Pokemon: GO Dev Tracker

Trainers,

We’re excited to share a few changes to Field Research rewards starting soon!

Field Research Updates

• From November 1, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) to January 1, 2020, at 1 p.m. PST (GMT −8), the following Pokémon will be available as Research Breakthrough encounters: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Kyogre, Groudon!

Time to head outside and see what amazing Pokémon you’ll encounter! Let’s GO!

—The Pokémon GO team

Trainers,

In an effort to create an even more meaningful experience for you, we’ve been implementing gameplay adjustments around the world. Adjusting features is standard practice for the technology and mobile-gaming industries, and we consider ourselves lucky that Pokémon GO has a community that is helpful in determining what works and what can be improved.

For some time, we’ve been implementing various game-design changes, such as providing more items in areas with fewer PokéStops, introducing different shop bundles, and tailoring raid levels to fit the communities where the raids appear. These tests are meant to help us provide the best experience for different players around the world. A recent experiment was the launch of Legendary Raid Hour, and your feedback was instrumental in improving this now widely enjoyed event, where communities around the world work together and create Pokémon GO memories.

In the near future, you may notice a few changes in the ...

Trainers,

Battling has been a core part of the Pokémon universe since the very beginning. We’re excited to announce the development of a feature that will build upon Trainer Battles, the current form of player vs. player battling that exists within Pokémon GO. This feature will be called GO Battle League.

Like many Pokémon GO features, GO Battle League will encourage players to get out and explore the world with Pokémon. Trainers will be able to walk in order to earn entry into the GO Battle League, then battle opponents from around the globe through an online matching system and rise in the ranks of the league. ...

Trainers,

As you may have read on the Niantic blog, we are very excited that the beta version of our new tool—Niantic Wayfarer—will soon enable Pokémon GO Trainers to review nominations for PokéStops and Gyms, helping determine places to play.

Eligible players in certain countries can continue to submit PokéStop nominations within Pokémon GO. Over the coming weeks, Wayfarer will start rolling out to a subset of the player base. Stay tuned to our Niantic channels for additional updates on future rollouts and availability of this new tool.

We hope that the launch of Wayfarer will he...

Trainers,

October is here, which means it’s almost time to make things a bit spookier! This year, you’re all in for a spine-chillingly good treat.

Starting Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Features

• Rescue more Shadow Pokémon from Team GO Rocket — Be ready to rescue the following Pokémon from Team GO Rocket Grunts at PokéStops near you: Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lapras, Mareep, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Trapinch, Cacnea, Shuppet, and Duskull.
• Thrilling threads in the Style Shop — Play dreadful dre...

Trainers,

Regirock, Regice, and Registeel are reuniting and returning to raids! If you haven’t caught all of them yet, this is the perfect chance to fill your Pokédex. You can also find Pokémon to counter them in the wild and in Eggs to help build a formidable team to take on these forces of nature.

Regigigas, the Colossal Pokémon, will be appearing in EX Raids, starting in November. If you purchase a ticket, you can get the chance to encounter Regigigas earlier through a special event that will feature Regigigas’s first-ever appearance in Pokémon GO!

Hi Trainers!

The Pokémon GO Safari Zone event in New Taipei City, was a great success! Thank you to the Trainers who visited New Taipei Metropolitan Park and numerous exciting local attractions throughout the four-day event.

Trainers,

Dress your best! If you haven’t heard, Pokémon Shirts is an online service that allows you to mix and match prints based on the first 151 Pokémon to create your own unique and stylish custom shirt. In collaboration with Original Stitch and in celebration of the release of Pokémon Shirts in the United States, Pokémon Shirts avatar items will be available in the Style Shop!

Date + Time

• Select Pokémon Shirts avatar items will be available in the Style Shop starting on October 4, 2019, at 9 a.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Features

• There will...

Trainers,

Stardust everywhere—what a sight! Look forward to some exciting Stardust bonuses coming soon that will help you power up and trade your Pokémon.

Date + Time

• From Thursday, October 3, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) to Thursday, October 10, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Bonuses

• 2× Hatch Stardust
• 2× Catch Stardust
• 2× Stardust from Team GO Rocket battles
• Guaranteed 2,000 Stardust from raids

Get to hatching, catching, battling, and raiding, Trainers! These bonuses will have their shining moment before leaving soon. Stay sa...

Trainers,

We’re excited to announce that there will be more Legendary Raid Hours taking place in October! For one hour every Wednesday evening, Raid Battles with the currently featured Legendary Pokémon will happen more frequently.

Date + Time

From 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in your local time zone on the following dates:

• October 2, 9, and 16, 2019: Altered Forme Giratina
• October 23 and 30, 2019: To Be Announced

Features

• There will be an increased number of five-star raids during the event hour.

As always, Trainers, be mindful of your surrounding...

Trainers,

In our previous Community Note, we outlined some changes that came to Pokémon GO that made Trainer Battles a more fun and competitive experience. In this update, we’re excited to announce more changes focusing on Trainer Battles!

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll see some changes in Pokémon GO’s various combat systems.

Updates to the combat system

Our team has polished the existing system to make Trainer Battles and Team GO Rocket battles more intuitive and responsive in Pokémon GO version 0.157.0.

• The timing for damage dealt and energy charged has been improved.
  • We understand this issue provided a possible knowledge gap that players could learn to work around, giving them an edge in battle. We chose to adjust this since we think it was fundamentally unintuitive that damage and energy changes always ran one move late. Unlike with quickly switching before a predicted Charged Attack, we don’t think ...

Trainers,

Happy World Tourism Day! In partnership with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), we are celebrating the first-ever World Tourism Day event in Pokémon GO! For this upcoming week, we’ll be celebrating exploration with a special in-game event.

New features starting on September 26, 2019 at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

• New shirt! Check out a new United Nations World Tourism Organization T-shirt, available in the Style Shop!
• Region-limited Pokémon available in Eggs! The following Pokémon will be available in 5 km Eggs in their respective real-world reg...

Trainers,

Thank you for joining us in beautiful Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for our very first Safari Zone in Canada—and North America as a whole! The three-day event was well attended by Trainers from around the globe. Over 39,000 Trainers from all over the world visited Parc Jean-Drapeau, walking 166,000 km and catching over 7 million Pokémon.

...

Trainers,

We are excited to announce that Giratina has reemerged from the Distortion World and returned to raids!

Date + Time

• From Monday, September 23, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) to Thursday, October 17, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7): Giratina in its Altered Forme will be available in five-star raids.
• On September 25, 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in your local time zone: There will be an increased number of five-star raids, featuring Altered Forme Giratina.

Features

• If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Altered Forme Giratina!

Start p...

Trainers,

The Genetic Pokémon, Mewtwo, will be returning to EX Raids!

Date + Time

• Starting on September 25, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. PDT—Trainers can receive EX Raid Passes to be invited to EX Raids featuring Mewtwo.

Features

• Challenge Mewtwo with the Shadow Ball attack exclusively in EX Raids!
• If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Mewtwo!

Are you new to EX Raids? You can become eligible to receive an EX Raid Pass when you win a Raid Battle at a qualifying Gym! To see whether a Gym can host EX Raids, take a look at the Gym’s details. If y...

Trainers,

Over three years ago, your Pokémon GO journey started with Pokémon originally discovered in the Kanto region, and you’ve gone on to encounter hundreds of Pokémon first encountered in the Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions as you’ve battled, raided, and completed research. It’s almost time to continue your journey and encounter Pokémon originally discovered in the Unova region! Get ready to meet new friends and encounter Pokémon featured in Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version, appearing in Pokémon GO later today!

Features

• Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Patrat, Lillipup, Purrloin, Pidove, Blitzle, and m...

Trainers,

We’re excited to announce that there will be more Legendary Raid Hours taking place in September! For one hour every Wednesday evening, Raid Battles with the currently featured Legendary Pokémon will happen more frequently.

Date + Time

From 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in your local time zone on the following dates:

• September 4, 2019: Raikou, Entei, and Suicune
• September 11, 2019: Deoxys
• September 18, 2019: Mewtwo
• September 25, 2019: Giratina (Altered Forme)

Features

• There will be an increased number of five-star raids during the even...

Trainers,

It descended, it dominated, and it even determined that some adventurers were worthy of being its Trainer. Soon, it will return to the skies.

But until then, you can look forward to one final Raid Hour with the Legendary Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokémon!

Date + Time

• Sunday, September 1, 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time

Features

• There will be an increased number of five-star raids during the event hour.

Here’s your last chance in 2019 to encounter the elusive Shiny Rayquaza. Give it all you’ve got, Trainers! Let’s GO!

—The Pokém...

Trainers,

We’re excited to share a few changes to Research Breakthrough rewards in the coming weeks!

Research Breakthrough Updates

• From September 1, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7) to November 1, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7), Eevee wearing flower crowns will be available as Research Breakthrough encounters.
• If you’re lucky, you might encounter a Shiny Eevee with a flower crown!

Eevee wearing flower crowns will be the exclusive Pokémon appearing in Research Breakthroughs during this time. Don’t miss your chance to evolve them into all the available Eevee Evolutions in Pokémon GO!

Let’s GO!

—The Pokémon GO team

Trainers,

Over the past three years, we’ve seen not only Pokémon GO grow as a game but our Trainers grow as a community as well. Your passion is what inspired us to bring the experience of Pokémon GO Fest to even more Trainers. Pokémon GO has always been a unique gaming experience, and we believe it has always been meant to be enjoyed by all on a global scale. We were thrilled to be able to provide that experience to both GO Fest attendees and Trainers around the world through the Global Challenge.

Trainers were able to catch a vast variety of Pokémon, seek out elusive Shiny Pokémon, trade with Trainers from around the world, and take GO Snapshots of Poké...