Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the week ahead in Pokémon Go.
It's another eventless week, but apparently Niantic has plans to address that, possibly as soon as Tuesday. But what we do know 'sow' far is there's a Lechonk Community Day on Saturday, a couple of interesting returning Pokémon in raids, and an opportunity for easy bonus PokéCoins with the debut of the May Go Pass.
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 (4th to 10th May)
All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.
What to focus on this week
Here's the biggest opportunities to look out for:
Highlight of the week...
Lechonk sees a Community Day on Saturday, which means boosted spawns during event hours (2pm to 5pm, with extra spawns appearing at Lure Modules until 9pm) with an increased chance of finding a shiny. This is useful, as not only does Lechonk have an excellent shiny - turning it into a pink pig - but evolution Oinkologne has two different versions based on its gender. So for collectors, you'll want to get a shiny male and female on the day, and evolve both, to get the full set.
- Until 9pm, evolving Lechonk will see Oinkologne learn fast move Mud Slap. For non-Go Battle League players this won't matter too much, but for PvP fans there's some excited chatter online that Oinkologne could have some application in certain cups, drawing comparisons to Furret as a competitive Normal-type.
- Some extra Community Day tips:
- Don't forget to have a Mega Evolution active for additional Catch Candy. You'll want either Audino, Lopunny, Kangaskhan, Pidgeot - whichever one you have most levelled up.
- There's a 2x Catch Candy bonus. So during the week, save any rare or evolved Pokemon from Field Research or the May Go Pass until the event hours to take full advantage.
- There's a 1/4 Egg Hatching bonus during event hours too. If you can hold off on using your free Incubator until the event hours, you'll then get more bang for your buck.
- If you've yet to reach Platinum on the Normal-type catch medal, this Community Day is a good way to make decent progress.
- Finally, if you need to fully power up a Pokémon for the various Level 70 to 80 challenges, then Community Day is the perfect opportunity with the abundance of Candy and XL Candy you'll receive from catching the highlighted Pokémon.
For new or lapsed players...
Nihilego and Mega Camerupt come into the raid rotation from Wednesday. These are notable for different reasons.
Ultra Beast Nihilego is a very strong Poison-type attacker if you don't have one yet, and while Mega Camerupt is pretty poor all-round, it is an easy Pokémon to solo thanks to its double Water-type weakness, provided you have strong counters (looking at you, Primal Kyogre). This makes it a great opportunity to take down a Mega Evolved Pokémon on your own, which I always get a kick out of.
And also...
It's a non-event week, which means no new wild spawns or event Go Pass to chip away at. But it seems like Niantic is planning to fill these quieter periods with something dubbed 'evergreen weeks', where players can choose between one of three playstyles - exploration, skill or battling - and get associated challenges and bonuses for doing so.
This feature is technically unconfirmed by Niantic itself - word was shared on private Community Ambassador comms last week, which One More Catch has verified as genuine - and is said to be rolling out in May. And since it's now May, and a non-event week, we have to assume we'll get our first taste of it this week, either on Monday or the usual Tuesday event slot.
Matthew Reynolds
What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go Fest has seen a handful of announcements this past week, including:
- The headline is the (official) confirmation of Mega Mewtwo X and Y, with some small changes to how Mega Evolutions work to go with it:
Matthew Reynolds
- Mega Mewtwo is reportedly being tested in raids at Niantic HQ (via reddit) and will seemingly come with a 12 shield difficulty (meaning you'll need at least a 12-strong group, each with a Mega Evolved Pokémon, to beat it). It's steep, but it makes sense considering its power. Remember, this sighting isn't confirmed as being authentic - so take it with a pinch of salt - and if it is real, things can always change before its full debut.
Niantic is testing Mega Mewtwo in California HQ
by u/DarkDuo in TheSilphRoad
- When it comes to the Go Fest: Global leg, access will be free this year (for the weekend itself, anyway - I'm going to guess we'll still get a Go Pass and a possible Gold Bottle Cap in the build up), and each day will run for one hour longer:
Matthew Reynolds
- For those attending Copenhagen Go Fest, LEGO will be making an appearance for some in-person experiences and in-game bonuses, including a themed Stamp Rally:
Matthew Reynolds
- In other upcoming event news, Mega Falinks will debut towards the end of May in Super Mega Raids. I'll pop along to this one, Falinks. (Me thinks? Get it? Does that work?)
- Mobilegamer.biz has a report on how Scopely managed to get the $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic done. It's quite high level, so don't expect much juicy game-specific chat here, but it's a rare glimpse into the business side of the games industry, and includes detail on how Scopely has been investing in its new games since:
Neil Long
One More Catch notes
Here's a quick round-up of other site posts, updates, and publication-related musings:
- As suspected in last week's newsletter, Pokémon Go's 'Taken Over' Giovanni Special Research is seemingly no more, with a change to how you can get a Super Rocket Radar going forward.
- Something I'm experimenting with is offering reporting in articles like this for free, with deeper analysis on what it means accessible to paying subscribers only. Hopefully the format is a good balance, and I may repeat it in future:
Matthew Reynolds
- During the week, I published footage of a new monster tamer game (Monster Crown: Sin Eater for PC and consoles) that launched on Thursday. I unfortunately haven't had much time to play since, but it's pretty good so far. You can read a 8/10 review on Nintendo Life if you want more details.
- Fun fact: this is also officially the first non-Pokémon game covered by One More Catch! (Unofficially the honour belongs to Peridot, as per last week's closure story. 🫡) Expect more wider monster tamer coverage to come when I can find the time around Pokémon Go duties.
- The site's gradual expansion into social media continues with a new account. One More Catch is now on Facebook! Any follows, or shares to your Pokémon Go communities on Facebook, would be very welcome.
- And finally, a shoutout to a group of fellow independent media outlets - including friends of the site Rogue, Rascal and Aftermath - who are part of a bundle where you can access each site at a 50% discount. A fantastic deal on some brilliant publications, if you ask me:
Rogue Crew
Speaking of subscriptions! 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. I'd really appreciate it if you can contribute:
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Hope you have a great week!
