Saturday, July 11, 2026

Pokémon Go Fest 2026 (Global), Day 1

The time has come to explain about the Global edition of Pokémon Go Fest, which as I've previewed will take place today and tomorrow. It also will deal with how I took care of things today, but that's for later. Right now, I can also say that a lot of the gameplay aspects will be quite similar as they will be quite different, so I'm going to run with that theme over these two days. Then, there's the theme of "all aces awakening" as previewed, and that also needs to be dealt with to see how it actually manifests.

So, the true "ace" boss of this year is that supreme Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon, which would be the one and only Mewtwo. It becomes even more of an "ace" in that this year's festivities - first in the earlier regional editions for select Trainers and now in the Global edition for everyone - serves as a debut of its Mega Evolution forms, both X and Y. Today for the Global edition, there is the X form awaiting in Super Mega Raid format that requires at least 10 Trainers with Mega-Evolved Pokémon to break its shield and become real "aces".

As for other "ace" bosses, they are also present in raids, being Legendary and certain Mythical Pokémon of various types, along with a selection of regular Mega raids. In fact, they're structured according to type and habitats as with past editions of Go Fest: today, there are three such habitats with type representations (Stormfire Peaks - Ice, Electric, Fire; Astral Tides - Ghost, Psychic, Water; Dragonflight Summit - Dragon, Flying, Rock) spanning an hour for each represented type, which explains why the event hours for this edition are from 10 AM to 7 PM. Tomorrow will be similar in many ways regarding this, but I'm getting ahead of myself; there will be more on this and other similarities and differences when that day comes.

Outside of raids, during each hour for each type, Pokémon of those types appear, which can be caught to elevate the rank of the Go Pass from its accompanying event (to be detailed later) by hourly tasks. There are also the Kanto first partners with Pikachu visors, as well as Pikachu with team caps, the latter also found by photo bombs and through the Go Pass. By activating Incense, Unown of all forms can also appear and be caught, as well as the regional species of Bouffalant and Tropius; the latter two also appear in 10 km Eggs along with a few other strong and rare species. They become additional "aces" for collection and other purposes.

Research is always involved, certainly. Field tasks reward niceties for Mewtwo (extra Mega Energy) and a few encounters with other Pokémon, while a Timed set is dedicated to pursuing Mewtwo and one of its Mega-Evolved forms; a Special set, meanwhile, is dedicated to the pursuit of Zeraora, a Mythical Pokémon from Alola, which also makes its debut alongside the Mega Evolution of Mewtwo as the above. It's not a "Masterwork" set unlike most other Mythical Pokémon that debut in this manner, but it still does take some effort to complete - although as always, since it's not Timed, there is a lot more freedom to complete it.

For my case today, I spent the morning mostly raiding for Mewtwo; in the gaps between the raids, I also took care of Research tasks as per the above, knowing that it's also better to get them done and keep me stimulated. This took place locally - as much as it pains me - in part for other goings-on that took place after the raids and more; for that I also sent someone near and dear to me, if only to make things right.

Me: Isn't that right?

Ash: I love the Kanto theme of this one! And Mewtwo too.

Goh: I do too. OK, so you've got Ash, so there must definitely be something.

Ash: Uh-huh, and it's all the same, but it's always great!

Pikachu: Pika! ["Yup!"]

Goh: I'll betcha we'll all deal with this after Go Fest ends.

Me: Sure. It's a big thing, especially now.

It can be said that this edition of Pokémon Go is the biggest and most important yet, and I've actually yet to cover all of its points. Fortunately, as with every year, this one is a two-day event, and the rest of the points - along with more (and evident) similarities and differences - will be covered along with a note of my experience. This first day is only the start of the true "awakening", and things will surely rise after.

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Friday, July 10, 2026

(Re)visiting Community Ambassador Standards

Having discussed some problems that Trainers may have that may cause them to drop playing Pokémon Go, it becomes apparent that the social aspect is very important for the game. It is rightfully important, especially with the establishment of communities and the Community Ambassadors who lead them. With that, it seems pertinent to go over and discuss the standards for what a Community Ambassador should be, according to the game; it could very well serve as a reminder for current and would-be Community Ambassadors for the game. The information is based on the Community page on the official site, making it authoritative.

The game looks for people who have passion (certainly in part for Pokémon) in order to bring people together day in and day out. It's certainly a lot of hard work to do that, and the work is harder knowing that it's also just as easy to alienate certain people based on what's happening in a community. Since people are all different - in the same way that Pokémon species are - diversity becomes an important aspect, and the game wants a representation that is as broad as possible among all kinds of identifiers; that is as noble as collecting Pokémon of all kinds.

Perhaps the most important standards are professionalism and positivity. Being professional means having good character as well as good behavior when dealing with others - which would mean being open to their views and what they have to say. Being positive is requisite for a great community that one can stand to be with and allowing feedback, even critical ones, to come through without being repressed by threat or violence - making it essential for those in a community to "look on the bright side" for all sides of things involving Pokémon Go.

Not far behind, then, would be the standards of safety and integrity. The physical and digital spaces have to be family-friendly and allow people 13 years and up to join publicly, with no threats to security of presence and/or well-being - which is in line with the general principle for Pokémon itself. Integrity means not using certain tools or approaches that make playing Pokémon Go seem unfair, but also not bringing them up in discussion so that others aren't tempted to use them. Community Ambassadors then would need to moderate in this regard.

With all of that explained, Community Ambassadors are the key to keeping things going in their communities as well as those who play Pokémon Go. Any fault with them, their relations, and their communities then would lie in the above standards not being met for themselves as well as how they deal with the game and others. The standards may then be regarded as critical in solving and/or preventing problems for people who continue to play Pokémon Go.

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Thursday, July 9, 2026

Letting Go of Pokémon Go?

Some years ago, I wrote about the elements that keep me attracted to play Pokémon Go, and those elements I can still say to remain true to this very day. This time, however, I want to "flip the script" a little bit: I want to talk about elements that deter some players from playing said game (or more precisely, warrant them to let go of playing if they already are). It's a situation that would be regrettable, so for this discussion, I'd like to buffer that up a little bit with some possible solutions or alternatives to mitigate them.

Many players (Trainers) whom I've met and know to have played the game but no longer have said that other responsibilities - Pokémon or otherwise - have gotten in their way of playing the game. And that's understandable, since many of the things in the game do take time and effort to develop and they might not be able to devote that. At the same time, it also seems fair to say that they don't have to devote all of that right away, and they can sneak in time and effort whenever possible, allowing them to still play.

Then, it may be that the people they play with have become "pushy" or toxic in their play behaviors, for which I surmise that a lot of those playing right now share the same sentiment, whether or not they've actually let go of playing the game. The obvious way of mitigating this is to find new people to play with or to play alone sometimes, even if either or both of these may not be viable at times due to the way that the game is dependent on social relations. At least, feelings are allowed to heal within that time.

Yet other players (Trainers) find themselves - or are themselves set - in rural areas with fewer people who may or may not play the game, and traveling to more populated areas may or may not be an option. It may actually be worth it to take one or several days off in this case, as is using Campfire and Wayfarer to try to develop the playability of the area - "build it and they will come", as a certain imaginative work would suggest. If things do develop, it might just be possible to continue play on a more regular basis.

Certainly, there could be many more reasons that players (Trainers) let go of playing Pokémon Go beyond and in addition to the ones I've explained above. The point is that it is apparent that many factors can and do cause them to let go of Pokémon Go, even with all the value that it has for enjoying Pokémon. It's just something that players have to understand for others and themselves, and then to be able to mitigate that with whatever they can muster in order to keep them immersed in the game and not out of it.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Card Completion Bonuses in TCGP

With the release of the most recent expansions for TCGP, both major and minor, there has also been something new to make collecting their cards much more exciting and rewarding. As indicated by the title of this post, that would be bonuses for collecting the cards in those expansions and furthermore completing them. They would definitely be attractive to the players of the game, and even more so to be discussed regarding their particulars.

The bonuses can be classified as "row bonuses" and "group bonuses". "Row bonuses" are given out for a block of five cards in numbered or overnumbered sequence (also because they appear in rows that amount to that in view modes), and group bonuses are given out for a block of cards of certain relationships, which may be few or many depending on the relationship. As newly obtained cards fill in the list, the bonuses are then awarded.

Now, it wouldn't be a bonus if they didn't award something, and they do. The "row bonuses" award Wonder Hourglasses at a rate of two per complete row; it's not much, but it can lead to many if many rows are involved - which is always the case for expansions. The "group bonuses" meanwhile award Trade Hourglasses that may be useful for future trading of the cards in concern with those who may need it. Either way, they can be very useful.

Just in case it's not clear, these bonuses only apply to the most recent expansions (Pulsing Aura and onwards). They don't apply to older expansions of either Series B or Series A, which may be a good thing in order that longtime players don't have an additional advantage conferred to them from the older expansions. For the newer ones, the card completion bonuses then become a defining part in the efforts to obtain new cards for play.

Going through packs for newer TCGP expansions have sometimes proven to take a lot of effort, sometimes with little in return. The new card completion bonuses can then be considered a way of rectifying that, at least in certain ways to give a bit of return. It still takes some effort to go through them for the cards, but now there is an apparent excitement and reward for them that will hopefully keep players going through the new stuff.

Five years ago: Every Word Is a Prayer
Six years ago: Dream of Pokémon Life
Nine years ago: Pursuing Shiny?
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Tuesday, July 7, 2026

TCGP: A Special Wonder for Everyday

No, this post does not have anything to do with ice cream or promotions for it. But this post does have a lot to do with the Pokémon TCG - specifically its Pocket implementation. Even so, there is the possibility that ice cream could be very well appreciated by the entities involved in this month's new expansion for the game. And it does have something to do with the premise that the new expansion presents, which is "Everyday Wonders" - exactly titled that.

This new expansion is dubbed a Themed Booster Pack and can thus be considered as a way of tiding things over to the next big one. True to that, it has 106 cards total: 69 in the numbered section and 37 in the overnumbered section. Of the 63 Pokémon that are represented in the numbered section, they're mostly Pokémon that are cute or uniquely designed in their bodies, all of which can make great friends for common days... hence the theme of this expansion.

Meanwhile, the rest of the numbered section are composed of 2 Pokémon Tool cards, 3 Supporter cards, and 1 Stadium card. There are no Item cards in this expansion, which could seem a bit strange, but Item cards from prior expansions may still cover most of the common ("everyday") battle needs involving the Pokémon here. And of course, the new Trainer cards can put their own twists on the battle - two of them, in fact, concern Pokémon Tool usage.

Wonders - especially beyond everyday ones - certainly lie in that overnumbered section, which for this one is just a little more than half the cards in the numbered section, becoming a little more significant. As usual, there are full art versions of some notable species in this expansion, including the Dedenne "immersive", and the Shiny highlights are fascinating as well. Such wonders will certainly fall upon those who are fortunate in opening these packs.

Sometimes, the best and even worst of days need a bit of a wonder power, and Pokémon has been known to be able to furnish that in all of its different ways. TCGP then can become something a little different in that regard, and the newly included Themed Booster Pack for this month exemplifies what (species) it might take for that to happen. Going back to ice cream, that makes for a wondrous moment - and so too can Pokémon in at least some way.

Five years ago: Go Fest Gets Musical
Six years ago: Everyone's Go Fest
Seven years ago: Cosplay: Konbini Anime
Nine years ago: Shiny Stories
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Monday, July 6, 2026

Pokémon Go 10th Anniversary

After having mentioned it in the season opener and a few times in other posts but not directly, the day has finally come for it as well as the discussion regarding it. So, this year marks a big anniversary for Pokémon Go, being its tenth - the first with double digits. This one is a big one because it's the consummate peak of all that has gone on with the game and in going out for it, literally and figuratively. For that, I thought about taking the "going (all) out" theme that I previously used for Halloween some years ago and applying it to this anniversary. 

Now, the game has made a name for itself in allowing players (Trainers) to go places with their Pokémon, early on with PokéStops and Gyms and later with events in certain places as well as new elements of Power Spots and Routes. The addition of Gifts, stickers, backgrounds, photo opportunities, and more make each visited place even more memorable, both among Trainers and the Pokémon they have - which I'll get to soon enough. It can be seen that the efforts made for this purpose have been extremely great, which makes it a way of going all out.

Then, there are the Pokémon. They went from one generation, to two, to several - and now it's approaching total parity with almost all currently available species from those generations, with a handful left over for certain purposes. They went into Gym battles, raids, Trainer battles, and somewhat more recently Max Battles, in particular establishing a competitive domain with the third of these. Everyone had to go all out for these, from their shaky and difficult initial implementations to their refined and more accessible current forms as of today.

Of course, with a great anniversary peak comes a great celebratory peak - and in fact, that peak came today with the peak of its anniversary event, which might be considered to have the "go all out" elements of the above. Then, because Pokémon Go Fest (the Global edition, as previewed) is this weekend, that may be considered as the extension of that "peak" and the continuation of the celebration. All Trainers will still need to give it their all for the stretch of the weekend, not to mention to satisfy the "going out" part, which might occur in many ways.

In the ten years that Pokémon Go has existed, it has become a real breakthrough for the franchise in many ways, delivering its first truly mobile experience and paving a path beyond the main series games that it's so traditionally associated with. The progenitors, developers then and now, and the continually reforming player base all have a stake in going (all) out in this regard, and that has been amazing in the game's single-digit life. In the double-digit life, there may just be a lot of the same (or different) efforts they'll contend with.

Happy 10th anniversary to Pokémon Go.

Two years ago: Pokémon Go 8th Anniversary 
Three years ago: Pokémon Go 7th Anniversary 
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Sunday, July 5, 2026

Pokémon Go Community Day, 7/4/2026 "On the Fourth of July"

So, what took place the other day on the same day is none other than Community Day for Pokémon Go, which makes it the first time on record that Community Day has ever fallen on such a momentous occasion - and the momentous of moments, at that. Now, the clues for the particular species involved in this specific edition were also delivered yesterday along with the commemoration: the Pokémon is watery, it's even blue, and it has the National Dex number of 816 - the watery part is even literal as stated.

That Pokémon would be the one and only Sobble, who can be a total crybaby if not managed properly - as some Trainers can attest. It evolves twice, first to Drizzile and then Inteleon; as it's a first partner or starter, it no doubt got the Hydro Cannon move for this edition. Like Grookey or Scorbunny (the other two from Galar) from earlier this year, there was also a secondary "signature move" involved - Snipe Shot - which may become an alternative for some Inteleon that are already in the evolutionary form.

Meanwhile, the main bonus was quartered Egg hatch distance, the same as Scorbunny and another opportunity to get Eggs hatched. Then there was the usual cavalcade of bonuses: double Candy and Candy XL chance, three-hour Incense and one-hour Lure Modules (with more appearances), trade discounts and extra Special Trades, photo bombs, special backgrounds, and Research - Field, Timed (from community meetups), and the paid Special set, this time titled "Waterworks" for all that may be sprayed from eyes or otherwise.

For this occasion, as has been mostly the case since some time ago, it was another trip for me to the faraway community, also to deal with other things. I caught a whole lot of Sobble to gain its resources as well as a few of the Shiny form and/or ones with backgrounds, especially to evolve certain ones for primarily PvP purposes with the special move. Other than that, it was mostly to have a good time with them... though I did miss out on a giveaway that now in hindsight may not have mattered much.

With the way that the "basic form" of this family is, there might seem to be one thing or another for it to cry over. Yet once the little guy evolves to the big guy, it can do some real sharpshooting, and that might involve shooting what caused the "waterworks". Or, on the special day for Americans, more "fire" than "water" may be involved, and that becomes a sight to see. In any case, this watery Community Day was not one to be cried over and one to be celebrated - on or off the special day it was on.

Three years ago: Is Pokémon Second-Rate?
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