‘Pokemon GO’ Update: Umbreon/Espeon Evo For Valentine’s, Mewtwo Raid For Sept 1?

While Pokemon GO has been somewhat struggling to keep itself relevant after it peaked during its debut, Niantic has been vigilant enough with its updates to keep the popular augmented reality game interesting and fresh for its remaining players. As Valentine’s Day approaches, numerous speculations have begun to emerge, stating that the developer is preparing yet another special in-game event for Pokemon GO. If rumors prove true, there might be even better reveals that would happen in the game within the year.

Pokemon GO has so far held a special event for each major U.S. holiday. There were the highly successful Thanksgiving event, the really cool Halloween event, and even a pretty nifty Christmas promotion. Considering Niantic’s tendency to implement in-game events for every holiday, there is a pretty good chance that the developer would roll out a similar promotion this February 14. While no official details have been released by Niantic about the upcoming Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day event so far, a Slashgear report, citing an unnamed source, stated that the upcoming promotion would be focusing on the introduction of two new Gen 2 Pokemon – Umbreon and Espeon.

Both these monsters evolve from Gen 1 favorite Eevee, and their evolution would depend on Eevee’s happiness as well as the shard that would be utilized for the creature. Both Gen 2 creatures are highly popular with fans of the franchise, especially since both Umbreon and Espeon arguably look the best when it comes to Eevee’s forms.

What really makes Espeon and Umbreon perfect for a Valentine’s Day Pokemon GO event is the fact that both creatures’ evolutions depend largely on Eevee’s in-game Happiness stat. Apart from these, Umbreon, which is heavy on defense, is also arguably one of the best-designed Pokemon in the entire pocket monster lineup. Espeon looks very appropriate for a Valentine’s Day event too, especially with the monster’s pink coat and heavy offensive capabilities. Both Umbreon and Espeon evolve from special items, with the former evolving from a Moon Shard and the latter utilizing a Sun Shard instead.

Apart from the possible introduction of Umbreon and Espeon, rumors are also high that Niantic would roll out Breeding as an update that goes alongside the Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day promotion. Doing this makes perfect sense for the game since Breeding has been an important feature of Pokemon games for decades, especially with regards to some of the most iconic creatures in the Generation 2 lineup.

This is not all, however, as speculations are also high that the first legendary event in the game might happen sometime around September 1. A report from The Daily Star has noted that this particular date is especially pertinent in Pokemon lore since September 1 is when the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo amasses so much power that it becomes a significant threat to the world.

In Pokemon lore, the powerful psychic Pokemon Mewtwo was born on February 6 from the DNA of the legendary creature, Mew. After undergoing horrific experiences during its early life, the powerful DNA-spliced Pokemon eventually became far too powerful, ultimately causing the crisis that was the focus of the events in the franchise’s first film, 1998’s Pokemon: The First Movie.

With this in mind, it appears that September 1 would a perfect date for Niantic to hold a special Pokemon GO event in order for players to get a chance to defeat and/or capture Mewtwo. This particular raid has already been teased by the developer ever since the first trailer for the augmented reality game was revealed. With Gen 2 monsters being introduced in a steady stream and with numerous features such as Breeding finally making it to the game, there seems to be no better time to hold a Mewtwo-themed event than this coming September. After all, the pieces seem to be falling into place.

Pokemon GO might not be as huge as it was during the initial weeks of its release. Despite the significant decrease in its players, however, the augmented reality game still commands a fairly formidable user base, with millions of gamers still actively accessing the game on a daily basis. Just recently, Niantic has revealed that Pokemon GO has reached the $1 billion milestone in terms of in-game revenue. With continuous Holiday-themed events and the introduction of raids, the powerhouse mobile game is sure to get even better.

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