Pokémon GO

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
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Thankfully I live next to a church which has 2 gyms so been doing remote darkrai raids from home today with 3 devices including an ipad that can at least reach the gyms and the others need remote raid passes. Good for when being required to stay indoors during this pandemic at least.
 
Pretty cool there’s a Pokemon Go thread on the forums! Here’s some pretty significant things I’ve done lately
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Probably one of my favorite maxes so far, insanely good in the gym and raid meta w aura sphere in its arsenal. Hoping to do more soon but I’m okay with one and a few maxed champs rn.

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Got insanely lucky with one of my lucky trades and got a 96% Smack Down tar so I decided to max it. I have a maxed rampardos and I know it’s better in a lot of ways but I still like Tyranitar as a rock attacker so I decided to max a couple of smack downs.

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pretty much just an impulse max lol. But weavile is still a p good dark attacker.

And here’s my top 12 incase anyone was curious
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Pretty cool there’s a Pokemon Go thread on the forums! Here’s some pretty significant things I’ve done lately
View attachment 243403
Probably one of my favorite maxes so far, insanely good in the gym and raid meta w aura sphere in its arsenal. Hoping to do more soon but I’m okay with one and a few maxed champs rn.

View attachment 243404
Got insanely lucky with one of my lucky trades and got a 96% Smack Down tar so I decided to max it. I have a maxed rampardos and I know it’s better in a lot of ways but I still like Tyranitar as a rock attacker so I decided to max a couple of smack downs.

View attachment 243407
pretty much just an impulse max lol. But weavile is still a p good dark attacker.

And here’s my top 12 incase anyone was curious
View attachment 243408
I have nothing to add except hoooooly crap, shiny Weavile looks so much better than it does in other games! Can't stand the bright pink with the yellow but it looks almost wine-coloured on PoGo and I love it.
 

Codraroll

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I wonder whose idea it was to make Shellder more common for an hour today? I was practically wading in clams. At one point I must have seen 10+ of them at the same time around a nearby Gym. Shellder has been one of the most common spawns in the game since day one. Are there really any players out there who don't have a ton of Cloyster by now?
 
I wonder whose idea it was to make Shellder more common for an hour today? I was practically wading in clams. At one point I must have seen 10+ of them at the same time around a nearby Gym. Shellder has been one of the most common spawns in the game since day one. Are there really any players out there who don't have a ton of Cloyster by now?
Niantic likes to give newbies chances. Lots of them.
 
I wonder whose idea it was to make Shellder more common for an hour today? I was practically wading in clams. At one point I must have seen 10+ of them at the same time around a nearby Gym. Shellder has been one of the most common spawns in the game since day one. Are there really any players out there who don't have a ton of Cloyster by now?
I have loads, but none shiny, which I really wanted (Shellder's a longtime fave). Sadly I didn't get a single one.
 

Codraroll

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Niantic likes to give newbies chances. Lots of them.
Yes, but at least over here, the same newbies would have plenty of chances to get Shellder just by taking any short walk on any given day. It's one of the most common spawns seemingly regardless of the weather, and has been for years now. Of all the Pokémon that really didn't need any extra spotlight, Shellder has to be among the foremost. It's almost as insulting as that time they proposed a Machop community day. Flippin' thing has been popping up like toadstools whenever there's a single cloud in the sky, ever since the game launched. And they're reportedly even putting Venonat in 7k Eggs too. Hasn't that thing been everywhere since forever as well? While 7k Eggs were meant to be something to be excited for?

Then again, it looks like Niantic is trying to repeat the feat by giving a spotlight hour to Gen II vermin extraordinaire, Snubbull. About as common as blades of grass, yet not as exciting or useful to come across. And a freaking annoying thing to try to hit with a Poké Ball too. Now I wonder what the spotlight Pokémon is for the Hoenn week. Gut feeling suggests either Skitty, Zigzagoon or Whismur, all top contenders for the big "Pokémon we wish we'd never see again, so they could be replaced by something more interesting" medal.
 
New announcement from Niantic on a new task-based system for earning Pokecoins. Testing for the feature will be exclusive to Australia, followed by a world-wide rollout post testing.

Frankly, I love the idea. The ease of access for in game currency was one of the things that made the soon-to-be-late great Rumble Rush one of my favorite mobile games. I don't think there'll be more goldsinks built into the game like they had to do with Rumble Rush, though, since Go already has plenty of things to spend Pokecoins on.
 
New announcement from Niantic on a new task-based system for earning Pokecoins. Testing for the feature will be exclusive to Australia, followed by a world-wide rollout post testing.

Frankly, I love the idea. The ease of access for in game currency was one of the things that made the soon-to-be-late great Rumble Rush one of my favorite mobile games. I don't think there'll be more goldsinks built into the game like they had to do with Rumble Rush, though, since Go already has plenty of things to spend Pokecoins on.
While I would love more ways to get coins outside of holding gyms, this revamp is pretty bad and hopefully Niantic listens to feedback and changes it dramatically. In the proposal they are testing in Australia, coins are now capped at 55/day instead of 50, but 50 of those still come from holding gyms, which now only give 2 coins per hour instead of 6. In the current proposal we have to complete 10 tasks (one of which is a raid) for a measly 5 extra coins. :(
 
While I would love more ways to get coins outside of holding gyms, this revamp is pretty bad and hopefully Niantic listens to feedback and changes it dramatically. In the proposal they are testing in Australia, coins are now capped at 55/day instead of 50, but 50 of those still come from holding gyms, which now only give 2 coins per hour instead of 6. In the current proposal we have to complete 10 tasks (one of which is a raid) for a measly 5 extra coins. :(
Ah, that is a good point. That's nowhere near as nice as "You did a thing? Here, have three currency. Did another thing? Here, have two more."
 

Codraroll

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While I would love more ways to get coins outside of holding gyms, this revamp is pretty bad and hopefully Niantic listens to feedback and changes it dramatically. In the proposal they are testing in Australia, coins are now capped at 55/day instead of 50, but 50 of those still come from holding gyms, which now only give 2 coins per hour instead of 6. In the current proposal we have to complete 10 tasks (one of which is a raid) for a measly 5 extra coins. :(
It might be because it's way past midnight and I'm too tired to read the text properly, but I don't think you need to complete all ten tasks to receive the coins. It sounds like it's five coins per task, but it's ambiguous how many tasks you can receive in one day.

At any rate, the Gym nerf blows donkeys. Rather than requiring you to keep a Pokémon in a Gym for 8 hrs 20 mins to receive 50 coins, now you have to keep one there for 25 hours. The amount of tasks better be high enough (preferably, unlimited number per day until you've reached the cap) to compensate, otherwise Gym hogging will be an even bigger problem than it currently is.
 
It might be because it's way past midnight and I'm too tired to read the text properly, but I don't think you need to complete all ten tasks to receive the coins. It sounds like it's five coins per task, but it's ambiguous how many tasks you can receive in one day.

At any rate, the Gym nerf blows donkeys. Rather than requiring you to keep a Pokémon in a Gym for 8 hrs 20 mins to receive 50 coins, now you have to keep one there for 25 hours. The amount of tasks better be high enough (preferably, unlimited number per day until you've reached the cap) to compensate, otherwise Gym hogging will be an even bigger problem than it currently is.
I originally thought/hoped it was 5 per task too, but (currently) it's really 5 total for all the tasks :(

 

Codraroll

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Oh wow, it really is as bad as feared.

Yeah, this is obviously Niantic trying to monetize the game more. Cutting the rate of Poké Coins gain to a third, then giving ten percent back in the form of tasks. Encouraging players to play more every day, while effectively making it three times harder to obtain the stuff required to play the game in the long run (storage space and incubators) without paying.

If this is implemented as-is, I'll shelve the game. I can stand many of Niantic's antics, but I won't condone such unfiltered greed.
 
Next Community Day will take place on May 24th and feature Seedot!



Date and time: May 24th from 11am to 5pm local time

Features:
  • Shiny Seedot
  • Evolve Seedot into Shiftry from 11am to 7pm local time to learn Bullet Seed
  • US$1 (or equivalent) to access the Special Research Seeing Double, rewards include 3 Incense and 5 Golden Razz Berries
  • Take snapshots for a surprise
  • One-time bundle of Elite Fast TM, 30 Ultra Balls, 3 Incense, 3 Lucky Eggs
Bonuses:
  • 3x catch EXP
  • 3-hour Incense
  • Buddy Pokemon that are Great Buddy or higher will bring useful items throughout event

YouTube Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA698bls2pjQyiqP9N-iaeg
 

Codraroll

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Yay, another Community Day featuring a Pokémon that has been common as dirt ever since its introduction! What's next, Pidgey? I mean, we've been due a Gible Day for quite some time now, but I guess Niantic are hesitant to release it since they probably make a fortune from Incubator sales to players who seek the elusive Garchomp. Hence moving down to the other end of the barrel.

Then again, with the pandemic going on, it's probably a good idea to feature Pokémon players wouldn't want to go out and catch en masse, with a one-time chance of getting lots of rare Candy. Common 'mons might have their place, then, so players stuck at home don't feel like they're missing out on a rare opportunity. But once this all lifts, I better get my Gible. So far I've only hatched a single one and never met them in the wild.
 
I've been holding onto my 15/14/15 Gible and 15/14/15 Togetic since September 24th, 2019 and May 19th, 2018 respectively, hoping for them to receive a CD with a worthy featured move.

Honestly, with the extended CD hours, increase rates, and people generally being at home, I actually think this is the perfect time to have their CDs. Once things go back to normal, there'll definitely be those "Niantic should make it Community Weekend to make it fair for those who have work during those hours" comments popping up everywhere on Redd*t.
 
I'm very cautiously (and probably mistakenly) hopeful about the Sinnoh throwback - since all the themed research tasks during the Kanto throwback event gave out Pokemon that Ash had (same for Johto, except for Pineco which Brock had and... Shuckle, which no-one had but I love Shuckle so I'm not complaining, especially if it's shiny). The only non-starter Gen IV Pokemon Ash caught in Sinnoh are Buizel, Starly, and Gible so... could we possibly be in for a Gible research task? (He's now got a Riolu, but I don't see them making Riolu or Lucario available that easily either.)

It could happen. Could is admittedly doing a lot of work there.

But Dawn had Buneary (probably), Pachirisu (regional), Mamoswine (extremely unlikely), and Togekiss (no chance) while Brock had Croagunk (probably) and Happiny (no chance). So I'm thinking the rewards will be Turtwig, Chimchar, Piplup, Buneary, Croagunk, Buizel, Starly, and of course Glameow... which seems a little light, and pretty much all of those are Pokemon we've had in recent events bar Glameow.

Or am I way off?
 
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Codraroll

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I think the Sinnoh throwback can go both ways, really. Gen IV is really light on native Pokémon, with a large chunk of its regional dex taken up by cross-gen evolutions and legendaries. Let's do a quick count:
  • 29 native evolution lines (Pokémon that only evolve from or into other Gen IV Pokémon, if they do at all)
  • 27 cross-generation evolution lines (7 pre-evolutions, 21 evolutions - the Budew line has both)
  • 15 legendary lines (counting Rotom, but only once. For Pokémon Go purposes, where every form is counted separately, there are 22 legendaries).
If Niantic wants to restrict the event to Sinnoh natives only, I think the event could be somewhat boring. Let's break down the 29 native lines into easily discernible Pokémon Go categories:
  • 3 starter lines - these will be somewhat exotic, at least
  • The Starly line - common as dirt
  • The Gible line - so rare that it might as well be disregarded entirely
  • The Shinx line - Gen IV's only three-stage line that doesn't fit into the three categories above
  • 2 fossil lines - usually Egg exclusive, gotta keep folks buying Incubators after all
  • The Burmy line - seven creatures across three Dex slots
  • 3 single-stage evolution families - Pachirisu (regional), Spiritomb (event exclusive), and Carnivine (regional)
  • 17 regular two-stage evolution families - Bidoof, Kricketot, Combee, Buizel, Cherubi, Shellos, Drifloon, Buneary, Glameow, Stunky, Bronzor, Riolu, Hippopotas, Skorupi, Croagunk, Finneon, and Snover.
Of all these, really only the Gible and Riolu lines can be considered rare in Go under normal circumstances, and both are typically Egg exclusive to sell Incubators. As are the fossils. Shinx is a consolation price in the lootbox lottery of 10k Eggs and one-star Raids. We can also disregard entirely the three single-stage lines. That leaves 22 evolution lines for the spawn tables and research tasks. The starters, Buizel, Bronzor, Glameow, Hippopotas, Skorupi, and maybe Finneon can, at a stretch, be regarded as uncommon, but even they aren't among the most exciting of catches out there. Personally, I wouldn't be too excited to come across any of the others, as I feel like I do all the time. I mean, how many Croagunk do you have to see before you consider there to be enough Croagunk in your life? Hardly more than ten, which gives you enough Candy to get Toxicroak. After that, they're a bit of a nuisance.

I'm personally really fond of three-stage evolution lines, but native Gen IV doesn't have many to offer. There's the starters (somewhat common) and the Starly line (extremely common), but the only others are the awfully rare and egg exclusive Gible, which I haven't even got a faint hope of seeing during this Event since Niantic gotta sell their lootboxes, and Shinx, which seems to be in every other 10k Egg I hatch. I've got plenty of decently-IV'd Shinx already, and enough Candy to last me a while, to the point that finding another Shinx is somewhat annoying, since it means I didn't get any of the rarer 10k 'mons after I just spent an Incubator. The ubiquity of Shinx really highlights the lootbox aspects of Eggs. It's a consolation prize.

In conclusion: native only Sinnoh - not much to be excited for.

However, if cross-gen evolutions are included, we suddenly have a ton more powerful and exciting Pokémon to pick between. I wouldn't really be excited for the option to catch a high-IV Floatzel (I mean, even with high IVs, it's still a Floatzel), but the prospect of getting a high-IV Electivire, Yanmega, Tangrowth, or Weavile, that's something else. There's something exotic about the cross-generation evolution lines that makes even common spawns like Misdreavus or Magnemite feel exciting. If the Sinnoh event includes cross-generation evolution lines, we could have twice as much variety, and easily ten times as many three-stage evolutions that aren't starters or Starly.

So yeah, the Sinnoh event really can swing both ways: The mediocrity of native-only Sinnoh, where the most exciting thing you can hope to find is a Bronzor, or a full-fledged cross-generation bonanza, where you'll have to prioritize your use of Sinnoh Stones. Knowing Niantic, though, they'll probably go for the former.
 
Thankfully I live next to a church which has 2 gyms so been doing remote darkrai raids from home today with 3 devices including an ipad that can at least reach the gyms and the others need remote raid passes. Good for when being required to stay indoors during this pandemic at least.
Meanwhile I couldn't spin anything for 2 months because the nearest Pokestop and Gym are still too far from my house.
 

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