Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 9/20/2018

As I've said in my previous post, it's going to be a "Pokémon Go week", which means I'm going to be discussing things about the game. Part of that involves things that will happen or have happened, and believe me, there's a lot of those. So it's time for another one of these event rollups to gain perspective on what has happened, and to mentally prepare for what's next. I seem to have to do quite a bit of both, considering the things that have happened or are about to happen.

I've already mentioned two of the Summer Tour events in July's rollup, but I haven't mentioned the third. That one, a Safari Zone event, happened just at the end of last month in Japan (serving Asia as well), so that is why it made it into this rollup instead of last month's. And yes, that is the event that one of my raid fellows attended and got a certain set of stickers from. As for everyone else that couldn't attend, the bonuses were related to Stardust earnings - which were amped up all around - and of course, Moltres Day. The latter happened a couple of weeks ago, and it drew an even greater number of players; this time my raid group organized things differently, to account for people who wanted to raid as many Gyms as possible, as well as the minimalists who cannot raid too many times. I joined a minimalist group, which was still fun because that linked me up with old and new friends just like before, and the turnout wasn't pretty bad either with two Shiny Moltres. With that, the Summer Tour also ended.

After that, things would be relatively drab... if it weren't for a "Kanto Festival" that started less than one week after Moltres Day. The big thing is increased numbers of first-generation Pokémon, along with some special surprises. One was the return of all three birds to Level 5 raids for a week (and today happens to be the last day), which also prompted the change in raid time lengths; raids too also featured many first-generation Pokémon. That wasn't all: the first-generation regional exclusive Pokémon (Farfetch'd, Tauros, Kangaskhan, and Mr.Mime) could now be obtained from 7 km Eggs for the remainder of the month, affording many players the chance to earn a complete Kanto PokéDex. While I wasn't too fond of raiding the three birds again, the exclusive Pokémon hatches are not to be missed, especially since getting them now is much easier and in many ways cheaper. I've gotten nearly all, and I'm on track to achieving this.

As if that wasn't enough, there are some earth-shaking news in regard to raids: starting soon and for a month, Mewtwo will now be available in raids - not Ex-Raids, but regular Level 5 raids - which means everyone will be able to get one, after previously only being limited to those who can get into Ex-Raids. Mewtwo is also essentially "stepping down" as an Ex-Raid boss, and its successor has been announced, which will be Deoxys. This explains why there doesn't seem to be any news about Ex-Raid Pass distributions lately, and effectively makes the last one I participated in ten days ago as the last one for Mewtwo as well. While it's certain that Ex-Raids will return, there is not yet a certainty when, but when it does, it will likely be special and therefore "exclusive" again in more ways than one. Expect more details when that happens.

These are all really big things to take in for any Pokémon Go player, including me. All the raids and all the bonuses that have been earned are appreciable, even if I can't take them up to a full extent in some cases. I'm quite convinced of even bigger things very soon, and I'll have to embrace them, no matter how and how much I manage to participate in them. My Pokémon Go efforts still continue, as does this "Go week" on this blog.

One year ago: Meeting, Parting with, and Missing Friends