‘Pokemon Go’: Exact Release Date Of Generation Two, Starbucks-Pokemon Partnership Revealed?

Some very exciting details about a Starbucks-Pokemon partnership, such as the imminent arrival of a “Pokemon Frappuccino,” have recently been revealed via Reddit along with a precise release date for Pokemon Go’s second generation.

Niantic has really been stepping up its game as far as Pokemon Go is concerned as of late. Just in the past month, Pokemon Go’s Halloween event and Thanksgiving event, along with its additions of more Pokemon spawn locations and daily bonuses have all succeeded in drawing players back to the game. After the app dipped in popularity for a month or two, the changes to Pokemon Go were very much needed, and they have succeeded in making the game feel bigger and better than it once did.

However, Niantic’s tactic of just adding increased numbers of existing elements to Pokemon Go(examples include more Ghastlys, more candies awarded for catches, more experience points awarded for those catches, more items obtained at Pokestops, and more Stardust) can only last so long. Eventually, Pokemon Go fans will need a more distinctive change. We are talking, of course, about the addition of Pokemon’s second generation.

Pokemon Go trainers have been clamoring for the arrival of the 100 new Pokemon initially introduced in 2002’s Pokemon Gold and Silver for quite a while now, and rumors about when we can expect gen two have abounded. There has even been some mention of the gen two Pokemon in Pokemon Go’s code, reports the Inquisitr. It is not until now, though, that we have seen any exact date for generation two’s projected release.

The exciting information comes from a document obtained by a Starbucks employee/self-proclaimed Pokemon megafan and posted on Reddit. Possibly the most interesting part of his post is the photo he took of the document, which is supposedly a Starbucks internal email that the employee somehow got his hands on. The document mentions several Starbucks promotions going on during the months of November and December. The last of the events is the “Launch of Pokeman version 2” on December 7.

First of all, no, “Pokeman” is not a typo. That’s what it says in the memo instead of “Pokemon.” Some commenters on the Reddit post argue this speaks against the document’s credibility, but others say it can probably be attributed to whoever wrote the text not knowing much at all about Pokemon. Besides, the poster obviously knows how “Pokemon” is meant to be spelled, judging by his explanation of the photo. It seems extremely unlikely he would have forged a document and spelled the word wrong on purpose.

Second, you might be asking what exactly “Pokemon version 2” is. The original poster points that the phrase almost certainly refers to Pokemon’s second generation. Mixing up “version two” with “generation two” could, like the “Pokeman” discrepancy, be chalked up to little knowledge about Pokemon.

The document goes on to say that, on December 7, “Starbucks stores will be a part of g… comes into the store: Pokeman Frappuccino (recipe to be communicated).” The photo cuts off some of the document’s text, which is why the sentence cuts off in the middle. It seems it might say, though, that all Pokemon Go players that go to a Starbucks on December 7 will get a free Pokemon Frappuccino, whatever that is.

Last, the post says that Starbucks will become Pokestops during the months following Pokemon Go’s gen two update.

“Lures will be dropped at all SBUX stores that will provide even more direct… January/February.”

It sounds like Starbucks stores, which are already equipped with powerful wifi that will keep people from eating up their data plans, will be a very popular hangout for Pokemon Go players during the next few months.

Unfortunately, the original post on Reddit has been deleted (only the comments remain), but a photo of the leaked document and most of the text from the post can be viewed at iDigitalTimes.

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