Pokemon Go – GO Fest 2020 and Team Rocket Balloons

Hey, Trainers! A couple of Newsworthy things to talk about in this update!

GO Fest 2020

GO Fest 2020 tickets became available a little while back. Because, for fairly obvious reasons, we can’t gather together in one central location as would normally happen, it’s a play at home type affair this year. While this is clearly a bummer for those folks who would have traveled far and wide? It’s also going to allow many more people to participate in the event and more importantly, do so safely.

This is a ticketed event and the cost is $14.99. It takes place on Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th between 10:00am and 8:00pm.

It is, of course, tied into the 4th anniversary celebration of this game. Check out this neat artwork…

On Pokemon GO’s website, we’re told to ‘take a closer look’ to see what GO Fest 2020 has in store. I’d encourage the same as there’s some cool stuff in this image that I’m very excited to get going with! (Very excited, especially, about Mega Evolution. Whether GO Fest will unlock this ability or it’s planned for later in the year, we don’t yet know.)

An interesting bit of trivia: Riann Johnson (The Last Jedi, Knives Out) directed the official Pokemon GO Fest 2020 commercial!

So, what do we know about the event itself?

Increased encounter rate. There’s 75 species that will be encountered during the event via wild encounters, Raids and Research. Which 75 these are is as yet unknown.

Rotating Habitats. Fire, Water, Grass, Battle and Friendship are the habitats listed and each will cause different ‘Mon to spawn.

Global Challenge Arena. Like past years, we’ll be given goals to complete as a group. These usually involve catching a certain number of Pokemon, sometimes with specific elemental Types required to hit certain milestones. These will unlock, hopefully, significant in-game bonuses.

Two Special Research stories to complete. Each day will have its own Research to do.

Online virtual Team lounges. If you want to chill for a minute with your fellow Instinct, Mystic or Valor team mates, you can do so in these live, online environments. It’s stated that there will be giveaways and live updates!

Paper Craft. In the coming weeks, there will be printable paper craft kits available to print and complete. Fun for all ages.

GO Fest 2020 Shirts! Click Here to purchase your very own piece of Pokemon GO apparel for this event.

That’s what we know so far. There are rumors a-plenty out there about Research rewards and special encounters… you know I generally don’t give these too much room in these breakdowns because I don’t want to spread false information or raise anyone’s hopes should these rumors not come to be. The two most prevalent rumors are the ability to catch Keckleon, a long sought after Hoenn Pokemon, and Victini, the Victory Pokemon from Unova. I’m hoping for either, or both, of these rumors to be true.

And, if you need any additional incentive to purchase your ticket, remember that Niantic is using half of all revenue generated by GO Fest for philanthropic purposes. If you want to know more, I detail Niantic’s commitment to community causes in this article.

Team Rocket Balloons

In these days of social distancing and safer at home orders, Niantic is committed to improving the experience Pokemon GO players have access to from the places they are, as opposed to their usual encouragement to get out and explore. The newest of these quality of life updates comes in the form of mobile Team Rocket encounters teased in ‘leaked’ Team Rocket emails.

You’ll often see them first in the form of a shadow passing over the terrain. Zoom out and you’ll see what’s casting that shadow – a big, R stamped balloon containing a Grunt, Leader or even Giovanni himself.

This is fantastic news for those of us who are having trouble beating the Rocket based Special Research quests. Traveling to Rocket Pokestops being a little less convenient lately. The battles run the exact same way as interacting with a Rocket controlled Pokestop. Same phrases to indicate typing, same Pokemon line-ups, same difficulty level.

And that’s what I’ve got for you this time, Trainers! As always, I wish you the best of luck!