While most of us are still delighting in the introduction of Pokémon Go quests and furiously trying to bag our first Mew, Niantic has launched its latest Pokémon Go event.
A week before the event was due to start, dataminers reported they had found the 3D assets of 151 shiny Pokémon from generation one, originally found in the Kanto region, in the game’s code.
Niantic then confirmed a new event was coming: “Trainers, starting April 10, we’ll be hosting a special celebration in honour of the Kanto region in Pokémon Go.” The event kicked off at 9pm on Tuesday and will run until 17 April. This means it will overlap with the planned April Community Day, set to go live on 15 April.
At the launch of this week’s shiny Pokémon event, Niantic wrote: “The appearance of the Mythical Pokémon Mew has attracted Pokémon that were originally discovered in the Kanto region. What’s more, certain Pokémon such as Aerodactyl and Snorlax will be featured in Raid Battles across the world. Keep an eye out for one you haven’t encountered yet.”
In addition to seeing more of these creatures, every time you catch one you’ll be rewarded with double Candy, meaning it’s easier to evolve them if you haven’t already. There will also be special boxes containing Raid Passes. Niantic is hoping to attract players back to the game. The event comes after Niantic released its all-new quests feature to the game. As all those who have already collected seven stamps on the field research have discovered, the legendary reward is in fact the Pokémon, Moltres. With quests, Niantic has given players another way to catch a Moltres, without having to take part in raids.
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Historically, updates and in-game events have usually been preceded by stealthy updates to the code, so the rumours of shiny forms lines up with our expectations, but were not confirmed by Niantic. As a result, we don’t know if all the shiny variations will be pushed out all at once or staggered (if at all). Releasing them all at once is more in spirit of the original video games, but staggered shiny releases have been Niantic’s modus operandi up to this point. A shiny Magikarp started appearing last year, for example.
Either way, Pokémon Go’s Kanto celebration event is sure to get players excited to hunt down an ultra-rare black Charizard or red Sandslash.
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