‘Pokemon GO’ Valentine’s Day Event Is The Perfect Time To Introduce Breeding

A Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day event is almost upon us, though Niantic has yet to confirm it. It would seem that holding frequent events and promotions is the way to keep the app’s daily users, so we can assume that the developers will not let the upcoming event pass by without having some sort of celebration. But what’s in it for players?

It appears that the most requested feature this season is breeding, aside from the full Generation 2 roster. The feature has been referenced to in several datamine leaks, detailing codes that support the arrival of different Pokemon genders.

Traditional Pokemon titles have had two genders for almost every species, which makes it possible for breeding to occur. There’s really no other use of having a Pokemon for every gender, so the chance is high that along with genders comes breeding.

We already have a male and female Nidoran, but Niantic took it one step further by quietly releasing female Pikachu and Raichu into the wild. There really isn’t any difference between two genders unless the player knows where to look; they are characterized by heart-shaped tails so some players might have unknowingly caught one.

Then, as quiet as they appeared, Niantic removed the female variants. Is this a sign that they are preparing to release different genders at once?

Pokémon Go: Last update lets users know if their Pikachu is female or male.
Male: Straight tail.
Female: Tail in the form of heart. pic.twitter.com/YIJIwos8eR

— AM Droid (@AmdroidLabs) January 20, 2017

Moreover, the latest Pokemon GO APK of the January update already holds debugging tools for Gender and other features that have not yet gone live. According to theThe Silph Road, this is a hint that Niantic is getting them ready for final-stage testing. This could mean that Pokemon genders will be released soon – perhaps on Valentine’s day?

However, there’s no telling how much of the breeding functionalities will be brought over to Pokemon GO should Niantic finally give the go signal. In general, breeding works with a male and female Pokemon of the same species or of the same Egg Group.

Players can also use Ditto to breed with another monster or with a genderless Pokemon, but it cannot breed with another Ditto. There are different types of breeding, such as incense breeding, same gender breeding, and others.

At the very least, we can expect to be able to hatch eggs that come from a male and female Pokemon after a certain amount of time. Then, following Pokemon GO’s system, players have to put the egg in an incubator to hatch it.

While Valentine’s day is the perfect to introduce a male and female Pokemon, there’s some talks about The Pokemon Company asking Niantic to halt releasing updates for a while. The rumors come from the recent release of Pokemon DUEL.

Apparently, The Pokemon Company wants the Pokemon fans to focus their attention on the newly released mobile game instead of a Pokemon GO Valentine’s day gimmick. However, the rumor has no ground, so it’s best taken with a grain of salt.

Attention, #PokemonDuel players! We are working to resolve the technical issues that some players are facing. Thank you for your patience! pic.twitter.com/qqSMZrzPTZ

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) January 30, 2017

Some also think that we won’t be getting any significant update on Valentine’s at all. Niantic has always disappointed players who expected too much (who could forget the uneventful holiday update?), so there’s a really high chance that all we’re getting is an increase in Smoochum’s spawn rate.

Genders, shinies, the other Gen 2 Pokemon and the Gen 1 legendaries, all of which have already been hinted to in the latest APK, would be a nice update and a pretty cool gift to those who won’t be getting any this coming Valentine’s day, but let’s take into account that we’re talking about Niantic.

The company will probably release the much-awaited Pokemon when the fans least expect it, as what they did with Ditto, the Gen 2 baby monsters and other surprise features. Truth be told, no matter how much we speculate or predict, we won’t really know what’s going to happen on the Pokemon GO Valentine’s Day event itself. For all we know, we might only get a greeting from Pikachu.

[Featured Image by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images]