‘Pokemon GO’ Valentine’s Day Event: 6 Things You Need To Know
The Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day event is painting the town pink in celebration of the love season. The event is not so big, but it’s pretty exciting, nonetheless. Here are six things you need to know about the event.
- More Candies For Everyone
To make it sweeter this season, Niantic has doubled the amount of candy you get for catching, hatching, and transferring Pokemon. Also according to the Pokemon GO blog, your Buddy will get candies twice as fast as long as it’s in the Valentine’s Day spirit.
- Pink Pokemon Are Appearing Everywhere
Niantic has not detailed all the pink Pokemon appearing in the wild more often, but thanks to Forbes, we have a list of confirmed increased spawns and hatches based on reports. Clefable, Clefairy, Porygon, Exeggcute, and Jigglypuff have all been confirmed to spawn more frequently.
Recent list after first day of event! Chansey/Porygon grind! #PokemonGO @xPuFFinn #TeamInstinct #TeamMystic #teamvalor @HunterMcCowen pic.twitter.com/MN4mchCrf5
— CptGiovanni TL40 (@CptGiovanni) February 9, 2017
There are also ultra-rare Pokemon that are struck by the Valentine bug, namely Chansey, Porygon, and Lickitung. These alone would make it worthwhile to participate in the Pokemon GO event if not for the chance to get more candies.
Wigglytuff, Slowpoke, and Slowbro are expected to participate in the event as well, but they are not confirmed yet. As for the other monsters, we will not likely see the legendary Mew (though one can hope), the region-locked Mr. Mime and the actually purple Ditto.
- Hatch Some Pink Pokemon, Too
The Valentine’s Day event is also the perfect time to walk some miles and hatch some eggs as they are now more likely to hatch into an Igglybuff, Cleffa, and Smoochum. Note that these Pokemon do not have increased spawn rate in the wild.
- Lures Last Way Longer
If you have some stock of lures in your backpack, head on to your nearest Pokestop to maximize its use. Lures now last for six hours contrary to the usual 30 minutes. The map will literally be painted pink with all the lure modules in action.
Checked pokemon go because of the lure modules that last 6 hours pic.twitter.com/nPDiNUOZ54
— Nikka Paola (@salgadonikka) February 9, 2017
- No Generation 2 Update As Of Yet
Some speculate that pink Pokemon from Generation 2 might show up, just like the appearance of baby Pokemon a few months back. However, there are no reports that support this rumor yet. As of now, no other Gen 2 monsters have appeared, much to the chagrin of Pokemon GO users.
- No Other Significant Upgrade
The Inquisitr wrote last week about how the Valentine’s Day event would have been the perfect time to introduce breeding to Pokemon GO. It’s the season of love after all. But sadly, the limited time event has no significant addition to the game.
No female Pokemon have appeared (and consequently, breeding), no trading and no PvP battles. Aside from short-lived improvements in spawn rates, lure duration and candies, there is literally no major reason to open the app again this Valentine’s Day to enjoy anything new.
Granted, this is the perfect opportunity to be one step (or more) closer to completing the Pokedex, but other trainers who have quickly ran out of things to do in Pokemon GO have no reason to participate in the Valentine’s Day event at all.
Even so, Niantic is hoping that the uneventful event will successfully keep the app users busy while waiting for a bigger update – like the arrival of Gen 2 monsters or even the legendary birds.
The Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day event is not ending until 11 a.m. PST on February 15, so there might yet be a surprise for users. Who knows, one of the much-awaited features might arrive quietly like the past updates. The data miners at The Silph Road have even suggested that some hidden features might only be waiting for the Pokemon GO team to flip the switch.
[Featured Image by Pokemon GO]
