pokémon that are not available to trade / transfer into Gen 8’s S&Sh, but for future Gen 8 or beyond releases.

Plus, Necrozma-Ultra literally relies on a Z-crystal for its form to be available at all. If what you are saying is true, they have effectively removed a Pokémon from existence.

Cutest Thing Ever
 
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Plus, Necrozma-Ultra literally relies on a Z-crystal for its form to be available at all. If what you are saying is true, they have effectively removed a Pokémon from existence.
Ehh.
Ultra Necrozma is still only Necrozma in a different forme. They wouldn't be "removing" anything from anywhere.

Also, in the main games, Giratina's Origin Forme is entirely dependent on the Griseous Orb. And it worked out ok for Giratina-O in Go.

My guess is that if they do end up introducing Ultra Necrozma, it'll be the same as Megas, since they both require to have an item activate in battle. The execution of those mechanics in Go is still entirely up for debate, however.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Ehh.
Ultra Necrozma is still only Necrozma in a different forme. They wouldn't be "removing" anything from anywhere.

Also, in the main games, Giratina's Origin Forme is entirely dependent on the Griseous Orb. And it worked out ok for Giratina-O in Go.

My guess is that if they do end up introducing Ultra Necrozma, it'll be the same as Megas, since they both require to have an item activate in battle. The execution of those mechanics in Go is still entirely up for debate, however.
That is actually in line with what I originally stated - I expect alternate forms to be introduced.

Swampert-Mega will be behind Kyogre-Primal, and possibly Greninja-Ash.
I could see Swampert-Mega as a Kyogre and Groudon 2-in-1 based on its typing, while Greninja-Ash is an alternative to Gyarados-Mega, more power, but less bulk.
Thanks to the impromptu Raid Hour today, I managed to get my Mewtwo dex entry. Got a 96% to boot... if only it were actually useful, lol
Wait, it is still happening on Wednesdays? I thought it was just June? Good to know.
 

Blitz

Mightiest of Cleaves
is a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Discord Leader
You can now obtain Muddy Water on Swampert via TM or evolution - it is added to its regular movepool. Obviously, wait until Community Day to evolve for Hydro Cannon.

In terms of stats, PvE Muddy Water is a 3 bar move that’s slightly inferior to Leaf Blade and Blaze Kick, so it’s not particularly noteworthy as Hydro just outclasses.

For PvP, Muddy Water has a chance to lower Attack, which might be pretty useful.
 
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.
 

Ivy

resident enigma
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributor
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).
 
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
 

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