Sep 29 2020
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Pokémon Go Will Finally Connect with Pokémon Home Later this Year

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Since the release of Pokémon Home earlier this year, Pokémon GO trainers have been eagerly waiting news on when the mobile storage app will support Pokémon GO. The Pokémon Company announced that integration between Home and GO will finally arrive later this year.

Pokémon Home is a mobile app that allows you to transfer, trade, and store pokémon. Most importantly, it lets you bring pokémon from other games into Pokémon Sword and Shield – and presumably from Sword and Shield into the next big Pokémon game.

Once Pokémon caught in GO can be transferred to Home, those pokémon could then be transferred into Sword and Shield. But there’s an important catch: Pokémon must be registered in the Pokédex of Sword and Shield, or have already been obtained at least once.

Special pokémon from GO cannot be transferred to Home. We’re assuming this means all the holiday hat-wearing Pikachus you’ve been collecting over the years. Also, once pokémon are transferred to Home they cannot return to GO – it’s a one-way trip!

Transferring any pokémon from GO to Home will grant you two special Mystery Gifts, one in Home and one in GO. The Home gift contains a unique Melmetal. Melmetal is a very rare pokémon who was introduced in Pokémon GO. This version of Melmetal can Gigantamax in Sword and Shield. Melmetal evolves from Meltan, which is in the gift you’ll receive in Pokémon GO.

Pokémon Home is free-to-download with optional paid subscription on Switch and mobile devices.

Jul 23 2020
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Tickets for Virtual Pokémon Go Fest 2020 are Now Available

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Tickets for this year’s Pokémon GO Fest are now available in the in-game app shop, for $14.99. As the world (and especially the US) is still in the grip of the global pandemic, Pokémon GO Fest 2020 is taking place entirely online, and tickets are unlimited.

Tickets must be purchased with real money (not PokéCoins). To purchase, tap the GO Fest 2020 image in the shop, and hit the buy button. You should see a ticket in your Item Bag.

The event is taking place this weekend over two days: July 25 – 26, from 10 am to 8 pm local time.

Day 1 (July 25) will feature a unique Special Research task, as well as five rotating pokémon habitats for fire, water, grass, battle, and friendship. Each habitat includes different pokémon and challenges. During the event over 75 different pokémon will appear in the wild, raids, and Special Research Encounters.

Day 1 will also feature the Global Challenge Arena, a new event unique to Pokémon Go Fest. The Global Challenge Arena will include collaborative challenges that everyone works toward completing, to earn shared rewards.

The second day of Pokémon GO Fest 2020 is being kept as a surprise. In addition, it will feature another new Special Research story to complete. Note that Special Research doesn’t expire, and you don’t have to complete the tasks over the weekend.

If you’d like to join the event but your area lacks gyms and PokéStops, Niantic recommends using the Incense item. Incense will be more effective attracting pokémon during the two-day event, and each Incense will last for one hour.

Pokémon GO Fest 2020 begins July 25.

May 27 2020
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Pokémon Go Fest Goes Virtual in 2020

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Each year Niantic hosts a large gathering of Pokémon Go fans for a special event that runs for several days. Last year the Pokémon Go Fest took place in three different cities around the world, including Chicago, and drew hundreds of thousands of trainers.

With the COVID pandemic canceling all events and gatherings, we’re seeing a shakeup this year. Pokémon Go Fest 2020 is set for July 25 and 26, and will take place entirely online.

While we’ll miss the traditional congregation of Pokémon GO fans, we’re thrilled to bring a special Pokémon GO Fest experience to Trainers. Not only are you in for an exciting weekend of bonuses, Pokémon encounters, and Special Research, there will also be exciting ways to connect with other Trainers and experience other fun surprises throughout the entire summer.

Despite moving to a virtual format, the event will still require paid tickets to access. However, this year one ticket will grant access to both days of the two-day event.

The original Pokémon Go Fest took place in 2017 and was a disaster, but since then the event has improved and been well-received by fans around the world.

More details on what will be featured during the event will be announced in the coming weeks.

In other Pokémon Go news, if you have a fancy phone, you can take advantage of new Reality Blending AR technology. With Reality Blending, Pokémon will properly hide behind objects such as trees and furniture. The feature is currently rolling out for random trainers with the following devices: Samsung Galaxy S9 and S10 and Google Pixel 3 and 4.

Apr 20 2020
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Pokémon GO Making Quarantine-Friendly Changes to Play from Home

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When many states and countries around the world are sheltering in place during the global coronavirus pandemic, playing a game the requires walking around outside is probably not a great idea. To adjust to this new normal, Pokémon GO is adding several changes that make the AR mobile game easier to play without leaving your own home.

First, everyone will receive one daily bonus Field Research task. Every day at midnight you’ll receive a bonus task without having to spin a PokéStop. The tasks will focus on activities you can do at home.

Buddy pokémon will send gifts to you from PokéStops if you’re running low. You can then send these gifts to friends online.

The Remote Raid Pass will allow you to join any raid on the Nearby screen, without having to physically be near the raid site. The number of Remote Raid Passes that can be used in a raid is currently limited.

In the future, when it’s safe to get together again, the power level of remote users will be reduced. Remote Raid Passes can be purchased for 100 PokéCoins. As an initial bonus, a special 1 PokéCoin bundle also includes Remote Raid Passes.

Finally, pokémon can be powered up faster using candy and stardust, and items will overlap to add their duration. The XP-granting Lucky Egg normally lasts for 30-minutes at a time. Soon you can activate up to 24-hours worth of Lucky Eggs. Watch that phone battery!

Niantic has not announced when these changes will go live. More new updates, such as improved battle screens, are also coming soon. Pokémon GO is free-to-download on mobile devices.

Apr 13 2020
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Pokémon GO Social Distancing Includes Halving Hatch Time, Doubling Gym Distance

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A game that forces you to walk around outside is probably the last thing we need to be playing during the coronavirus pandemic. To help alleviate these issues (avoid losing players), Niantic is making several changes to Pokémon GO.

“We have always believed that our games can include elements of indoor play that complement the outdoor, exercise and explore DNA of what we build,” states Niantic. “Now is the time for us to prioritize this work, with the key challenge of making playing indoors as exciting and innovative as our outdoor gameplay.”

Adventure Sync works indoors just as much as outdoors, tracking steps taken to hatch eggs as long as you have your phone while doing chores or exercising. Future changes will improve Adventure Sync with indoor movements.

Hatching eggs is now much easier, as the requirement for hatching all eggs placed in incubators has been halved. This should fit perfectly with the annual Springtime egg event, which doubles the amount of candy upon hatching, and increases the length of Lucky Eggs to one hour. Unique Field Research rewards include encounters with Alolan Exeggutor and Azumarill, and flower hat-wearing Pikachu will appear in the wild. The Spring event ends April 16.

The distance to interact with Gym battles has also been temporarily doubled, including spinning them as PokéStops from much farther away. For some reason, that double distance does not apply to regular PokéStops, however.

The GO Battle League offers PvP battling from the comfort of your own home. The walking requirements for admission have been reduced to zero, along with discounted prices on poké balls and incense.

Pokémon is free to download on mobile devices.