New Pokemon joinPokemon GOevery year, and 2022 is no exception. On the contrary, 2022 seems like it could be particularly rich in new Pokemon additions.Pokemon GOis in the midst of the Season of Alola right now, which has brought a wealth of monsters fromPokemon SunandMoonto the game for the first time already. There’s still about two months of the Season of Alola left to go, soPokemon GOfans have many more additions to look forward to. This isn’t the only reason thatPokemon GOcould grow aggressively, though.Pokemon ScarletandVioletmight have an impact too.
Earlier this year, Game Freak and Nintendo confirmed that the next generation ofPokemongames is at hand.Pokemon ScarletandVioletwill release this year, and while Game Freak hasn’t revealed many of its new Pokemon ideas yet, fans have gotten a glimpse at the new region’s starters. The Generation 9 region is bound to have a lot of new Pokemon, and those Pokemon could crop up inPokemon GOsooner rather than later. The mobile game has a history of promoting corePokemonprojects through new monster additions, meaning the same thing could happen by the end of 2022.
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Pokemon GO’s Generation Celebrations
WhenPokemon GOfirst released in the summer of 2016, it did so in the midst of Generation 7’s earliest days;Pokemon SunandMoonreleased only about half a year later.SunandMoondidn’t intersect withPokemon GOimmediately, since Niantic was focused on adding newPokemongenerations in chronological order. However, in 2018,Pokemon GOadded Alolan Exeggutor, and more Alolan variants of classic Pokemon joined the game shortly afterwards. At the time of Alolan Exeggutor’s debut,Pokemon Ultra SunandUltra Moonwere only a few months old, so it made sense to usePokemon GOas a platform to acknowledge one of the newest games.
Niantic celebrated a newPokemongame more directly when dealing withPokemon SwordandShield.These games released in November 2019, and around the same time,Niantic introduced Galarian Weezing to the gamethrough Raids. More Galarian versions of Pokemon joinedPokemon GOshortly afterwards, marking notable occasions like the release ofPokemon SwordandShield’s DLC packs. The contrast betweenPokemon GO’s modest nod to Alola and the more direct celebration of Galar suggests Niantic has grown more interested in interacting withPokemongame releases.
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Potential Represenative
2022 has already seen Niantic do something similar to its Galar celebration.Hisuian Voltorb and Electrodeappeared inPokemon GOto celebrate the launch ofPokemon Legends: Arceus. Altogether, that makes it seem highly likely thatPokemon ScarletandVioletwill get some sort of guest star inPokemon GOat launch. Since Game Freak hasn’t revealed many Generation 9 Pokemon, it’s hard to say what will joinPokemon GOfirst, but patterns suggest that it won’t be theScarletandVioletstarters. Instead, it seems like some regional Pokemon variant from Generation 9’s region will probably appear inPokemon GO, assuming thatScarletandVioletcontinue the regional variant trend.
Pokemon GOstill has a lot of mission Pokemon from previous regions to add, but there’s no harm in skipping forward to add a Pokemon or two fortheScarletandVioletlaunch. The start of a newPokemongeneration is a momentous occasion, after all, so it makes sense thatPokemon GOwould acknowledge it. It’s hard to believe thatPokemon GOhas lived through two full generations ofPokemongames already, but the game’s continued growth suggests that it’s not going anywhere.Pokemon’s ninth generation won’t be the first new generation that it celebrates, and it probably won’t be the last.
Pokemon GOis available now for Android and iOS devices.
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