Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 2/19/2019

Today is what some people would call the Lantern Festival. It's an equally festive celebration as the Lunar New Year, and is in fact part of that celebration. It reminds me that I've still got a few events to discuss in Pokémon Go, one of which is related to this context. There are also a couple other ones that are worth mentioning and have significant effects and results.

The first one is of course the Lunar New Year event, which was held for one week from the date of the occasion, February 5. This year, the event featured 12 Pokémon that all represent the beings of the Eastern zodiac. Since this new year is the Year of the Pig, the focus was on the Pig zodiac, represented by Spoink; it appeared more frequently and came with its Shiny form. This was a great thing for some people but not for others; I'm one of those who didn't get its Shiny form, while others got it at the last minute. Either way, this event is somewhat appreciated for allowing to fill up the Candy stock of the featured Pokémon.

Then there's a remarkable one. Meltan, the newest of all currently existing Pokémon, now has a Shiny form through an event that will last up until early next month. Meltan that are unleashed by way of opening the Mystery Box may have the chance to be Shiny, and the time between successive openings of the Mystery Box is reduced, allowing more Meltan to be caught in fewer days. I was fortunate that I caught up with the raid fellow who furnished the Mystery Box a few days ago, and out of that, I caught one Shiny Meltan. I'm satisfied, but I still have to have the Mystery Box re-furnished to catch more Meltan; it takes a whole lot of Candies to evolve any Meltan after all.

The week before Community Day, there was a special event celebrating friendships over the weekend. It was appropriately called the Friend Weekend. Over the course of three days, friendship progress was doubled; in other words, interactions that happened during that period were counted as two days instead of one. The Stardust cost for trading was also halved, making it especially lucrative. I used the opportunity to elevate a few long-standing friends to Ultra level as well as to get ahead on other friends' levels, not to mention trade away a few Pokémon that really needed to go, and many of my friends did the same. It's safe to say that everyone really benefited from this event.

With the Lantern Festival, the celebrations for the Lunar New Year are coming to a close. But I'd like to think that with Pokémon, the celebration is always on. That's what Go really did with the events that have been on tap recently. They've been all reasons to celebrate, even if certain people don't. I'm sure everyone playing Go will be in for some more celebrations sooner or later.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Team Leader Stickers
Two years ago: Let's Get Ready to Rumble