The Pokémon GO community is in a bit of an uproar right now. No, not because of the changes that have prompted many disgruntled players to ask for refunds on IAPs, or has threatened to irreversibly damage the popularity of Niantic's hit AR game, but because of one sighting: the legendary Pokémon Articuno.
In the current version of Pokémon GO, Articuno — much like the other legendary Pokémon — is one of the few creatures that you can't catch. Fans know it's there after sifting through Pokémon GO's files and found it waiting there to be released, but, as of now, it's still unobtainable.
However, a recent discovery could turn that belief on its head.
Multiple Reddit users have spotted an Articuno chillin' atop gyms in Ohio, and true to the phrase: "Pics or it didn't happen," they provided both screen shots and a video to back up their claims.
Does someone actually have an Articuno in Pokémon GO? Based on photos and the above video, the answer is yes. However, there are a variety of explanations for this incident that suggest this Articuno sighting might not be all it's cracked up to be.
The official explanation, from the Articuno's owner, kaitcovey, is that she received the Pokémon as part of an apology from Niantic after contacting the company via email about an issue.
However there are two major issues with her testimony. First of all, there has never been any indication that legendary Pokémon would be given out in this manner. Rather, it has long been assumed that such creatures would be part of special events held at specific locations. Furthermore, as opposed to the people who provided proof that they indeed came across an Articuno in Pokémon GO, kaitcovey has yet to provide any documentation (or even copied text) proving that she received an apology from Niantic.
With that said, there are still other possibilities that need to be considered:
One such possibility is that the Pokémon's data was modified so that the game identifies it as Articuno, which is entirely possible thanks to a special tool that intercepts the traffic between the Pokémon GO app and the game's servers and decodes the protocol, thus allowing players to edit the creature's data.
Another possibility is the glitch that arose thanks to a recent server change, which made it so that, after catching a Pokémon, the one you caught has a chance of being swapped out for a completely different one. An example of this has been posted, and it shows a player capturing a Mankey, only to find that a Machop has taken its place. Meanwhile, another one shows a Caterpie being replaced by Charizard in the Pokedex.
Amusingly enough, a hack or a glitch might be the best case scenario for Niantic right now. Considering the situation in which the Google spin-off is currently involved, the last thing it needs is to have the player base learn that it gave out a legendary Pokémon as part of a mere apology.
