Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.
After last week's quiet spell with mainly 'Choose your Path: Fairy Trail' to keep us occupied, we now have a somewhat busy few days ahead. The big theme is Fire- and Ice-types, with the 'Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers' event seeing a shiny debut and alternating Pokémon in the wild, and a Smoochum and Magby-themed Hatch Day at the weekend.
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 (3rd to 9th August)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
What to know about this week
Here's what jumps out to me in the days ahead:
Two new debuts
For those who want to collect 'em all, there are two new minor debuts this week: Dynamax Magmar (and by association, evolution Dynamax Magmortar) as part of Max Monday, and from Tuesday, shiny Snom (which appears in the week's 'Summer Marathon 2026' Go Pass and 5km Eggs). Speaking of shiny Snom...
What actually matters in the Tuesday event?
The event rolling out on Tuesday, 'Summer Marathon: Arctic Embers', has a variety of components, from alternating wild spawns with a shiny boost through to the aforementioned shiny Snom debut.
But if you don't care for shinies, then the highlights are: a 1/2 Egg Hatch distance bonus by progressing the Go Pass (which can be increased to 1/4 with the Deluxe ticket) and the return of Pikachu wearing a marathon visor (which debuted in the 'Spring Marathon' event earlier this year) in 'Summer Marathon' Timed Research.
One of the best event types returns
- Saturday's 'Fire and Ice Hatch Day', with its longer event hours (11am to 5pm) and focus on spinning PokéStops, is one of my favourite event types. Though the highlighted Pokémon (Smoochum and Magby in 2km Eggs) have evolutions which are strong but not top tier in their respective types, the increased shiny rate means it's worth turning up for.
- In a rare move, there's no paid ticket, with a free Timed Research rewarding an Incubator and XP for taking part. That said, if you want a 1/4 Egg Hatch distance boost, then that's where the Deluxe version of this week's Go Pass comes in.
There's a new monthly Go Pass
Finally, August's Go Pass debuts on Tuesday, which rewards all players with a Latias encounter if you reach the required rank. The Deluxe track, meanwhile, features a Lucky Trinket, which is arguably the least exciting in the roster of Go Pass-exclusive items - but it's worth grabbing if you're in need of turning Lucky with a friend any time soon.
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Here's a roundup of the biggest stories from the week:
- The PC recomp scene has arrived at some classic Pokémon games. An open source project has given Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow a stunning isometric voxel makeover, alongside modern features like high refresh rates and increased game speeds. As reported by Digital Foundry, it's a "complete rewrite of the original game engine that takes a standard first-gen Pokémon ROM as input but uses no Nintendo code whatsoever". One to be seen to be believed:
- For those in the UK, the National Trust Pokémon Go collab has been extended from 6th September to 31st December; it's perfect for Location Background sickos like me who want to squeeze in a few more properties before the year is out.
Matthew Reynolds
- In other UK-specific event news, Pokémon Go's Summer Quest arrived in London this weekend, with both nationwide and local-only Timed Research rolling out to promote it. The Shoreditch-based event returns next weekend (8th and 9th), if you're local and fancied popping along, with the rewards featured in my guide.
Matthew Reynolds
- Elsewhere, Scopely Explore has revealed Pokémon Go Fest: Mega Finale for Saturday, 5th September and Sunday, 6th September. There's not much else to go on, but all signs point to the debut of Mega Greninja, Mega Delphox and Mega Chesnaught over the weekend:
Matthew Reynolds
- Pokémon Pokopia's first DLC, which introduces the Bubbly Basin area and a Dive mechanic, is releasing on 5th August (that's this Wednesday). The next live event - Fetching Scales for Feebas - has also been dated for 13th August. You can see more of the DLC in this extended trailer:
One More Catch notes
Mid-week, I published the latest instalment of Behind the Catch - the quarterly blog with a behind-the-scenes look at how One More Catch is run - where I discussed how the 10th anniversary week went, the process of installing ads on the site, and more. Those who are Great Supporters and higher can have a read:
Matthew Reynolds
I also contributed quotes to two articles discussing Pokémon Go this week: the first a GamesIndustry.biz report on how Pokémon Go has generated its best ever revenue during the 10th anniversary week, according to AppMagic figures...
Sophie McEvoy
...and second, a Kotaku piece about the game's complicated legacy, where I talked about the ways it's become more formulaic and monetised since the Scopely acquisition:
Kenneth Shepard
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, 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!
