Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.
After a busy month, it's time for a chilled week without a fully-fledged event to see us through. There is, however, the return of some fan-favourites in the form of Explore, Catch, Battle and Catch Mastery, and an anticipated Spotlight Hour that Medal collectors will want to pay attention to.
So here's a snapshot of everything coming to Pokémon Go in the days ahead, the biggest opportunities available, and a roundup of Pokémon news and site updates you may have missed.
Events in Pokémon Go this week (21st to 27th September)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
If you want to see what's coming for the rest of the month, see this Pokémon Go upcoming events schedule.
What to know about this week
Here's what jumps out to me in the days ahead:
'Choose a Path' returns
As a non-event week, Choose a Path - also known as Explore, Catch, Battle - returns on Wednesday with Choose Your Path: Twilight Trails.
Whether this will play out the same as the likes of Fossil Fun, Charged Embers and Fairy Trail last season - in that it gives you three or six choices - is unknown.
As for why it's a non-event week, it's likely due to the late finish of the 'Pokémon Horizons: The Series Celebration' event on Tuesday, and the various Go City Safari in-person events over the weekend.
And if this Choose a Path event doesn't grab your interest, there's Dynamax Legendaries Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres from Monday, then later in the week, the Thursday Spotlight Hour and Saturday's Catch Mastery event...
A rare opportunity for medal collectors
The Spotlight Hour for Thursday will focus on Rattata. Alongside a 2x Evolution XP bonus, it will also see an "increased chance to encounter XXS Rattata".
With Rattatas spawning en masse for the hour-long event, it should help those who are hoping to finish their Medal collection get one step closer to that elusive Platinum Youngster medal. (And as with all Spotlight Hours, it's a useful way to try and get a shiny or two if you haven't already.)
Even as a day-one player, I'm still 539 short of reaching the 1,000 XXS required - and with Platinum Medals becoming increasingly hard to source as you progress through the level ranks, I'll be there to make the most of it.
One my favourite event types returns
The Catch Mastery event is on Saturday. Designed to test accurate throws, there's an increased shiny chance for Phantump, Cherubi and Drifloon, with Phantump appearing only in Field Research, with the latter two in the wild. There's also free and paid Timed Research (for £2 / $2), plus a 2x XP and "increased Candy" bonus up for grabs for Nice Throws or better.
With its long event hours (10am to 8pm) and focus on exploring (most of the event revolves around collecting Field Research from PokéStops), it's a boon for solo players, or those who want a break from the usual raid meetups.
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Quick note before starting: I had to finalise this newsletter on Thursday, meaning any news from Friday onwards won't make it into this week's edition. Let's hope nothing major breaks in the meantime...
- As heavily teased, October's Community Day is Zorua. Quite an interesting one, this, assuming Zorua will copy your Buddy appearance as usual - meaning you can customise it to get an afternoon of easy Excellent Throws.
- There is, however, no Hisuian Form to encounter, or the Night Daze move, which feel like missed opportunities - unless there's a last minute surprise planned.
Pokémon GO
- This week saw the arrival of the Pokémon 30th Anniversary TCG expansion. Even as a non-TCG collector I was planning on getting involved, but in the end, I couldn't muster the energy to fight off the scalpers.
- If you are collecting, then Kanto Post has a list of the biggest chase cards to keep an eye on - as well as an interesting analysis of pull rates in this particular release:
Callum Self
- In wider Scopely Explore news, Monster Hunter Now has added a new habitat, new monsters, and a 3rd Anniversary event as part of a big Season 11 update.
- If you haven't logged in for a while, it's worth checking in for a free Grade 10 weapon made from Legiana (Ice), Mizutsune (Water), Rathalos (Fire) or Zinogre (Thunder) materials, as well as some Guardian Set armour.
Matthew Reynolds
One More Catch notes
Much of the focus this week was covering new free-to-play game Aniimo, which released mid-week and is coming to mobile devices this coming Wednesday (23rd September).
This is One More Catch's first stab at covering a creature collector that isn't Pokémon in earnest, and if you want something to keep you going until Pokémon Winds and Waves arrives, is well worth a look.
So far, the site focus is on guides (with the expert help of Jessica Orr, a brilliant writer I worked alongside during my Eurogamer days), but I'll see about putting together some wider thoughts on the game in the weeks ahead.
Here's what's been covered so far:
- Aniimo Aniilog (list of all creatures)
- Helion or Lunara starter choice
- Aniimo walkthrough
- Aniimo counters
- Best Prismana Aniimo
- Aniimo Together! web event
- How does Aniimo use AI?
That's the end of this week's newsletter! As usual, we wrap with a reminder that you can subscribe to One More Catch for bonus articles, extra site functionality such as ad-free browsing, and as a way to show your support for the newsletter and site in general.
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Hope you have a great week!
