Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 1/24/2019

After having played Pokémon Go quite a bit over this month, I've been able to determine something about the past few events that have occurred: they're somewhat regressive yet strangely progressive. It's like what happened last year for April Fools, only less jocular and more substantial, plus contextually relevant to the game. So now it's time to recap what has happened in that regard with this month's edition of the event rollup.

Earlier in the first half of this month, there was an event called the Hatchathon. The Egg surprises from December's Holiday Event were effectively continued with this, which becomes the "regressive" part. The "progressive" part is that the Candies and Stardust obtained through hatching Eggs were doubled, which should have resulted in possible future interesting Pokémon candidates. I gained a maximum-CP Budew and Azurill along with the event, while others got different ones, like a much-celebrated Shiny Azurill. Given the bonuses, it definitely made a good start to the year, no matter what got hatched.

In the second half of the month, there is the Hoenn Celebration, which still continues today up until the middle of next week, closing up the month. With this event, third-generation Pokémon takes over appearances (as a bit of a regression from the recent fourth generation), and this is also complemented by event-specific Field Research tasks, Shiny forms for Zigzagoon and Taillow, and the move Grass Knot exclusively for Breloom. Further, to the joy of my raid group, Kyogre and Groudon returned as Level 5 raid bosses, and both could be Shiny as well. This also becomes the first time since last year that I'm able to raid Groudon, though by now I haven't encountered its Shiny form; others in my raid group have been more lucky, though it is still rather hard. The last few days of the event may hold some surprisingly progressive opportunities.

As part of the Hoenn Celebration, a few days ago, a new one-day event called Limited Research was held. This was the thing I hinted about a few days ago while reviewing an exhibition. The scheduling and timeframe was much like Community Day, and my area got Sunday, the same day as the exhibition. Over three hours, all PokéStops featured tasks that rewarded a specific Pokémon, which in this case was Feebas - plus its Shiny form; in that way, it was reminiscent of the Squirtle Community Day last year. Though my efforts were limited due to the exhibition, I still found it neat; it's a totally new paradigm and it can stand to be repeated differently in the future. I'm already looking forward to it.

I suppose it's OK to regress a bit in order to progress, and these events in this month seem to allow well for that. They bring back elements of the past to move forward on the future path. It is perhaps just what those playing Go need right now, like myself. What might develop in the future might just result from what happened recently, and at that point, there may be yet another opportunity to recollect from way back when, even today. It does seem like it can and could go both ways.

One year ago: Local Ex-Raid (and More), 1/24/2018
Two years ago: Electricity: Harness, Don't Exploit