After much begging and cursing Niantic have finally given us their biggest announcement since the mega successful Pokemon Go app debuted in July of last year. That announcement is Generation 2, and we’re talking an actual Gen 2 release, not a bunch of baby Pokemon you can only hatch from eggs. Sometime over the next week the now iconic smartphone game will release around 80 new Pokemon from the Gold and Silver installments of the beloved Nintendo franchise, along with a few new game mechanics that sound like they’ll be significant enough to reverse the dwindling interest in the app.
The Johto region in the game’s rich history will now be represented by the likes of starters Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile, as well as favourites like Skarmony and Marill. New evolutions for Gen 1 Pokemon will also be included in the update, meaning all those Zubats are finally going to come into use as you evolve into Crobat, Slowbro into Slowking, or Seadra into Kingdra – to help this along there will also be special evolution items to be found at PokeStops.
Not only that but the game may change the way we encounter Pokemon in the wild, with a press release promising us that Pokemon may react in new ways as we fling and endless stream of Pokeballs at them. There will also be a carousel that allows for different types of berries – like one which doubles the amount of candy you’ll receive if your next catch attempt succeeds – and more poke balls.
With new avatars and an expanded wardrobe also on the way it seems Niantic will finally lure people back to their app and make good for the countless times they’ve announced an update only for it to be “minor text fixes”.
Take a look at the official trailer below and get ready to dive back into a world of exercise and Youtube videos showing hordes of Pokemasters blocking traffic in every direction. We’re now one generation closer to Mudkip.
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