Pokemon Go has been receiving a regular stream of new events and Pokemon over the past few months, but that's not the only new content Niantic has in the works for it. In a blog post on the Pokemon Go website, the developer shared the first details on Lucky Friends and avatar poses, two new features coming to the hit mobile game.

Lucky Friends is a new level of friendship you can achieve once per day with players you've become Best Friends with. Much like Lucky Pokemon, there's a chance you'll become Lucky Friends when you interact with a Best Friend, be it by trading Pokemon, opening gifts from each other, challenging them to Trainer battles, or fighting alongside them in Raids.

If you do become Lucky Friends, you'll both see a notification indicating it, and your next trade is guaranteed to give you both Lucky Pokemon. Once the trade has been completed, however, your friendship status will revert to Best Friends, although Niantic says you will have a chance to become Lucky Friends again the following day through the same methods.

In addition to the Lucky Friends mechanic, Niantic is introducing avatar poses to Pokemon Go. These can be purchased through the in-game Style Shop for 500 Coins apiece and allow you to customize your Trainer's pose in your profile, the Friend list, and other areas where your avatar appears.

Pokemon Go's next in-game event is the Legendary Lunch Hour, which runs from 12-1 PM local time on April 10. Shortly after that, Niantic will hold this month's Community Day on Saturday, April 13. The Legendary Pokemon Latios is returning for a special week-long Raid event from April 15-22, and the annual Eggstravaganza event is coming back for another year starting April 16.

Celebrate spring with a bounty of log-in bonuses in Pokémon Duel! From now until May 8, you'll get weekly rewards and a chance to pull powerful new figures—including [UX] Arceus! Its Multitype Ability allows it to copy the type of another Pokémon on the field.

Using the February 27th Nintendo Direct to announce game info, The Pokémon Company treated us to the latest addition to the mainline games: Pokémon Sword and Shield. After Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee, it seems like Nintendo’s learned a lot about how that gameplay experience, of what worked and what didn’t.

They were preparing us all for a new evolution in Pokémon. Now fully making the leap from handheld systems to console, Sword and Shield has some high expectations to live up to. Given how much Sun and Moon changed the Pokémon formula, Sword and Shield needs to be better, graphically beautiful, and continue tapping into that core spirit of Pokémon that keeps us coming back for more.

After rumors and some time to fully digest that trailer, here are 10 things we already know about the game.

10. The New Starters

As with any new Pokémon game, we’re treated to three new starters: Scorbunny, Grookey, and Sobble. Fire, Grass, and Water type Pokémon are always the first to start any adventure (minus that one time Pikachu was) and due to how the type match-ups work, it makes sense. Those three are the easiest to start your journey with, especially when your first gym has a disadvantage to at least one of the starter types.

We don’t know their evolutionary chains yet, but given how past evolutions have gone, they’ll most likely end as dual types. Dual type evolutions actually go back to Generation I of Pokémon, with Venasaur being a Grass/Poison type and Charizard being Fire/Flying. Poor Blastoise, at least make it part Rock. Blastoise deserves some dual love too.

9. The Galar Region

Unlike the Let’s Go games, Sword and Shield will add a new region to the Pokémon world. The Galar region has a blend of very different environments, blending contemporary cities with older architecture. So far, it looks like it was inspired by England which is equal parts awesome and hilarious given that Kalos was inspired by France.

But it’s cool to see Pokémon continue to expand their world to reflect ours. In certain cases, The Pokémon Company bases a region or city on a real-world equivalent. Alola was definitely inspired by Hawaii and Unova draws from the NYC metropolitan area.

The first four regions fall more into fan speculation, but it’s easy to draw the conclusion that they were based off certain areas of Japan. The Kanto region is pretty much a given, seeing as there’s a Kanto region of Japan and for the most part, remains similar in geography to its IRL equivalent. The Johto region aligns with the Chubu region to the west, Hoenn with Kyushu in the south, and Sinnoh with the northernmost island of Hokkaido.


8. New Pokémon!

This one should be a given, but just in case: yes, there will be new Pokémon. Usually, the only exceptions to this rule are remakes of games, such as Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, or the “new and improved” releases, like Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

So far, we can only officially confirm the three new starters. But we’re getting our fair share of familiar faces too! Pikachu, Hoothoot, Wailmer, Tyranitar, and Flygon all made an appearance in the trailer. The games have slowed their roll on adding more than 100 Pokémon to each new generation, which is probably for the better. An updated PokéRap would be impossible. But given the trend of the newer mainline games, we can probably expect to see between 70 and 80 new Pokémon.

7. Gyms, Not Trials

Sword and Shield has us going back to the classic Gym battles that made Pokémon so popular. It’s bittersweet. The creation of the trials and introducing solid mini-boss battles into the story was a welcome change of pace. Going back to a Gym format feels like taking a step back rather than forward, though we still don’t know how many Gyms will be in this game.

For the most part, the Alolan trials were a welcome change of pace and introduced some fun concepts like Z Powers and Guardian Pokémon as the pseudo-Legendaries. And it was nice seeing a Legendary that’s entire purpose was destroying the world. Kudos to you if you kept the nickname “Nebby.”

6. Gym Masters?

In a now-deleted tweet from the official Nintendo of America Twitter, the company mentioned something about the inclusion of Gym Masters rather than the typical Gym Leaders. There’s not a lot we can say on this topic, but given the potential title switch, it could lead to a different Gym experience.

A good blend of trials and Gym battles could be cool, given that some of the puzzle elements of the trials were a bit tedious. If Sword and Shield can refine that and merge it with the traditional setup and battles, it could work really well.

5. Changes from Let’s Go Pikachu! and Let’s Go Eevee!

Tzunekazu Ishihara, head of the Pokémon Company, assured us that Sword and Shield will be a complete Pokémon game. The Let’s Go titles refined many of the aspects from the more accessible Pokémon GO and adapted the concepts well to console-based play. But an entire, full-length game of that? Maybe not the best idea.

In the trailer, we see our character encounter a wild Pikachu. So we definitely know the random encounters are back, which many prefer over the Let’s Go style. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Overall, Sword and Shield looks and feels like a more traditional Pokémon game and maybe that’s exactly what the Switch needs.

4. Only On The Switch

As of the Nintendo Direct announcement, Sword and Shield will only be available on the Nintendo Switch. Kind of a bummer for those of us still on the 3DS and living vicariously through them.

In all seriousness, the transition makes sense given the Let’s Go games. Pokémon makes a habit out of releasing sort of “test” games before finalizing a mainline game or taking the time to finesse a mainline game during the off year. So hopefully, we’ll see the best from Let’s Go in Sword and Shield.

3. That Late Year Release

The Pokémon Company confirmed that Sword and Shield will be dropping in late 2019. Given past experience and common sense, this will most likely be around mid-November. But Pokémon actually confirmed this about a year ago on their Twitter. We were just hoping for, you know, an actual date with the trailer.

2. 3D Graphics

We haven’t had a 2D Pokémon game since Generation III on the GameBoy Advance. Diamond and Pearl up to Black and White saw the start of the 3D environment, but still using 2D animations for the Pokémon battles. Starting with the Kalis region in X and Y, Pokémon fully transitioned to 3D graphics and they haven’t gone back since.

Though we may miss the old graphics, the new models offer better flexibility considering the team has to animate over 800 Pokémon. It’s amazing that there are so many Pokémon models available in the Amie feature. Whoever animated a happy Giratina is a hero.

1. Pokémon World Cup?

One of the key features in that deleted Nintendo tweet was a structure that looks like a football (soccer for Americans) stadium. Outside of the States, football is a really big deal and among many, is considered the most popular sport worldwide. The FIFA World Cup is played every four years. Around 210 countries participate in the sport, though only 32 make it to the qualifying rounds.

Galar probably won’t go that hardcore, but considering how popular football is worldwide and where Galar is based on, it makes sense to finally introduce the sport in a very Pokémon way. The anime sometimes shows brackets of competitors within the Pokémon League, why not transition some of that over to gameplay?

https://www.slashgear.com/pokemon-go-shi...-08572418/

Near the end of the Pokemon GO Bug Out event a set of codes appeared in the game’s back-end pointing to a new contender. This is a new form of Mewtwo, one of the most epic Pokemon in the game – and indeed in the history of the game series. If what we’ve seen this weekend is true, the newest version of the original Pokemon Movie is a good sign of what’s to come in-game!

Three “forms” of Mewtwo are now in the code for the game Pokemon GO. They include Mewtwo_A=133, Mewtwo_A_Intro=134, and Mewtwo_Normal=135. This update to the code included a change to the way in which Incense summons Pokemon, too. In the near future, Incense will work with new “forms” as well as originals. You’ll have a chance to see shiny Pokemon right on your front doorstep! It’s been tipped that Armored Mewtwo was considered in the recent past – whether or not it’ll make the final cut, we shall see!

An update to search parameters was made this past week as well – if you’re used to searching for “baby” Pokemon, you’ll now want to search “eggsonly” instead. That’s true even though it’s not sensible and makes for a much more confusing set of rules, when it comes down to it – but it is is what it is!

The update version 0.139.1 included references to Adventure Sync V2 with notifications for nearby Pokemon/special items. Descriptions were added for a number of new Alolan Pokemon in the Pokedex. A set of new poses were added for both male and female users, including: Go Time, Left-Hip Stance, Right-Hip Stance, Power Pose, Tough Stance, Pokeball Show-off, Sassy Pokeball, Prized Pokeball, Pokeball Flex, Holding Pokeball, and Idle. There’ll be a new set of badges that arrive in-game on April 18th, and more for the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd.

While Niantic previously noted that there’d be a Pokemon GO Safari Zone event in Germany this year, a wide variety of Safari Zone tasks lead us to believe the event may be more widespread. Included in the Safari Zone tasks added to the list are: Earning candy for walking with a Pokemon Buddy, Catching a Pokemon, Using berries to help catch Pokemon, Sending gifts, Spinning PokeStops, Hatching Eggs, Using Nanab Berries, Using Pinap Berries.

There’s a new set of scheduled and free raids added (without specific dates/times) near a campaign events button, and new imagery for Promotional PokeStops and gyms. Users will find more features and bonuses (likely) for interacting with Lucky Friends soon, too.

UPDATE: There’ll be at least one major event in April (aside from the list of dates mentioned above). Niantic revealed today that on Apr. 10, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in your local time zone there’ll be a new Legendary Lunch Hour. At this limited event, users will find “an increased number of five-star raids featuring Origin Forme Giratina during the event hour.”

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemo...0-6466105/

Niantic is bringing another Legendary Pokemon back to Pokemon Go for a limited time. Beginning Monday, April 15, the Eon Pokemon Latios will make an encore appearance in the hit mobile game as part of a special Raid event, giving players their first opportunity to capture it in nearly a year.

Latios is scheduled to appear in Raid Battles for a full week, leaving the game again on April 22. As before, you'll first need to team up with other players in real life and battle the Legendary Pokemon before being able to catch it. Niantic teases that you'll also have a chance of coming across a Shiny Latios during the Raid event.

Latios first appeared in Pokemon Go alongside its twin, Latias, last May. The other Eon Pokemon returned for its own special Raid event back in February. Both Latios and Latias are dual Dragon/Psychic-types, which makes them vulnerable to Ghost and Dark Pokemon like Gengar and Tyranitar. Other Dragons like Salamence and Pokemon Go's current Legendary, Giratina, will also be effective against it.

Ahead of the Latios Raid event, Niantic is holding another Legendary Lunch Hour this week, on April 10, from 12-1 PM local time. During that hour, there will be an increase in five-star Raids featuring Giratina in its Origin Forme, which has more attack-oriented stats than its standard Altered Forme.

Following the Legendary Lunch Hour, Niantic will host the next Pokemon Go Community Day this Saturday, April 13. That event will run from 3-6 PM local time and will feature increased spawns of the rare Dragon Pokemon Bagon. Niantic also announced a series of Pokemon Go Fest events for Chicago, Germany, and Asia later this summer.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming/...witch-game

Pokémon Sword and Shield are out later this year, and fans of the franchise are wondering what new features the games will bring.

After watching and re-watching the reveal trailer more times than is probably healthy, we’ve compiled a list of new things we are desperate to see in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

1. British Flavour

The games’ new region is called Galar and it appears to be based on the United Kingdom, with in-game landmarks riffing on Westminster, the London Eye and Hadrian’s Wall.

As well as nods to our geography, it would be amazing to see British culture influencing other aspects of the games too.

For example, British institutions such as top universities and the humble pub might be a good place to get gossip on rare Pokémon locations.

A Legendary Pokémon for each of the Home Nations would also be fun, perhaps with Wales getting a giant red Dragon-type to match its flag.

2. Exciting New Pokémon Designs

Hawaii-based Alola (the Pokémon Sun and Moon region) introduced awesome surfing and palm tree Pokémon variants, so we would love to see lots of British-themed Pokémon in Sword and Shield.

There are also rumours that armoured Pokémon are going to feature in Sword and Shield, based on the fact that Nintendo recently trademarked the term “Armoured Mewtwo”.

With that in mind, perhaps classic Pokémon in Medieval British garb would be fun. Dragonite transforming into Drago-knight would be a no-brainer!

3. More Eevee Evolutions

By utilising different evolution stones and other mechanics, you can evolve your normal-type Eevee into eight different types, with each new iteration zanier than the last.

But with eighteen different Pokémon types, could we be seeing the Eevee family tree expand even more?

Based on previous form it seems likely that Game Freak will add an Eevee evolution or two, but maybe they could go one step further? An Eevee evolution for every single type would be incredible.

Just thinking about a Fighting-type or Bug-type Eevee has us rubbing our hands together in anticipation!

4. A Much Better Story

The Pokémon games always feature the same core storyline:

Whilst training to become a Pokémon Master, your protagonist comes across Team Rocket/Skull/Galactic/Magma/Flare/Plasma/(you get the idea), as they attempt to harness the power of a legendary Pokémon for nefarious reasons.

Though this formula works, it really is starting to get repetitive so it would be great for Sword and Shield to move in a new direction and tell a different story.

The possibilities really are endless, with mysteries, love stories and even war dramas being ideas that fans have suggested as a possibility.

5. More Mega Evolutions

Mega Evolutions were introduced in Pokémon X and Y and they were awesome. But, disappointingly, follow up games Sun and Moon added no new Mega Evolutions.

Instead, the feature was kind of replaced by Z-moves – eighteen special moves, one for each type that can only be used once per battle.

Whist Z-Moves were fun, nothing could beat watching your Charizard Mega Evolve for the first time into a new, super-powerful variant.

More Mega Evolutions would be very welcome, and seeing old fan-favourite Pokémon get powerful new forms is a sure way for Game Freak to please the fan base.

6. Better Post-Game Content

Many hard-core Pokémon fans think that the game doesn’t really begin until you’ve beaten the Elite Four and moved into the post-game.

In the best Pokémon games, this is where trainers in the overworld really begin to level up and offer a serious challenge to players.

Previous core Pokémon games offered the Looker missions where the player was sent on detective work, but other games have simply left you to complete the Pokédex with little else to do.

It would be great if Sword and Shield could make the post-game as enjoyable as the core game itself, perhaps focusing on new storylines or even new areas which open up once you have beaten the Elite Four.

7. A Harder Mode for More Experienced Players

Experienced Pokémon players must have been taught how to throw a pokeball at the start of the games at least a hundred times by now.

At present, there is no opportunity for players to skip the tutorial section of the games and, in some cases, this can drag on for the initial few hours of gameplay.

An option to skip this portion of the game would allow experienced players to jump straight into the action.

Failing this, at least give us an option to raise the levels of the most important trainers’ Pokémon. We’re trying to prove that we’re “the very best like no one ever was” over here!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-...kemon-5392

Pokémon Go Lucky Pokémon is another type of Pokémon to look out for - joining Shinies and Forms such as Alolan Pokémon.

While the aforementioned types only fill out your Pokédex, Lucky Pokémon status also provides a direct benefit - allowing that creature up at a much cheaper cost than regular Pokémon.

Meanwhile, there is the addition of Lucky Friends. Details are few and far between so far, but we do know it's an additional way to get your hands on a Lucky Pokémon.

What we know about Lucky Friends in Pokémon Go so far

Lucky Friends is a feature added to the latest version of Pokémon Go on iOS and Android. Despite it being introduced into the game, the Lucky Friends feature is not live yet.

Official details from developer Niantic are few and far between, but we do know the following from the likes of leaker Chrales:

-- When you are Lucky Friends with someone, the next trade you make will result in both becoming Lucky Pokémon.
-- There is a chance of being Lucky Friends when you are Best Friends with someone.

What we don't know about Lucky Friends includes:

-- How long the Lucky Friends status effect lasts for - whether it'll be time limited or will be active until your next trade.
-- How exactly you become Lucky Friends. We know you need to be Best Friends, but is it based on gifts opened between you? And if so, is it at random or based on a streak?

We imagine we'll know very soon!

What are Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go?

Lucky Pokémon is a special status, separate to Forms or Shinies, that Pokémon can have attached to them.

If a Pokémon is Lucky, then the Stardust required to power it up is reduced by 50%. The feature is particularly welcome as Stardust is one of the more scarce resources in the game, especially at high level play, allowing creatures to reach maximum CP at a lower cost.

Additionally, the number of Lucky Pokémon you have caught will appear in the Pokédex (alongside 'seen' and 'caught') as well as the Pokémon stats screen, with a unique background:

How to get Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

Lucky Pokémon come from the game's trading feature. When you trade, there's a chance both creatures will have the Lucky status afterwards.

The success rate isn't yet known, but the longer the Pokémon has been in storage - in other words, the longer you've owned the Pokémon - the higher the chances of it becoming Lucky by the end of it.

So if the Pokémon are from when the game launched in 2016, your chances of them being Lucky will be much higher than if they were caught this year. (It can actually be a 100% chance - read the following section to see how.)

If they are caught at different periods, it's suspected the game will take the average age of both creatures in the trade as the calculation, as either both will or won't be Lucky together.

That's not to say a freshly caught Pokémon can't be Lucky - members of the community have been successful with trading recent catches. But the older it is the better, and since you can only trade one of a specific Pokémon, you want those chances to be as high as possible.

How to get guaranteed Lucky Pokémon in Pokémon Go

In September 2018, developer Niantic made some changes to increase your chances of receiving Lucky Pokémon.

If you have discovered less than 10 Lucky Pokémon, then a Pokémon in your inventory caught in July or August 2016 (in order words, when the game first launched) will 100% become Lucky after a trade.

To clarify, if either trainer has had less than 10, then both creatures in the trade will be Lucky. So in theory, even if you have more than 10, if you can find others with less than 10, you can keep getting guaranteed Lucky Pokémon. Thanks to the Silph Road reddit for clarifying this!

It should also be noted as part of this change, all Lucky Pokémon stats have became now stronger. They were previously started from around the 10/10/10 mark, and it's now increased to 12/12/12 (the highest you can get is 15/15/15).

Otherwise, the other method is being Lucky Friends with the player you are trading with.

What else you need to know about Lucky Pokémon

There are a few other small details to know about Lucky Pokémon:

-- Lucky Pokémon have high IVs, starting from 12/12/12 for HP, Defence and Attack. This means you can turn a rubbish Pokémon into a more competitive one!
-- There doesn't appear to be a cap on how many Lucky Pokémon you can get in one day. Originally there was thought to be, but reports from the Silph Road suggest either a cap was lifted or it was incorrect information.
-- Lucky isn't a search term when looking through your Pokémon collection (right now at least!)
-- Pokémon can be both Shiny and Lucky - thanks Reddit!

https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go/2019/...at-pikachu

A rare Pikachu sporting Ash’s original hat from the anime is appearing in Pokémon Go.

To get this cute little behatted Pokémon, you simply have to take a photo of a Pokémon in AR+ mode. Just like Smeargle, the Pikachu will photobomb your shot in the corner, and then appear on the overworld map to catch once you close out the photo mode. Ash can also appear in the corner, pressed up against the screen of your phone. Seeing him will also spawn the Ash hat Pikachu.

It seems that players are getting the Pikachu to appear on their first ventures into photo mode, unlike Smeargle, which required players to be fairly lucky to spot. Based on player reports on the Silph Road subreddit, it also seems like you can only encounter five Ash hat Pikachu per day, whether you catch them or not.

It’s unknown as of writing this if this is an exclusive event for April Fools’ Day or not, as Niantic has yet to announce the reveal of this nostalgic Pikachu on any of their social channels. According to the Silph Road subreddit, players in other countries are still getting the special event Pikachu on April 2.

https://pokemongohub.net/post/event/bug-out-event/

Bug Out! is a special Bug themed Pokémon GO event that takes place from Apr. 2, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. PDT to Apr. 9, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).

During the event, Bug-type Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild, Incense will last twice as long, and more Pokémon will appear when using Incense. A set of limited-time Bug-type themed Field Research will be available. No new shiny Pokémon have been confirmed as of yet.

Event: Bug Out!
Date + Time: Apr. 2, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. PDT to Apr. 9, 2019, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Features
-- Bug-type Pokémon will appear more frequently in the wild.
-- Incense will last twice as long (60 minutes!).
-- More Pokémon will appear when using Incense.

Field Research
-- Limited-time Bug-type Pokémon Field Research will be available during this event.

Increased Spawns

We expect the following Pokémon to be spawning more frequently during the event:

- Caterpie
- Weedle
- Paras
- Venonat
- Scyther
- Pinsir
- Ledyba
- Spinarak
- Yanma
- Wurmple
- Volbeat
- Illumise
- Anorith
- Kricketot
- Combee
- Shuckle
- Pineco

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemo...0-6465775/

Update: The Legendary Giratina has returned to Pokemon Go. From now until April 2, you'll have another chance to capture the Renegade Pokemon in its Altered Forme. Then, beginning at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on April 2, the Legendary monster will appear in its Origin Forme until it leaves Raid Battles on April 29. The original story follows.

If you missed out on your previous chance to catch Giratina in Pokemon Go, you're in luck. The first Gen 4 Legendary to debut in Go will make an encore appearance in the hit mobile game later this week. The Renegade Pokemon will return to Raid Battles for another month beginning March 28, and this time around it'll appear in a different form.

From March 28 to April 2, players will have another opportunity to capture Giratina in its Altered Forme (pictured below). After that, the Legendary Pokemon will transform into its Origin Forme--the serpent-like appearance it takes in Pokemon Platinum--until it leaves Raid Battles on April 29.



Regardless of what form it takes, Giratina is a dual Ghost/Dragon Pokemon, so the same strategies you used to battle it when it first appeared during last year's Halloween event will apply. What's unique about this combination is that both Ghost and Dragon are susceptible to their own types, so Pokemon like Salamence, Rayquaza, and Gengar will prove to be effective against Giratina. Dark-types such as Tyranitar and Houndoom will also have an edge over it.

In the meantime, you still have one more day to capture Pokemon Go's current Legendary, Dialga. The Temporal Pokemon will only appear in Raid Battles until March 28, meaning this is your last opportunity to add it to your collection before it leaves the game. Dialga is a dual Dragon/Steel-type, making it weak to Fighting and Ground Pokemon like Machamp and Groudon.

There's quite a lot happening in the game recently. Aside from Giratina's return, there is also a new Limited Research event focusing on Lotad. On March 30, you'll also have a better chance to catch Pokemon that are affected by weather conditions, such as Castform.

Looks like you’re going to need a bigger bottle of sunscreen, Trainers. Our worldwide announcement of Pokémon GO live events for 2019 is happening on April 4. Stay tuned.

https://nintendowire.com/news/2019/03/30...bscribers/

Over two years ago, Pokémon Trainers from all over the world could explore a new region, Alola. Later this year, we’ll be able to traverse yet another, Galar, thanks to Pokémon Sword & Shield on the Nintendo Switch. In the meantime, crafting a near unbeatable team in Sun & Moon/Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon sounds like a fantastic way to pass the time. Picking out perfect IVs and Hidden Abilities can be a long process, so The Pokémon Company is stepping in and giving out a duo of simians with their Hidden Abilities to all active Pokémon Bank subscribers.

Normally found in Pokémon Sun and Ultra Sun versions, Passimian’s Hidden Ability allows the lemur-like Pokémon a massive stat boost! “f Passimian is hit with a stat-lowering effect, its Hidden Ability, Defiant, will cause Passimian’s Attack to increase by two levels!”

Considered Passimian’s counterpart, Oranguru is only catchable in Pokémon Moon and Ultra Moon. This sage Pokémon’s hidden ability celebrates teamwork. “Its Hidden Ability, Symbiosis, is useful but a little tricky—in Double Battles, if Oranguru’s teammate uses its held item, Oranguru will hand its own held item over to the teammate.”


[i]

Add Passimian and Oranguru with Pokémon Bank!

If you’re a registered Pokémon Bank user, you’re in luck! For a limited time, you can receive a Passimian and an Oranguru for your #PokemonUltraSunMoon or #PokemonSunMoon game!

Don’t miss out! https://t.co/CVzghh5Lws pic.twitter.com/KMDZOzQ08y

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) March 29, 2019

In order to add these two Pokémon to your never ending collection, you will need to be a Pokémon Bank subscriber by October 31st, 2019 and follow the directions below:

“To receive Passimian and Oranguru:
Start Pokémon Bank and select the game in which you would like to receive them.
After receiving your gift in Pokémon Bank, start up the game you previously selected.
Speak to the delivery person in any Pokémon Center to receive your Pokémon as a Mystery Gift.
Remember to save your game!

Note: You will receive only one pair of Pokémon per Pokémon Bank account.”

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemo...0-6465881/

With March nearly behind us and a new month just around the corner, Niantic has shared the first details for April's Pokemon Go Community Day. The monthly event is scheduled to return on Saturday, April 13, and this time around it'll feature a rare Dragon Pokemon: Bagon.

All throughout the Community Day, Bagon will appear in the wild in greater numbers than it normally does, making it much easier to add some to your collection. Considering that Niantic typically introduces the Shiny form of that month's featured Pokemon during each Community Day, you'll also presumably have your first chance to catch a Shiny Bagon during this month's event.

Bagon is the base form of the powerful Dragon/Flying Pokemon Salamence, so you'll want to catch as many as you can during April's Community Day. If you manage to evolve any into Salamence up to an hour after the event ends, it will also learn an exclusive move, although Niantic hasn't revealed what that will be just yet.



Like March's Community Day, April's event will take place from 3-6 PM local time, rather than the usual schedule it followed. As an added incentive to participate, Niantic is also offering triple the usual amount of XP for capturing Pokemon. You can read more details about the event on the official Pokemon website.

That isn't the only event happening in Pokemon Go next month. From April 2-9, Niantic is also holding a Bug Out event. During that period, Bug Pokemon will appear more frequently than normal, and Incenses will last twice as long. You'll also be able to find special limited-time Field Research tasks revolving around Bug Pokemon from Poke Stops.

In the meantime, the Gen 4 Legendary Giratina is set to return to Raids beginning March 28. It will initially appear in its standard Altered Forme until April 2, when it'll transform into its Origine Forme. A new Limited Research event is also scheduled for March 30. During that, you'll find special Field Research tasks focusing on Lotad, and you'll even have your first opportunity to catch Shiny versions of Lotad and Castform.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/03...membership

Twitch and Nintendo have teamed up to offer Twitch Prime members a one-year subscription to the Switch Online service.

From today onwards, Prime members can claim three free months of NSO when visiting the Twitch Amazon website. After 60 days, members can return to claim an additional nine months, for a total of 12 months. If you've already got an NSO subscription, there's no need to worry as additional months can be added on.

Twitch Prime members have until 24th September 2019 to claim three free months of NSO and until 22nd January 2020 to claim the nine additional months. If you have any more questions, take a look at the FAQ.

Rise to the challenge, Trainers! Check out the theme song for Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon—Ultra Legends. Get ready to sing along, and don’t miss the premiere Saturday, March 23, on Disney XD. ☀️

https://www.androidauthority.com/pokemon-go-iv-969331/

For long time fans of Pokemon, IVs are a familiar part of maximizing your team’s strength. They represent hidden stats that may make a Pokemon slightly better than its peers. Not too long after the release of Pokemon Go, it was discovered that IVs made their way into Niantic’s hit title, as well.

So how do Pokemon Go IVs work and how can you make the most of them in your team? Keep reading for our full Pokemon Go IV guide!

What are Pokemon Go IVs?

Just like in classic Pokemon titles, each type of Pokemon has base stats. In Pokemon Go, there are only three stats: Attack, Defense, and Stamina. Attack and Defense are obvious, but Stamina comes into play when you leave a Pokemon to defend a gym. The higher the stamina, the longer they can defend before returning.

While every Squirtle might have the same base stats, their final stats vary. Pokemon Go IVs (or Individual Values) are hidden stats that are randomly generated when a Pokemon is caught or hatched. These values are between 0 and 15, with a separate value for each stat. If you’re lucky, they can increase a Pokemon’s base stats by roughly 10 percent.

Here’s a quick example of Pokemon Go IVs. Squirtle’s base stats vs perfect IV stats:

Attack – 94 vs 109
Defense – 122 vs 137
Stamina – 88 vs 103

These stats are then put together into CP (Combat Points), which is main way a Pokemon’s strength is displayed in Pokemon Go. However, CP also takes Pokemon levels into account, so a 500 CP Squirtle may not have better IVs than a 150 CP Squirtle. The only way to know the true potential of a Pokemon is to check their IVs.

It’s also worth noting that IVs remain the same through evolution, so feel free to evolve that perfect IV Squirtle into a Blastoise.

How to check Pokemon Go IVs

There is one way to check Pokemon Go IVs that’s already built into the game. However, it only provides a rough estimate, and not the full list of stats. We’ll cover more accurate ways too, but if a quick estimate is all you need, here’s how to check IVs in Pokemon Go:




Tap on the Pokemon you want to check.
Expand the menu on the bottom right.
Tap Appraise.
If the Pokemon’s IVs are high, you’ll see one of the following messages:
Mystic: Overall, your Pokemon is a wonder! What a breathtaking Pokemon!
Valor: Overall, your Pokemon simply amazes me. It can accomplish anything!
Instinct: Overall, your Pokemon looks like it can really battle with the best of them!

Only Pokemon with 80-100 percent IVs will return the messages above. If you manage to see it, you’ve got a keeper!

If you want to know exactly what the IVs of your Pokemon are, there are several tools at your disposal. Be careful before you start Googling and installing apps, because some of them are against the Pokemon Go terms of service and will get your account banned. To help, we’ve assembed a list of the best Pokemon Go IV calculators out there.

For legal options, there are two types. The first is an online calculator, and the second is an app with similar functionality. Essentially, you input your Pokemon’s stats and it figures out the exact values using a mathematical formula. You may need to level up very low level Pokemon a few times to make sure it’s accurate.

https://pokemongohub.net/post/news/pokem...-universe/

A report from IGN implies that the upcoming movie Pokémon: Detective Pikachu could start a Pokémon Cinematic Universe. This report came from Legendary Entertainment producer, Ali Mendes.

The report quotes Ali Mendes saying: “[Pokémon is] such a rich universe. There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We’re trying to get the first movie right, and then once we’ve done that, we’ll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities. Even the Pokémon themselves, there are eight hundred of them. We’re going to have a lot of them in [Pokémon: Detective Pikachu], but we want to play with all of them at some point.”

With the big success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s no secret that every other big Hollywood studios are trying to replicate Disney’s success and create a cinematic universe of their own. Because of missteps like Universal’s Classic Monster Universe or “Dark Universe,” or the early years of WB’s DC Extended Universe, these big studios have been more careful on developing their cinematic universes, and this shows from Ali Mendes’ reserved answer.

While the Pokémon franchise is a good fit for the cinematic universe approach, that alone won’t make it successful. They need to start strong, focus on the story, and not worry about expanding the universe. From what we see from the trailers, it seems like they are moving in the right direction, wherein not only do they please the general audience but sprinkle in some easter eggs for those avid Pokémon fans.

Pokémon: Red and Blue – The Possible Sequel / Spin-off?

As IGN puts it, it seems to give credence the rumor that Legendary Pictures is also developing another live-action movie based on the first two Pokémon games titled Pokémon: Red and Blue. While this will give some Anime fans a familiar taste since the first season of the anime is loosely based on the first two Pokémon games as well, like the adaptation of Detective Pikachu, this might stray away from the original story. Unlike Pokémon: Detective Pikachu which is almost totally different from the original game it was based on, the amount of difference Pokémon: Red and Blue will have compared to the original games might define how the fans will like this adaptation.

How Pokémon GO fits into this

Every marketing move Pokémon: Detective Pikachu makes will more than likely have an impact on the popularity of Pokémon GO. After all, since Pokémon GO made quite a cultural impact during its 2016 release, people who watch the trailer and have stopped playing Pokémon GO will wonder what has happened to the game since then. If you are that person reading this article, I’m happy to report Pokémon GO is now better than ever. To catch you up on what happened since its release, Pokémon GO Hub has written a Guide for Returning Pokémon GO Players (2018).

For us long-time players, having more players to raid with is definitely more fun. Plus, the release of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu on May might also include an in-game event, with possibly a new Pikachu form with the iconic Detective Cap, that way Ryan Reynolds can always be in our hearts and in our storage.

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/03/26/...adow-ball/

Pokemon Go has upgraded Giratina ahead of its next appearance as a Raid Boss, turning the Legendary Pokemon into a viable Pokemon for PvP battles and raids. Players noticed that Niantic recently added the move Shadow Ball to the move pool of the Origin Forme of Giratina, the alternate form of Giratina being introduced to the game in a few days. Shadow Ball is considered the best Ghost-type Charge move in the game and gives Giratina a powerful Charge Move that should make it much more impactful as a Ghost-type attacker. While Giratina-Origin doesn't have as high as an attack as Gengar, it is much bulkier and isn't weak against Psychic-type attacks, so Giratina should be a top option whenever players need a Ghost-type attacker in a raid.

The addition of Shadow Ball does come with a cost, though, as Giratina-Origin will not have access to Dragon Claw, which nerfs its effectiveness as a Dragon-type attacker. However, players who have the Altered Forme of Giratina will still have access to Dragon Claw as a charge move, as Giratina's two forms have different movesets. Basically, if you want a Giratina with Dragon-type moves, use the Altered Forme, while Giratina's Origin Forme is better for Ghost-type attacks.

Giratina's Origin Forme will be added to Pokemon Go on April 2nd. Players will have the opportunity to battle Giratina in its Altered Forme from March 28th through April 2nd.

Adidas seems to be on a mission to collaborate with all the legendary television and pop culture series, because a partnership with Pokemon appears to be in the works. These first images reveal the Campus silhouette dressed in a Pikachu edition, with the furry yellow critter featured all-over-print style on the upper, white Squirtle dons a second version in a similar manner. The co-branded tongue labels, color-coordinated with the characters, all but confirms this upcoming collection that likely includes other models and key characters of the globally popular series. The timing of this release could be sometime in late April or early May, as Detective Pikachu is set to hit theaters on May 10th.

The adidas Pokemon collection continues a streak of projects that include TV/pop culture franchises such as Dragonball Z, Beavis and Butthead, and even Game Of Thrones. What others would you like to see? See the first images ahead and stay tuned.

All those bright lights in a crowded city can be so overwhelming! How’s a little Eevee to know that the food bowl belonged to a big Houndour? ? Bonus round, Trainers: check out this additional Eevee short from the end of today’s episode of Pokémon The Series: Sun & Moon—Ultra Legends!