Like in previous years, the events (in the month) after a successful run of Pokémon Go Fest, including whatever editions of it there may be, comprise rewards for a great job in Pokémon Go Fest, accomplished through completing the Global Challenges at that time. In normal years, they would be called Ultra Bonuses, but with the world today, as with last year, they're called Ultra Unlocks. This time, those Ultra Unlocks are divided into roughly two-week periods, and they started around a week after the conclusion of this year's Pokémon Go Fest. As such, the first part and sub-event is the consequential event that I held off on discussing last month so I could put together this month's rollup as the "Ultra Unlock edition".
This year's Ultra Unlocks also have a running story, one that continues from Pokémon Go Fest itself. At that time, over the course of the latter half of the two-day festivities, a certain "lord of the rings" made itself evident, which would be none other than Hoopa, a Mythical Pokémon that can summon Pokémon - including but not limited to wondrous Legendary Pokémon - by putting up rings that allow the Pokémon to traverse space and time, including in the case of the event by bringing in Legendary Pokémon into raids. The antics of Hoopa continued into the Ultra Unlocks, and all sorts of Pokémon have been brought in as a result, including some that are way ahead of their time as far as Pokémon Go is concerned. Unown U was and is also regularly featured in Level 1 raids throughout.
The first Ultra Unlock from July 23 to August 6 involved the concept of "time", and Dialga is naturally a fodder for this one, appearing in Level 5 Legendary raids. Apart from Dialga, other Pokémon involved during this sub-event were of different times, and that meant a lot of things. There were fossil Pokémon - the likes of Omanyte and Kabuto, with Cranidos and Shieldon getting their Shiny forms; they also appeared in 7 km Eggs. There were "ancient" Pokémon like Baltoy and Bronzor, with some appearing in the wild and in raids. There were also certain Pokémon that cross generations like Magnemite and Porygon, and they too appeared in the wild and raids. Field Research and Timed Research complemented efforts to seek many of these Pokémon. All told, it was a total time fest served up with Hoopa.
In the second Ultra Unlock from August 6 to August 20, "space" as the complementary concept became the theme. Many of the stars of this sub-event were regional Pokémon in Pokémon Go, notably Heracross and Kangaskhan that appeared in Level 3 raids and could be Shiny. Other regional Pokémon that were involved were Shellos with its East Sea and West Sea forms, Basculin with its Red Stripe and Blue Stripe forms, and the rivals Heatmor and Durant temporarily appearing outside their respective regions, with Shellos in particular also featured in raids and two Spotlight Hour editions for each form, Basculin present in the wild, and all of these as possible Egg fodder. Needless to say, Palkia was the stuff of Legendary raids, and Field Research and Timed Research assisted things throughout for this space fest.
As for the final Ultra Unlock from August 20 up to the end of this month, that's a total curveball: the theme is Sword and Shield and the Galar region. A select number of species from the region (Skwovet, Wooloo, and Falinks, as well as the "box legends" of Zacian and Zamazenta in their Hero form) has been introduced. The first three are available in the wild and from Research - Falinks was slated for raids as well, but it was cut from there due to a bug - and the Legendary Pokémon are available in Level 5 raids, certainly, with Zacian from a week ago and Zamazenta from yesterday onwards. The sub-event also marks the introduction of more Shiny Galarian Forms - that of Meowth, Farfetch'd, and Weezing, in staggered Level 3 raids - and all the forms are available from 7 km Eggs. Everything about this is so new, in fact, that new stickers and clothing items became available and the sky turned dingy gray again with the characteristic Hoopa rings, obviously as a sign of its further antics.
The running story for this year's Ultra Unlocks has been a wild one, with a single culprit that contorted time and space, and even a "super future" of Pokémon Go that now makes up the present of Pokémon. Regardless, it is also the present of Pokémon Go, at least in partial for the time being. Hoopa also seems to need time before showing up to be addressed for capture. But that would be a time well-spent before that happens in the space of Pokémon Go, which has been even the case for this year's preceding Pokémon Go Fest that allowed things to happen.
One year ago: Road to the 25th Anniversary
Two years ago: Blogging on Blogs: The Pokémon Go Official Blog
Three years ago: My Pokémon Groups on Facebook
Four years ago: In-Town vs. Out-of-Town Events
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