New Pokémon, New World?

When I wrote my recap of last Saturday's Community Day, I noted that it was surprising. While it was true that the day went surprisingly well, the real reason for that is because of what happened after the event ended. Without warning, as soon as the event ended, what were supposed to be the last of the Chikorita spawns were replaced with spawns of a mysterious creature that could only be described as a new Pokémon. Considering the standing of Pokémon Go, this was a total shock to all Pokémon fans.

The creature looks like it has the body of a Ditto, yet its distinguishing feature is a nut-shaped head with a dot in the middle - which could be taken as an eye - not unlike that of an Unown. However, upon encounter in the game, the creature was unidentifiable in both name and CP. While the creature could be captured, a successful capture rewarded not the creature, but a Ditto instead. The Ditto connection seems to be furthered in this way, and also because in the Gold and Silver beta, an evolved Ditto form was present.

In an instant, all my Pokémon groups were abuzz with activity. My raid group wondered just how this came to be, while my main series group started rational discussions. The result was some of the conclusions above, as well as other ideas. In any case, the result was surprises all around. No one really knew what to make of it, though some ideas floated about as a result of the discussions. One theory was that this is a placeholder Pokémon just in case things went wrong, and this was a possible error in the game. Personally, I thought that this was a totally new world of Pokémon things.

It seems, however, that this may not be an error after all. As soon as Community Day wrapped up in Europe, the same occurred, and players got another glimpse of the mysterious creature. Later reports also indicated that this may be intentional, in which case the creature is really a new Pokémon. As of today, I can occasionally spot the new creature in the Nearby popup, though I have not re-encountered the creature as it often spawns far away. This too supports the "new world" situation, what with Let's Go games due for release in about two months.

At this point, the "new world" situation makes sense. This is unlike anything that Pokémon fans have seen, even in a spinoff game such as Go. The fact that it's slated to link up with the Let's Go games further indicates something to this effect. Surprises may still be abound as the new games draw near to release, and by then everyone will be fully immersed in this new world of Pokémon.

One year ago: Pikachu with Regional Caps