Changed Shiny Handling in Pokémon Go

Shiny Pokémon have been a phenomenon in Pokémon Go since they were introduced many years ago to great reception, and in fact, Trainers are still receptive to them even now. Even though they're easier to get than even in the main series, the many ways that Pokémon can be caught in the game (particularly now) can make it mind-boggling to get certain Shiny forms of specific Pokémon with different characteristics. For that, the "handling" of Shiny Pokémon has had certain changes, some of which actually occurred last season. 

Going back to that, it was made so that if an evolved Pokémon can be Shiny (by virtue of the basic form having its Shiny form available), it too can be Shiny from the wild, and the chance for this would be greater from a raid capture or Egg hatch. Then, if a Pokémon can be Shiny, it too can be Shiny when rescued from Team Go Rocket, and likewise the chance for this would be greater from the leaders or the boss (Giovanni) compared to the Grunts. In this way, it becomes clear that things all - and now only - depend on the basic form being Shiny.

Previously, for the Team Go Rocket case, it was possible to get the Shiny form of a Shadow Pokémon if the species had first been featured in the lineups of the leaders before going to the Grunts. With the newer update as above, the role of leaders is now no longer to furnish the Shiny Shadow form for Pokémon species, but to try to make them more easily available to Trainers - being that the Shiny Shadow form no longer depends on the introduction of that specific form, just for the species (family) itself.

Even farther back, it had become the case that after the first few editions of Go Tour, the Shiny forms of Pokémon from the featured regions would become generally available - and that is still the case... at least mostly. More recent regions are subject to other restrictions that make this impossible (like Phione and Manaphy still not being in the game, and Victini still being Shiny locked in Pokémon Global Link). At least, the cases still represent an instance of Shiny handling being changed for broader availability for others.

After nearly a decade of its presence, Pokémon Go has become a treasure trove for hunters of Shiny Pokémon, whether or not they're already well-versed in their appearance and availability in the main series games. That treasure trove has evidently been updated or changed with regard to its handling for even greater and broader availability rather than less, which affirms the "treasure trove" aspect. With that, there is also less of a mind boggle and more enjoyment to be had, knowing that Shiny forms can easily manifest where they're wanted.

One year ago: Friends of Pikachu... by Pokédex Numbers

Two years ago: Time to Get Back into the Cards?

Three years ago: Keeping the Memory of Silph Arena (Factions)

Four years ago: Yoshinoya ID Pokémon Merchandise

Five years ago: Let's Talk About Pursuing Our True Selves

Six years ago: There's a Time and Place

Seven years ago: Chaos and Darkness

Eight years ago: Singular vs. Multiple Focus Legendaries

Nine years ago: I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Present Challenges of Pokémon Artists

Art is always a nice topic to discuss in connection with Pokémon, certainly because of the great inspiration that the franchise furnishes for artists who relate to it. This time, I thought of writing up a discussion on another aspect of Pokémon art, with the inclusion of some "challenging" qualities. They would pertain to the artists creating the Pokémon art, and the challenges they present can also be considered "problems" in some way. As such, it becomes an enigmatic as well as somewhat necessary topic to discuss.

The challenges concern both fan artists as well as official artists, two ends of which I had put into another discussion tied to a controversy nearly a year ago. It can then be said that the issue raised previously therein still has some relation to the challenges that I will be discussing, which in many ways also involve the aspect of creation. For both of them, the relation (as I've noted before) is cordial but in a way also tenuous, and that becomes reflected in the form of the challenges that pertain to them.

For fans, they have great freedoms (again, to a certain extent as I've noted) in creating art that involves Pokémon - which can be affirmed with a certain hashtag and certainly shouldn't be disparaging. Even with those great freedoms, there is also still the sense that beyond the expression that the art achieves, it may or may not be possible to gain a lot of recognition for them, perhaps if one is not of "Trainer K" caliber in style and speed. That's a challenge for which solutions may not come easily or quickly enough.

Meanwhile, official artists (in collaboration with the designers) have a slightly different issue: with the proliferation of fan art, including ones for hypothetical forms - for example, currently non-existent Mega Evolution forms - they also have to be cautious in some respects and not conceive something that resembles specific pieces of fan art in any way or form, lest the controversy as above can manifest itself again in a different form. This challenge reflects how Pokémon is very diverse these days and the difficulty it creates.

It's not always easy to create art of any kind, and that may be even more true when Pokémon art is involved, apart from the "challenges" as presented by the above situations. With official art on one side and fan art on the other that get along yet sometimes conflict, the situation can be perceived as actually being more complex than many people (fans) associated with Pokémon think it may be. Regardless, great art can and have resulted, and the ultimate challenge may be to keep them great in their ways.

One year ago: Descending Species on the Upper Hand

Two years ago: Quickies: Smells Like Pokémon

Three years ago: Tournament: SWEEP JR vs. Icy Wind (SA Factions)

Four years ago: Yoshinoya ID Pokémon Promo

Five years ago: The Floating City Awaits

Six years ago: As In As All...

Seven years ago: Nationally Challenged

Eight years ago: Before Gold and Silver

Nine years ago: Red on a Bike

Expanding the World of Pokopia

I'm sure many Pokémon fans are still enjoying the Pokopia spinoff game for building worlds, making creations, and fulfilling pleasures in general. There are going to be more of those actions, for an Expansion Pass (certainly, as DLC) has been announced for the game. As with any kind of DLC, it would add content and value - in a way, also burden - to the game, but it's also particularly interesting for this new spinoff game with it being somewhat popular recently. With that, even without me (potentially) playing the game, it's still fascinating to cover it on a post here, according to the information I've received.

The DLC content will come in parts, the first of which will be a free update for everyone (which makes it technically not a part of the DLC, but it's regardless relevant to the DLC content and mentioned in the bulletin for it) coming this August. Then, the content of the DLC proceeds with Part 1 just shortly after that, Part 2 sometime later this year, and Part 3 next year. As for purchasing the DLC, that can already be done now - making it like a "preorder", and in fact there is actually a bonus for purchasing now before the end of August - and all of the parts will come with the purchase as they are released.

As for what the parts will contain, the free update will introduce a necessary move for that purpose (Dive), and the player will have to complete prerequisites for learning that move. Part 1 will then extend that with an underwater town (Bubbly Basin) and related niceties, while Part 2 will have new features but no new towns, and Part 3 will have a new town and even more new things. It'll be a long wait for all of these niceties as per the above schedule, but there's also plenty of time to prepare for them (hopefully).

Even with me not playing the game, I can say that the planned content for the DLC is already looking like a truly great expansion for the game. I'm sure that many players have been wanting the first feature of interest - the ability to go underwater and develop things in that environment - for many Pokémon do make the water their home, after all. The rest of the content is not yet known to anyone, but the spirits of the game have to carry on in them and become as good as it is in the main game. 

With all that the game has offered, fans are still reaping pleasure and enjoyment from this game - something that I'd also like to take part in even briefly as a Pokémon fan - and making the most out of the substance. The incoming DLC will (and should) provide yet even more substance for that purpose and becomes a testament to the power and popularity of the game for offering a world that can truly build up (and down).

One year ago: Species on the Ascending, the Up and Up

Two years ago: Signs of a Good Day (and Morrow)

Three years ago: Cosplay: "It's My Town" Competition

Four years ago: Finding Reasons to Sing and Connect

Five years ago: Justification for Writing My Blog

Six years ago: Low-Bit Fantasies with Pokémon

Seven years ago: Field Research Task Reporting

Eight years ago: The Myth of Shiny Pokémon

Nine years ago: On Skateboards and Pokémon

Changing Daily Discoveries in Pokémon Go

Last season, Pokémon Go introduced "Daily Discoveries" as a way of filling up the days of the week with great activities and special bonuses. After a round of those activities and bonuses, which constitutes one season, they are now prime for some changes... and that's exactly what this season offers for them. As such, now I'd like to discuss what has changed, both majorly and minorly, and what other changes I'd like to see for them.

For the changes, there are a couple of important and major ones. "Fast-Track Monday" has been changed to just a regular Max Monday, with no doubling of Go Pass progression on that day. "Double-Time Sunday" has been changed to "Scenic Sunday" with bonuses pertaining to Routes - being able to encounter more Pokémon on them, including by Incense, and meeting Mateo up to three times on that day. All other parts of Daily Discoveries remain the same as they are, but a few things also need to be noted for them...

...which are essentially the minor changes. Max Monday has actually since last season featured many more Power Spots as well, which continues to this day and is a welcome one. "Showcase Tuesday" now allows Trainers to put Pokémon in five of them, more than ever before, and more of them also show up. "Friendship Friday" now also has greater rewards and community check-in for even more of them. As for the "unofficial" one of "Community Saturdays", that may remain as such and be susceptible to other changes.

These changes are great in some ways and not in others, so now I want to bring up my own, personal takes on them. Even with changed Showcases and more of them, they may still be far and few between, so I'd like to see still more of them - and perhaps bring back Spotlight Hour in earnest rather than as a one-off like in March and April. The truly new "Scenic Sunday" of this season may be useful for those who venture out on that day and less so for those who don't, but the triple Mateo meeting can and should be useful.

Change is inevitable for Daily Discoveries, particularly given the dynamic nature of Pokémon Go itself, and they have presented themselves exactly one season after the implementation of the group of features. Though not wide-reaching, Trainers may still need to adapt their ways of playing to some of these changes and keep the "discoveries" going while still hoping that others could be made as future "discoveries" even later on.

One year ago: The Wonder of Repdigit Species

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 6/9/2024

Three years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 6/10/2023

Four years ago: Bots in Pokémon Unite

Five years ago: Arena Factions, Assemble

Six years ago: The Persistence of Pokémon Spotlight Hours

Seven years ago: To Hold or Not to Hold?

Eight years ago: Variegated Pokédexes

Nine years ago: Pokémon and Sports

Quickies: On the Pokémon World Stage

Sometimes, I'm reminded that as said by a certain figure, the world is all but a "stage", and everyone plays something on that. Since Pokémon exists in a world all its own, it would also represent (or be represented by) a "stage" of its own, by extension and consideration of the quote; that would then also go for the people in it and conceivably the Pokémon, since the latter can and have been proven to be quite sentient. As a respite from the objective posts that I've written up lately - and as partially indicated by the title - I thought I'd write up something that would consider that quote and do so in a (relatively, evidently) speedy manner.

With that, further according to the quote, the roles of everyone can be quite different. There would be leaders and followers (Captain Pikachu and the Rising Volt Tacklers come to mind - although they may also rotate among the roles at times), bosses and lackeys (Team Rocket and the other villainous teams), and even those with supreme power (Legendary Pokémon and others of similar kind). All of them play out on the world stage... and then there would be me and others as Trainers, breeders, and connectors (and even chefs at times) to try to relate to them all and mix things up every now and then, or even all of the time with daily interaction.

The way that the world is, it always needs the contribution of everyone to shape it (which would seem to be the case back when the quote was expressed and remains true in the present time). For that, both the real world and the Pokémon world have a great deal of "actors" on their "stages" who are ready to deliver life-changing performances for themselves and others who watch them. Further, the sights may not always be beautiful - as attested by an interpretative extension to that quote - but then that's how performances are, especially with the stories of Pokémon. Regardless, the "acts" on the stage continue to dazzle. 

(...perhaps hopefully in a quicker manner too?)

One year ago: Going through the 00s

Two years ago: Cosplay: Akazora Fest 2024

Three years ago: The Eevee Festival in Pokémon Unite

Four years ago: For Elemental and Pokémon Periodicity

Five years ago: Birdkeepers, the Real and the Imagined

Six years ago: Pokémon Hanafuda

Seven years ago: Limited Research Methodology

Eight years ago: The Spirit of Giving

Nine years ago: A Faraway Tournament and a Charitable Spirit

Implementing Energy Cards in TCGP?

Over the past year, it has become evident that despite several important differences that still persist, TCGP as a mobile implementation of the Pokémon TCG is on track to achieving "feature parity" (in development terms) with the regular or physical TCG. First, Pokémon Tool cards were introduced, then Stadium cards followed later. It seems that almost every kind of card you can regularly find in the physical TCG have made it in... except the Energy cards. The question then lies on the possibility of implementing them; this post then serves to discuss that possibility as well as complications that are interrelated with that possibility.

It is important to make the reminder that Energy works differently in TCGP, and quite so at that. Here, Energy depends on the Energy Zone, and it generates specific ones tied to a deck and even some different ones if certain cards are played. Therefore, the possibility of making the implementation work seems to have to consider keeping this system included rather than leaving it out. Meanwhile, the deck building screen shows that potentially more cards could be included in a deck, up to 30 instead of the usual 20, which may indicate that these extra 10 cards could be used to accommodate Energy cards if they do appear.

As for how things might work out, it seems that the Energy cards could be loaded into the Energy Zone, and at the first opportunity players are able to attach Energy as would normally occur in a TCG match, an Energy card is drawn to be attached to a Pokémon. Supposing that a Pokémon is Knocked Out, an Energy card could also be brought back into play by a card that interacts with Energy in the discard pile; this is also in line with the fact that the game keeps track of discarded Energy after a KO in addition to cards.

Meanwhile, other complications would involve the kinds of Energy cards that could or would be included. Cards of the commonly used types would be a given, of course, but the possibility of having unique cards for them might not be out of the question. Then there are Special Energy cards, which in regular TCG exist to provide certain Energy in possibly larger amounts but under certain restrictions; implementing them in TCGP might require a bit of "finagling", yet it could be done, given the appearance of other special cards.

With the way that things are developing in TCGP, "feature parity" - even if not complete and/or thorough - with the regular TCG looks to be a set goal for it, albeit one that most players may not perceive. The next step for that might just be implementing Energy cards in some way, even if the possibility is either outlandish or superfluous (or both) by the state of the game. After that, TCGP might very well be considered a really good implementation. 

One year ago: Cosplay: Akiba Fest 2025

Two years ago: My Pokémon Communities on WhatsApp

Three years ago: The Scramble for King of the Hill

Four years ago: Classes and Classification of Pokémon

Five years ago: Battle Box for Pokémon Go?

Six years ago: Game Freak with Mario on the Side

Seven years ago: Pokémon Go Community Day, 6/8/2019

Eight years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 6/8/2018

Nine years ago: Poor Zygarde

TCGP: Getting into the Paradox (Over) Drive

Having (finally) explained what Paradox Pokémon are in a long overdue post, I am now more comfortable in writing up this post with its topic. As mentioned in that long overdue post, said class of Pokémon is to make an(other) appearance in the TCG realm, and that would be for the mobile implementation of TCGP. They become the focus of this month's new expansion, which is a Themed Booster Pack entitled "Paradox Drive" - aptly containing the keyword of the Pokémon class.

Being a Themed Booster Pack, it's a minor expansion with relatively fewer cards to offer. Yet it does have a good number of Pokémon from the mentioned class, which encompass both domains of Ancient and Future. It also has a number of other species from prior generations, some from the respective generation (including Koraidon and Miraidon), as well as Terapagos, the highlight species of Area Zero - here also being highlighted in Immersive form. They're to be found among the expansion's 74 numbered and 35 overnumbered cards, 109 in total.

Within the numbered section, 68 of them are Pokémon cards containing the species as described above. The remaining six are composed of 2 Pokémon Tool cards (also one of the "new terms" I mentioned in the previous post), 3 Supporter cards, and 1 Stadium card. The former two also have cards with Ancient and Future tags (one each), and the third has a representation of Area Zero itself. The overnumbered section has the usual full art and Shiny cards of some featured Pokémon to pique players' interests.

The content of this Themed Booster Pack is roughly comparable to Extradimensional Crisis, the one for the different class of Ultra Beasts from about one year ago, for which its 69 numbered cards have 2 Item cards, 2 Pokémon Tool cards, and 3 Supporter cards. Its 34 overnumbered cards are also of the usual sort with selected full art and Shiny cards to vary things up, bringing its total to 103 cards - again, not too shabby or dissimilar in amount and content. Both also deal with specific Pokémon classes, further establishing a comparative basis.

Now, as for the "overdrive" portion of this program as suggested by the title of this post, that may depend on the willingness of players to get all the cards (that they need) from this minor expansion or Themed Booster Pack. But with the presence of the Pokémon species from the class that is enigmatic in the scheme of things for Paldea and the ninth generation, there is also the sense that players may want to put a few things into "overdrive" and then drive the potentials of these Pokémon to a great extent.

One year ago: Ties or Draws in Pokémon Games

Two years ago: LINE App in a "Downturn"?

Three years ago: Silph Arena Factions S2 Postseason Metas

Four years ago: NADWPKMN - The Video Series: Episode #3 - The Games I Play

Five years ago: Mastering Balls of Hands and Feet

Six years ago: It's a-Mario Time

Seven years ago: Going Big in Galar

Eight years ago: Pokémon Archetypes

Nine years ago: New Paradigms