Pokémon Go: the world's first augmented reality app to become a household name. Niantic's mobile AR game is still going strong two years after it first released, with a constant drip of events and updates keeping budding trainers glued to their phones and pounding the streets.
And while it hasn't managed to top the peak of its popularity in 2016, it's still going strong and finding plenty of new ways to improve its player experience. Including making it easier for its players to catch 'em all from inside their own homes during coronavirus quarantines.
So what's the latest news for Pokémon Go? As you'd expect, brand new features are being added all the time and themed events are still going strong.
But without further ado, here's our guide to all the latest Pokémon Go news and updates.
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Pokémon Go news and Pokémon Go updates
- What's new? Niantic is reacting to the Coronavirus pandemic with some temporary updates and changes. You can also look forward to a new Spring-themed event!
Coronavirus changes
Given Pokémon Go is a game which attempts to draw its players outside, Niantic is having to react to the Coronavirus pandemic and make some temporary changes which will make it easier for players to continue to catch 'em all without stepping over the door.
In a statement to Polygon, the developer has said that it's “prioritizing updates to Pokémon Go features and experiences that can be enjoyed in individual settings.”
The changes are already in place and include increasing habitats so that more Pokémon should appear around player's homes.
Other moves from Niantic are a 99% reduction on incense packs so that players can attract Pokémon to where they are and increase spawns with the time they work increased to one hour rather than just 30 minutes.
Incubators will also result in hatches at double speed, while PokéStops will drop gifts more often.
Niantic has also announced a new feature called 'Today View' which gathers a lot of useful information like streaks and current events in one place so that you can keep on top of your game.
To make up for the lack of opportunities to pick up PokéBalls from your own home, there's now a one Pokécoin bundle which is available as a one-time purchase and contains 50 Great Balls. These Pokécoin bundles rotate weekly and change on rotation but this bundle is available until April 6.
In terms of event changes, for April Shadow Entei will still be available to save from Giovanni but there won't be a new set of Team Go Rocket Special Research.
The Coconut Pokémon Alolan Exeggutor will be available as a Research Breakthrough encounter, and it’ll come with bonus Stardust, until May 1.
As of March 31 Niantic has temporarily doubled Pokémon Go's Gym interaction distances to allow players to "team up in Raid Battles from home".
"The distance from which you can interact with Gyms has been temporarily doubled, allowing you to be farther from Gyms and other Trainers as you challenge Raid Bosses," Niantic wrote. "This change also allows you to spin Photo Discs at Gyms if you are within the doubled distance; however, it will not change the distance required to spin Photo Discs at PokéStops."
Spotlight Hour
Spotlight Hour will still be taking place for the month of April, every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. local time. This time around, for each Pokémon Spotlight Hour there'll be a different Pokémon and bonus. The Pokémon and bonuses are as follows:
- Tuesday, April 7, 2020: Purrloin will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, April 14, 2020: Magnemite will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for catching Pokémon.
- Tuesday, April 21, 2020: Wobbuffet will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the Candy for transferring Pokémon.
- Tuesday, April 28, 2020: Pidgey will be in the spotlight, and you’ll earn twice the XP for evolving Pokémon.
Pokémon Go Battle League
Its preseason now finishing up, the first season of Pokémon Go's competitive Battle League will begin on March 13. Trainers who took part in the preseason and achieved a rank of 4 or higher will receive a Premium Battle Pass as a reward.
Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Niantic has waived the walk and pay entry requirements for Battle League. Players who are not in-game close friends will no longer need to be close to one another to Battle and will be able to challenge one another as long as they're only Good Friends, allowing for tournaments to be held remotely.
Trainer Battles within the GO Battle League will rotate between three leagues and players will be able to rank against fellow Trainers, earning rewards for ranking.
The GO Battle League is beginning with the Great League until March 27, which will be followed by the Ultra League until April 10, then the Master League until April 24, after which all three Leagues will be available until May 1. Season 2 is expected to begin on May 1, when each of these Leagues has been cycled through.
Players can earn Stardust depending on rank and number of battles won as well as items like Rare Candies and TMS as well as the chance to get exclusive Pokémon encounters.
Some changes are being made to Battle League based on learnings from the preseason.
Winning will now matter much earlier than Rank 4, with Ranks 2 and 3 requiring platers to win a certain number of battles in order to advance to the next rank.
The Pokémon you can encounter as GO Battle League rewards are also changing for Season 1 with Metagross being the first guaranteed encounter reward. Players that reach Rank 4 will have the chance to encounter Bedlum, at Rank 7 it's Rufflet and, finally, Pikachu Libre at Rank 10.
Reaching Rank 10 will also allow players to earn avatar items and an avatar pose exclusive to Season 1 inspired by Steven, a Pokémon League Champion in the Hoenn region.
At the end of Season 1, players who have reached Rank 7 or higher will receive an Elite Charged TM. Elite Charged TMs, along with Elite Fast TMs, allow players to select the attack their Pokémon learns.
What's the next Pokémon Go Event?
Tricky Pokémon Event
From April 1 until April 7, Pokémon Go is celebrating its prankster Pokémon like Foongus, Voltorb, Haunter, Aipom and Sudowoodo. Throughout the event, Pokémon known to be tricksters and masters of disguise will appear more often in the event with chances to encounter and catch Shiny Sudowoodo or Shiny Croagunk.
This event will also mark the debut of Stunfisk, the Trap Pokémon which appear as event-exclusive research task rewards and will hatch from 5km eggs alongside Aipom, Wynaut, Bonsly and Croagunk.
Ditto will also be appearing more frequently in the wild during the event. Niantic has hinted that Ditto will transform into more Pokémon species than before from now on.
Spring Event
When its Tricky Event comes to an end, Niantic will be celebrating spring with yet another event. As part of this celebration, Buneary will appear wearing a flower-crown and Pikachu will wear flower hats, while Pokémon that tie in with the egg and spring theme will appear more often in the wild, including Exeggcute, Chansey, Mareep, Marill, and Torchic.
As you'd expect, Pokémon eggs are doing something special, too, with flower crown-wearing Pichu and Togepi will hatch from them.
To help the fact that many Pokémon Go players are isolating in their homes at the moment, Eggs will have half hatch distance when placed into Incubators until further notice. There will also be double Hatch Candy while Lucky Eggs will last for one hour.
Players will be able to embark on event-exclusive Field Research Tasks and rewards will include encounters with Alolan Exeggutor, Azumarill, and Audino.
Live Safari Zones
Niantic has announced that Pokémon Go Live Events will be coming to Taiwan, the US and the UK this year. The first event in Taiwan which celebrated the Lantern Festival has passed, while the others are still to come and will be ticketed at a cost of $12/£12 for General Admission and $18/£18 for Early Admission.
Due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, Niantic has stated that it will be postponing all of its Safari events with plans to look for alternate dates in the next 12 months. Players looking for refunds for their digital passes are encouraged to reach out through in-app support by March 25.
- March 27 - 29: Safari Zone St. Louis, Missouri, US (Postponed)
- April 17 - 19: Safari Zone Liverpool, UK (Postponed)
- May 8 - 10: Safari Zone Philadelphia, US (Postponed)
When's the next Pokémon Go Community Day?
- What date is the next Community Day? Postponed
- Who's the starring Pokémon? Abra
Niantic has confirmed that the next Pokémon Go Community Day has been postponed due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
When the community day does eventually go ahead, the Psychic-type Abra will be the starring Pokémon for the event and will appear more frequently in the wild to be caught. There'll also be the chance to catch a Shiny Abra.
There's also going to be a special event-exclusive move for those who can evolve Abra through to its final form of Alakazam, though that move has not been confirmed just yet.
Other bonuses available during the event include triple catch XP and a 3 hour period for Lure Modules rather than the standard 30 minutes.
Pokémon Go update: what's next?
Now that Go Battle League has arrived in Pokémon Go, Niantic has ticked another big promised feature off its list. At the moment, we're not sure what's next for the game aside from, naturally, new Pokémon being added. We'll update here when the roadmap becomes more clear.
- Check out the best and weirdest Pokémon Go stories so far
Pokémon Go Plus deals
Want to buy yourself a Pokémon Go Plus wearable? Check some of today's best deals down below.
(Image credits: Niantic/Pokémon Company)
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