"Pokemon GO" is a mobile application developed by Niantic Inc. based on the original Pokemon franchise by Game Freak. Released in July 2016, the game has had more than 750 million downloads all over the world, with several millions of players still actively playing the game. Although player base count has been fluctuating in the previous months due to lack of content and dissatisfaction from players, Niantic still kept providing updates to improve the gameplay.

Data-mining players, what have they found in the previous updates?

In several previous Pokemon GO app updates, fans who have data-mining skills have been into these update files and have found traces of several new contents for the game and surprisingly, they also have found information about the coming of the Legendary Pokemon.

However, Niantic hadn't confirmed anything regarding the topic, but they had spoken about their updates that can change how people play the app.

A game changer - the update we've all been waiting for!

Just recently, the development team has released very crucial updates for both Android and iOS platforms. At the same time, Niantic has released a trailer video confirming the arrival of the most-awaited Legendary Pokemon! Check out the video below.

The video showcases several major changes to the gameplay aside from the Legendary Pokemon. Some of these include the implementation of the following: gym badges and the motivation system in gym battles. I will discuss each feature briefly.

Gym badges, finally

In the previous versions of the game, gym battle mechanics were simple. You place one of your Pokemon in an open gym or an occupied one from your corresponding team. Opposing teams will then engage in battle with the incumbent team. If the home team wins, their gym's "prestige points" increase. Otherwise, it will decrease and in addition, the Pokemon who loses the battle will be removed from the gym.

That's it.

With the recent update, prestige points are no longer present and involving yourselves in gym battles will now reward you with gym badges that you can also level up by doing any gym-related activities,

Motivation System, to keep it realistic

This system is an added feature to the existing gym mechanics. In the previous versions of the game, you can simply put back a Pokemon into action once you've used up a potion for it.

In this update, however, the Pokemon you add into the gyms will now have a motivation gauge that will slowly decrease every time it is engaged in battle. As its gauge decreases so does its Combat Power. Don't worry, this is temporary and only occurs in the gym.

To make sure your Pokemon doesn't exhaust its motivation, you can feed it with berries to make it happy. At the moment its motivation depletes completely, the Pokemon will leave the gym and go back to its respective owner.

Ready to play again?

With these exciting updates, I'm positive that a lot of players who have stopped playing the game will definitely make a comeback. If you ask me, the legendary Pokemon are worth it. Before I end this post, I want to show you the very first trailer of Pokemon GO.

Check the video below, specifically at 1:59.

Compare it to the recent video I included in the earlier part of this post. The Mewtwo encounter in this one closely resembles the actual mechanics for the legendaries. I'm pretty hyped and right now and I hope you are as well.