During the next week the next update for Pokémon GO will be launched, bringing over 80 second generation Pokémon to the game. We’ve put together our thoughts on the new details and include a few new scraps as well to consider.

The Pokémon – who will appear?

We know we’re getting over 80 Pokémon, but what aren’t we getting? It’s safe to assume that like with Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mew and Mewtwo, we won’t have access to the Legendary Pokémon in the second generation just yet. Don’t expect the likes of Suicune, Entei, Raikou, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Celebi. As we have eight generation two Pokémon already (Pichu, Cleffa, etc., plus Togetic), this means we can likely expect 86 new Pokémon in this update (100 – 6 – 8 = 86).

Unown will be interesting given its numerous forms based upon the alphabet and punctuation. Will we see 28 different forms of Unown? Data mining suggests yes. We know we’re getting gendered versions of Pokémon as well – check out the female Pikachu, for example.

New Pokémon may mean needing to make more space for them in your Storage. Niantic announced that a sale will start soon for Pokémon Storage upgrades – 50% off (100 PokéCoins) for the rest of the month. If you haven’t yet earned enough you may want to start taking on some Gyms!

To help you prepare for upcoming adventures, Pokémon Storage upgrades require 50% fewer PokéCoins starting the afternoon of Feb. 16–28 PST!

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) February 16, 2017

Meanwhile, new Pokémon also means new Attacks. Data for these include Counter, Powder Snow, Air Slash, Zap Cannon, Outrage and Crunch. Expect revamps to the Gym system with these changes!

New evolutions and items

Crucially, the second generation Pokémon include evolutions for several first generation Pokémon. These bring new items required for some of these evolutions. You still need some Candy as well – just potentially less than the full 50 or 100 Candy required). Here’s a list of what we know thus far:

• 
  

  Crobat evolves from Golbat through the usual method

• Espeon and Umbreon evolves from Eevee (same as Vaporeon/Flareon/Jolteon?)
• Bellossom evolves from Gloom via Sun Stone
• Porygon2 evolves from Porygon via Upgrade
• Kingdra evolves from Seadra via Dragon Scale
• Politoed evolves from Poliwhirl via King’s Rock
• Slowking evolves from Slowpoke via King’s Rock
• Scizor evolves from Scyther via Metal Coat
• Steelix evolves from Onix via Metal Coat

All those bolded items have been found within the game’s code, as reported by The Silph Road. You can get these items from PokéStops, so be sure to spin them while stocking up on Candy!

Only Espeon’s and Umbreon’s evolution methods remains unknown, as their evolutions in the games were time dependent. However, music has been added for night-time gameplay – perhaps Pokémon GO will have time-specific evolutions as well? This also suggests at the possibility of time-based Pokémon (e.g. Ledyba only during the day, Hoothoot and Spinarak only at night). This however is speculation.

While not an evolution, there is one more pre-evolution we don’t yet have – Tyrogue (pre-evolution of Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop). It remains to be seen if it is restricted to Eggs only, and if evolution into the Hitmon trio is similar to how Eevee evolves or closer to the main games (in which Tyrogue’s evolution depends upon its stats – Attack and Defence, specifically).

New Berries

We have two new types of Berries in Pokémon GO. These add further functionality to battles.

Nanab Berries slow the movements of wild Pokémon, and hence make it easier to catch them. These may not be that worthwhile however for the most part, especially as unless you leave in a remote area it is easy to get a large stockpile of Poké Balls.

Pinap Berries however will be worth stockpiling. They double the amount of Candy you receive if your next catch attempt succeeds. You’ll want to save them for any wild Starters (especially Chikorita, Totodile and Cyndaquil) or rare Pokémon such as Dratini or Larvitar. Every Candy counts!

Considering that we also have evolution items on top of new Berries, you may want to consider getting more Item Storage/Bag space as well.

UI Revamp

This wasn’t announced, but released images and footage from the trailer has revealed changes to the UI! This includes the Berry selection screen above.

Gender is identified on the Pokémon status screen, and you can see what the Pokémon will evolve into.. Berries and Poké Balls are now easier to select during battles. The Shop Icon is arguably unnecessary but for a free-to-play game it is not surprising.

Avatar Customisation

The announcement has informed us that we can finally dress up our characters beyond the initial narrow range! Datamining has revealed that skin colour, shirt, pants, hat, shoes, eyes, gloves, socks, belt, necklace and glasses can be changed. However, it remains to be seen what clothes are free to choose, and which ones you have to buy with PokéCoins. Maybe some clothing will appear as rewards to trainers for getting new medals?

Future Updates

What can we expect after this update? An obvious answer is third generation Pokémon, but it’s likely there will be a significant gap between those releases. Other features will likely be implemented first. Datamining has revealed code for Critical Capture and Shiny Pokémon mechanics, for example. Meanwhile, Niantic CEO John Hanke recently talked about trading, player-on-player battles and further Gym features in this interview:

 

…But the patching and bug-fixing of those first few months did stall the work on other parts of the app that Niantic had considered essential—and still does.These include monster trading and player-versus-player battles.

These are on the way, says Hanke, who adds that if the servers hadn’t been so sketchy at launch, at least one of them would already be out there, likewise a gym battle system, supplementing what he feels is a “rudimentary” version of the game they envisioned.

“It’s going to be done soon,” he says. “It is what it is. I’ll take the massive wave of hysteria we enjoyed, and just deal with the fact that it’s caused us to take a bit longer to get the rest of the features up. We’re really happy to make our users happy.”

What excites you the most about the next update? Which second generation Pokémon do you want to catch first?

 

Source: Daily.pokecommunity