Pokémon Go Community Day, 11/30/2025

Before going on the paths of the future, there is one path left from the past that I haven't dealt with, and that would be Community Day for the previous month. Evidently, it fell once again on the last day of a current season, necessitating a precedence for the latter than the former. Still, it has to be discussed somehow, and now is the best time for it after the seasonal stuff has been put forth (and away). The path for that previous edition may be considered to take Trainers on an avian course of action with amazing force.

That "avian course" certainly refers to the featured Pokémon, which was Pikipek, a bird family from Alola. It has a powerful beak, and true to that, its fully evolved form of Toucannon (after Trumbeak) got the Charged move of Beak Blast, a powerful one for all realms. The main bonus was tripled XP, which some Trainers certainly still need well after the level cap increase last season, but all is fine and good for that. The bonuses of double Candy and Candy XL chance are likewise as useful and necessary if only secondary.

Other changes were still apparent. Lure Modules became one hour in extended length (while Incense remained at three hours). This followed the change instituted last month of having more encounters from them, even if it does meant more of their usage (and spending for them). Then there were the usual photo bombs, extra Special Trade, trade discounts, Field Research tasks, and the paid Special Research (here titled "Pecking Order"). It was also stated that this would be the last time for special seasonal backgrounds for the featured Pokémon, which may or may not have appealed to Trainers all this time.

With that out of the way, now it also has to be said that I also had a bit of an "assistance" for this one, and faithful readers will know what that means, also with the necessary switch to conversation mode for that purpose...

Goh: Oh, you sent Ash to do it, didn't you.

Me: That I did, for certain reasons.

Ash: Pikipek is an neat bird - and so are its evolutions.

Goh: Well, I can see that. Its beak is very showy.

Ash: The Toucannon move is good for that! 

Pikachu: Chu pika pika. ["Beware of the beak."]

Me: You did catch as much as you could, didn't you?

Ash: I did, after I battled Lugia with a few of your other friends and then as I went somewhere else.

Goh: Ooh! Lugia, do tell.

Me: I have something to say about that, but not now.

Ash: And then I evolved as many as you think you'd need for all kinds of things. I think I got them all - even one with a background image.

Me: OK, that's great. I can take it from there.

Goh: So, somewhere else - would this "somewhere else" be a thing of some sort?

Ash: Yeah! It was a little festival of some sort.

Goh: I see. So it's all the usual effort by our friend here.

Me: And I'll have more on that soon - I've got to peck at it, though. 

Goh: Ha!

As Trainers peck away at the continued offerings of Pokémon Go, they'll have to peck away at the same for Community Day. This one seems to be appropriate for just that with the featured species and the associated bonuses, and it might just be appreciable enough so they won't "peck down" others for that purpose and others. 

One year ago: Attraction to Genuine People

Two years ago: Cosplay: G100 Spicy Carnival

Three years ago: Event Types in Café Remix

Four years ago: A Lasting Graffiti

Five years ago: Let's Go (Above and) Beyond

Six years ago: Being a "Love Slave"

Seven years ago: Cosplay: Chibi Daisuki! Japan Fest

Eight years ago: A Beautiful Symphony

The Season of Precious Paths

Many of the end-of-season posts I make have hinted at the theme of the next season, usually at the very end of them, and the one for the previous season was no different. The hinting keywords were "path" and "precious", for they make up the title of this season, "Precious Paths". A lot of things, both figurative and literal, have paths - including tales or stories (which are retroactively relevant) and journeys (which are always relevant for Pokémon matters). If any and all of those are precious - that is, valuable - then this season would have their insights.

The season emblem is one that is quite decorated and neatly colored, with a few ribbons and trinkets as well as lots of blue and yellow with a few accents. It's understandable that this season covers the end-of-year holidays (winter in Northern Hemisphere) to come within this month as well as certain festivities that will come at the tail end of the season, so the design of the emblem makes sense much like as it did for the season that came three years ago (see below). All that remains is making sense of things for Pokémon Go and beyond.

For Pokémon Go, as indicated by the season's teaser video and some relevant and available data, this season will feature a few returning Pokémon in certain forms, and new species and forms alike that at least some Trainers have been waiting for. Even the familiar Pokémon Go Tour, the customary early-year big paid event, has been divulged and is to present a few other valuable things when it happens. All of them may demonstrate their precious quality in some way, and all of them lie along the path of this season for them to deal with. 

Beyond Pokémon Go, it is known that all kinds of paths involve meeting and parting in some way, and it seems that for or on the "precious path" of this season, there have been some indications of meetings and partings. Even so, their nature has not been fully understood in some ways, so making strides on that "path" seems to be necessary in order to understand their nature. Certainly, when their times come, they'll likely be divulged on this blog with a sufficient discussion to go along with that understanding.

Seasons have come and seasons have gone, particularly in the case of Pokémon Go. By the indications of this season, they may all be considered to have their directions and valuable aspects. It may be that many of them are understood and a good number are less so; in that case, this season's titular premise may be the cue to try to establish that understanding, specifically for the happenings of this season, after which they might just be able to be reapplied to the past and future to find out just how precious the paths may be.

One year ago: The Season of Dual Destiny

Two years ago: The Season of Timeless Travels

Three years ago: The Season of Mythical Wishes

Four years ago: The Season of Heritage

Five years ago: The Deactivation of My Regional Figure Group?

Six years ago: All the Missing Pieces

Seven years ago: Let's Go, Pikachu and Let's Go, Eevee Uptake

Eight years ago: Poké-Friends and Gratitude

The Peak of Tales of Transformation

This season in Pokémon Go was billed as a transformative one - more specifically, the most yet as such - and by many accounts (to be detailed shortly), that became rather evident. Yet like all seasons, and specifically ones in Pokémon Go, it has to come to an end at some point, and the end for this one is already here - or rather, it's nearby around this point. With that, it becomes time to wrap up things up, as always with consideration of happenings in both Pokémon Go and just outside of that within Pokémon in general.

As a whole, the Pokémon Go happenings delivered on the transformations pretty well, with the big paid event of the season (Go Wild Area) for adding new Pokémon and forms, as well as the level cap increase for showing differences among Trainers, being the primary drivers. The usual assortment of events throughout the month are par for the course as far as the game and its seasons go, but a great deal of transformations - many as new forms - were evident through them as well. As presented, they make their own stories (tales).

For other, general Pokémon happenings, it may be said that the "seeds" of further dealings  with other transformative tales are being sown. This would include the big new game released during the season's time (Legends: Z-A) as well as games that would appear later on in the next year. Remarkably, a lot of games also did move in sync with Mega Evolution thanks to the former and its inclusion and expansion of the concept.

One implication of this season's title is that every transformation is a story or tale to be told, if the post that marked its beginning hasn't made that clear. Things are always needed for those transformations, and the progression of obtaining those necessary things makes for a great tale, as does the process of having the transformations take place. As fans and Trainers deal with them, they then tell the stories or tales by the related actions.

It may be the end of the Pokémon Go season and its path, but the path of the dealings with Pokémon and its various aspects will certainly continue for the times ahead in that game and other related things. Many fans will certainly consider that as precious and valuable, and that too is a story worth telling in the subsequent season and beyond that.

One year ago: The Peak of Max Out

Two years ago: The Peak of Adventures Abound

Three years ago: The Peak of Light

Four years ago: The Peak of Mischief

Five years ago: The State of Nominations, Part 7

Six years ago: Cosplay: UC Bunkasai

Seven years ago: Local EX Raid (and Rain, Again), 11/30/2018

Eight years ago: Feature Film 20 - "Pokémon The Movie - I Choose You!"

Cosplay: Cosnight @ "It's My Town" Festival 2

Me: And hey, let's close off this month (almost) with a festival!

Ash: This one looks nice.

Goh: Hey, yeah. You know, I recall something like this a couple of years ago.

Me: That would be it. So this would be the follow-up to that.

Goh: Sounds awesome! But it's been a bit of time since that one.

Me: But the essence isn't that different. Except...

Ash: They have one night (day) just for characters! 

Pikachu: Pika chu! ["Very neat!"]

Goh: That's why the "Cosnight" thing.

Me: Sure enough. So, like back then, we have...

Ash: Lots of food in the stands! I got to try a bit - well, since I was hungry too after a few Pokémon battles with friends. 

Goh: I'm intrigued - and I hope you didn't go overboard. 

Ash: Nah, just enough. But a few did taste a little funny.

Me: Oh. I hope you ate a good bit of the food.

Ash: I did. I know you don't like wasting food.

Me: OK, that's fine. So today, we have characters, which means...

Goh: A character parade?

Ash: Yeah! My friend brought my special journey outfit today.

Goh: I hope you did well. 

Ash: Oh, I did great! That's because... I'm a judge for this one!

Pikachu: Pi pika pika! ["So awesome!"]

Goh: Oh wow! That hasn't happened in a long time.

Ash: That's right! It's also for our friend to get a little something out of this one.

Me: Which I really could use right now. Thanks so much for that.

Ash: Anytime! 

Goh: Hey now, so who did you choose to win? 

Ash: I picked one who had a big knife sword. I heard he's a spirit battler. 

Me: Ooh! I like that one too.

Ash: And then I picked a few others to win for a few other categories. Most everyone won something, with the help of the other judge too.

Goh: Well, that's great, and everyone's happy somehow. Especially you two.

Ash: Haha, yeah.

Pikachu: Pika chu. ["Uh-huh."]

Goh: Were there entertainment?

Ash: Just a few singers, a dancer, a magician, and a game.

Goh: Oh, it's all little things.

Ash: All in a few hours too.

Me: Of course, being a night thing. The festival has other things tomorrow, but not for characters.

Goh: Also, it seems our friend stood by his word from last time. I think this is great for both of you, and you made it that way.

Ash: Hey, that's true! It was a really good day (or night) for that.

Me: Well, there you go. So this is "my town", and it's my (our) story to tell.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/29/2024

Two years ago: The State of Nominations, Part 25

Three years ago: The State of Nominations, Part 19

Four years ago: Road of 25th Anniversary: Sparkling Steps

Five years ago: The Catch Cup of GBL

Six years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/29/2019

Seven years ago: Multiple Pathways to Evolution?

Eight years ago: The Words of a Pikachu

Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/28/2025

It's almost the end of the month, so I've got to deal with the rollup for events in Pokémon Go during that time - moreover since many of the past ones have been on this day. This one also becomes the final one of this season that has been billed as one that is quite transformative. For this month, it seems appropriate that the events for it represent a "tour de force" of transformation as the last batch of events for the season with all their manifestations.

While still within the confines of an event that started last month, November 1 played host to a Max Battle Day for Gigantamax Garbodor with all the usual perks (more Max Particles from Power Spots and walking, more of its appearances in Power Spots, a lead-up Timed Research from the start of the week, and an extra paid ticket among others) along with a Special Trade bonus. With the way that the Pokémon form is, it was a scary good addition (or adjunct) to the scary things that were put in place last month.

Moving into the heart of the "tour", the Enchanted Hollow became present from November 4 to 9. The event was the debut of the Tarountula family, one of the Bug type; naturally, there were also more Bug types (and other "forested" species) in the wild, raids, Field Research, and even Mossy Lure Module encounters, also for the new species. Paras and Stantler had Shiny boosts, and PokéStop XP and Lure Module lengths were doubled. Collection Challenges gave an impetus for the event, further for the debuting species, and the paid ticket with its Timed Research gave more encounters and a spread of beneficial items. As the event started, PokéStops became decorated with a soft forest glow, and this continued into the next event, as this event is also in some ways the complementary event for the "Live" edition of Go Wild Area that took place over the weekend of the event.

For the Global edition, the accompanying event was Into the Wild from November 10 to 14. This event featured Pokémon of the Fairy and Dark types in the wild, Field Research (amidst item rewards) and Power Spots (plus Dynamax Toxtricity), while there were bright and dark raid bosses throughout the week with Raid Hours in each day. The captured raid bosses could also have a special background, the same as would be for Cresselia and Darkrai in the big event itself. Remote raid limits were increased during the week and lifted in the weekend, while Frustration could be removed with a Charged TM. The event's Go Pass, also serving as the one for the big event, had the expected item rewards plus new avatar items and the Silver Bottle Cap for those who paid for its Deluxe track. Other paid novelties of the event were other avatar items and a ticket with a Timed Research with premium bonuses of lightness and darkness.

After a little bit of a break from Go Wild Area, Trainers needed to keep their spirits up with the High Voltage event from November 18 to 22. This event focused on the debut of Shiny Morpeko, which could be obtained from various ways throughout the event. In line with the event's title, Electric-type Pokémon were found in the wild (and Field Research), though Emolga, Dedenne, and Togedemaru also had partial focus with increased Shiny chances, augmented by bonuses of double XP for good captures and double Stardust for all captures. A Collection Challenge upped the ante for capturing, and the paid Timed Research had supreme bonuses. Some Trainers might have been totally "electrified" during this event.

Keeping things going in the weekend as the final days of the above event was a Dynamax Eevee Max Battle Weekend from November 21 to 24. Similar to this month's earlier Max Battle Day, Eevee appeared in more Power Spots and more frequently, and more Max Particles from Power Spots could be earned. Eevee (regular) also appeared in the wild and two Collection Challenges got Trainers going to battle the Pokémon and evolve it as necessary. Though the Pokémon may not see much use, its appeal is still very nice.

The big finale of the month and season is the Final Justice event that started on November 25 and will end on November 30. That "final justice" involves the debut of Resolute Form for Keldeo, an opportunity to get Shiny Keldeo by purchasing a new Masterwork Research, and uniting it with the three "musketeers" in raids, for which an extra free raid pass each day is at hand. Complementing all of these are species of the Fighting and Water types in the wild, other raids, and Field Research task encounters. Collection Challenges involve collecting triads and the paid ticket furnishes other premium bonus items that really might help in delivering the "final justice" with the Pokémon.

Over the past three months, the transformations in Pokémon Go have really become evident, but especially so with the above "tour de force" involving this season's big paid event, a couple of interesting Max forms, some Shiny additions, and a fascinating combative change of form. In the final moments of that "tour", some added transformations may still be in order to keep things going within the season and even beyond into the next one.

One year ago: Gobbling Down and Quacking Up

Two years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/28/2023

Three years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/28/2022

Four years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/28/2021

Five years ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/28/2020

Six years ago: Keeping Gratitude in Mind

Seven years ago: Sinnoh Stone: Agglomerating Evolution

Eight years ago: Journeys and Adventures

Thanks for the Memories

Today happens to be the fourth Thursday of November, which means that for those who are familiar with Americana, today would be Thanksgiving. As in past years (this would be the one for last year), I'm interested in taking the spirits that pertain to the day and discussing it along with Pokémon, usually involving a theme of some kind. Thankfulness is a given, of course, with it having been discussed when the occasion first came up, but other things may have to do with sentiments that are at hand for this particular day.

For this year, those sentiments pertain to memories and being thankful for them. Some rock music aficionados will surely recognize the sentiments as being cited in a particular song, but I'm not too familiar with it, so I'm not going to deal with it. Overall, however, the sentiments present a nice idea, and they are quite fitting to be discussed on this very day, moreover to be linked with Pokémon as the central and overarching theme.

All fans have their own memories associated with Pokémon, and so do I. Some of the ones that pertain to me have been discussed in the "Memories of..." series of posts on this blog. Then, there are various others that are strewn across the posts of this blog in some way, shape, or form. (Even this entire blog could be construed as a single one.) It is certain that fans have to be thankful for all of that, and that includes I myself personally.

Memories can also involve people who are connected with them, and in the case of Pokémon fans like me, the people might be in connection to how Pokémon things or the memories that are linked to them are furnished. I too have some people who qualify in this way, including a kind-of special person... but I'll deal with this one when it's pertinent.

It's a matter of fact that thankfulness or gratitude is necessitated for all things in life and even beyond this particular day. Yet some of those feelings remain strong for this particular day, including for the current sentiments in relation to memories. Given Pokémon as an associated topic, it's a great thing to be thankful for it and all the related memories.

Whatever memories are associated with Pokémon for me and my fellow fans, remembering and being thankful for them is also important in the grand scheme of things. On that note, I wish a Happy Thanksgiving for those celebrating, perhaps also with Pokémon.

One year ago: The State of Nominations, Part 31

Two years ago: NYT Games, Pokémon Editions?

Three years ago: Pokémon Loot from ChibiCon

Four years ago: The State of Nominations, Part 13

Five years ago: Go Onwards to Home

Six years ago: Herding the Last: Wooloo Sticker

Seven years ago: Poké-Pareidolia

Eight years ago: The Pacing of Types

The State of Nominations, Part 37

Another two months have come and gone, and it becomes time to update my progress on nominating PokéStops. As always, the November edition is by nature the last one of the year since in two months it'll be the next year, and more things (and nominations) will happen then. But for the "now", there are a few things to be gleaned from the updates to the nominations that have been made and what they (may) mean for the ones to be made in the future.

The numbers are always a good way to begin and illustrative of the situation. The nominations that became Accepted are now at 191, an increase of 8. However, so did the Not Accepted nominations, increasing by 2 to 69. At present, I also have no new nominations in line (whether In Queue or In Voting) nor in the Appeal process. Meanwhile, the Accepted ones have been realized as both PokéStops and Power Spots, fulfilling their intended objectives.

What can be seen is that the nomination process in recent times has gone a lot faster, where in the past it tended to leave "backlogs". As such, it may be that sometimes I may not need to update the status of the nominations in line unless they happen to be there - as in, they were put into the system within a few days (or even mere moments) of making this update post. That, in a way, streamlines the process (or did so) on both sides.

Recent rejections also highlight (also in a way, remind) that it may be of better interest to me to repeat the process of nominating a waypoint - that is, making a re-nomination - in certain circumstances, rather than risking a wasted Appeal in the process. After all, I can make many more nominations in a single day, more so than an Appeal, which only comes about once every month. The task now may be to create an inventory for these nominations.

Over this past year, the nomination process can be described as having taken place rather swimmingly with many more nominations becoming Accepted and fulfilling the two roles of PokéStops and Power Spots, which definitely should make a difference. With that, my next efforts may just have to involve applying little differences to the nominations to come and ensure that they result in big differences across the world of Pokémon Go for everyone.

One year ago: Profs and Comrades: Professor Willow

Two years ago: Cosplay: We Are More Project

Three years ago: Cosplay: Loading Costume Party

Four years ago: The Joys and Sorrows of "Stealing the Lords"

Five years ago: Simply, Thanks

Six years ago: Going Deeper into Team GO Rocket

Seven years ago: Individual Appearance Variations Among Pokémon Species

Eight years ago: Popularity