Third-generation Pokémon fans, your time is now.
Pokémon GO has added over 50 new Pokémon to its roster, all from the Hoenn region (the third generation of Pokémon, featured in the Ruby and Sapphire series of games). That means Pokémon like the starters Torchic, Treecko and Mudkip will be available to catch soon. Also featured in the promotional video released alongside the announcement are powerful Pokémon like Salamence, Aggron, Ludicolo and the legendary Groudon.
Along with the new Pokémon, the update will include a new gameplay wrinkle: dynamic weather. Weather plays a large role in the newer installments of the core Pokémon franchise, and GO seems to be taking its cues from those games. Weather will now affect the appearance rates of certain Pokémon, as in some Pokémon will be more likely to appear if it’s sunny, raining, snowing, etc. On top of that, some Pokémon will get boosts or debuffs in certain kinds of weather—rain will help some Pokémon in battle and hurt others. This means that the seasons themselves will affect your Pokémon GO experience. Does it snow a lot during winter in your hometown? You’re probably going to see a glut of Ice types.
Niantic’s augmented reality game has come a long way since its frenzied beginnings. Initially sparking a huge fad when first released, Pokémon GO was also riddled with server issues and gameplay bugs. Now that it has far fewer frequent players, Niantic has quietly improved the app’s core functionality and tweaked several key aspects of the gameplay itself. And now that they seem to have gotten their foundation stronger, Niantic is ready to take on new challenges, like a complex weather system.
You can watch the promotional video below, and find out more about the update via Niantic here. Pokémon GO is free to download wherever you buy mobile games.