Looks like "Pokemon Go" fans are in for a treat. Niantic Labs released its free-to-play mobile game back in 2016, and in no time, it propelled to a popularity that was quite short lived. Reports suggesting that the hit AR (augmented reality) game is losing its luster began springing out from all corners as a considerable number of the game's paid players dumped the mobile sensation.
How Niantic's handled the problem?
The game developer left no stone unturned in the bid to lure back its huge fan base but much to their dismay, their effort failed to catapult the location-based game back to its number one spot.
Since then, Niantic Labs did not cease rolling out major updates in order to keep current Trainers engaged. Lining with this, the team behind "Pokemon Go" published a blog post on Tuesday, July 18, to unveil a new update, which is slated to roll out this week for the game.
Although the details failed to sweep those who left the game off their feet, the "Pokemon Go" community unveiled the new update without wasting a lot of time. What they discovered is likely to have fans of the game as excited as they were when Niantic announced Gen 2 Pokemon arrival in the game earlier this year.
Legendaries are coming
If The Sliph Road's APK Mine of Pokemon Go V0.69.0 is anything to go by, Legendaries should make an appearance either during the Pokemon Go Fest or shortly after the event, which is scheduled to take place in Chicago on Saturday, July 22.
The hawkeyed data miners spotted a line of code in the update i.e. "IsLegendaryOrMythic," which implies "Pokemon Go" will now be able to tell the difference between Legendary Pokemon such as Zapdos, and Mythical Pokemon such as Mew.
Players trying to transfer a Legendary Pokemon will run into a warning message, while those who attempt to push their Legendaries at a gym will see an error message.
Aside from that, Niantic has added a new check to find out whether a Raid Boss is a Legendary.
The data miners were able to ferret out new image assets including a Legendary Raid icon that features Lugia and a Lugia banner in order to identify a gym where a Legendary Raid has been completed. This neither warrants the Mystery Challenge or "major global reward" alluded to in the Go Fest infographic will be Legendary Raids; however, considering that all the code support Legendary Pokemon, some of the most coveted creatures are likely to find their way into the game sooner rather than later.
In addition to hinting at an impending arrival of the Legendary, the update brings in a myriad of minor fixes for the heal animations and the health bar. Here's the list of the upcoming official change log for the update from Niantic Labs:
- New icons added to the Pokemon information screen that shows how the Pokemon was captured.
- Added ability that allows Trainers to spin the Photo Disc after completion of a Raid Battle at a Gym.
- Trainers will be able to transfer Berries to their Pokemon protecting Gyms via the Pokemon info screen when they are far away. This method will decrease the effect of reclaimed Motivation.
- Trainers will be able to hand out Berries to Pokemon protecting Gyms provided their motivation meter is chock-full.
- A radically overhauled Pokemon Collection screen search feature.
- Addressed Trainers' concern wherein they were not to able to complete Raid Battles started prior to time expired on the map view.
- Corrected an issue where Pokemon are inappropriately given back to their Trainer after protecting a Gym.
- Several bug fixes.
Trainers who are interested in participating in the Catch Challenge should note it kicks off Saturday, July 22 at 11:00 AM CT. Watch this space for more "Pokemon Go" news, tips and tricks.
