The player base may not be the same as it was late last summer, but Niantic has still given Pokémon GO players a steady stream of content and Pokémon to catch. With summer around the corner and the latest event wrapping up, Niantic is looking to deliver on some "legendary" promises in the mobile game.
'Legendary' Days Ahead
This past week, Pokémon Go players got the chance to enjoy "Adventure Week." possibly the biggest event developer Niantic had done to date. The event offered several bonuses based on walking and interacting with other players, along with a bevy of stronger and rarer rock-type Pokémon.
While this was a nice event for players, there is still a desire for more content, which feels somewhat lacking. While updates like the buddy system, tracker, and Gen2 Pokémon were added, the game hasn't seen any new content that really redefined it that drastically.
The biggest tease of what's ahead came during the 21st Webby Awards. Product Marketing Lead Archit Bhargava promised that the summer ahead would be "legendary." This is the most on-the-nose tease about legendary Pokémon finally making their way into the game.
When Pokémon GO launched last year, these powerful Pokémon were notably absent, with Gen1 legendaries like Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos missing. That changed a bit with the release of Gen2 Pokémon, which included legendaries like Entei, Lugia, and Celebi, but the original legendary birds Mew and Mewtwo were still missing. With this newest tease, it looks like these sought-after Pokémon might finally make their long-awaited debut.
Gotta Update 'Em All
Another rumor that has floated around that could be the closest to a guarantee is a gym revamp. This is something that Niantic has teased and talked about in the past, expressing disappointment at how the system worked in its current incarnation.
As it works, the gym system has someone with strong Pokémon take over a gym, while other players train and prep their Pokémon to try and knock them off, becoming the new gym head. Based on how Niantic devs have talked about the system in the past, it seems that the gym system may have been meant to drive more face-to-face interaction between players.
The other highly demanded feature is a trading system. In the world of Pokémon, trading is key to building and maintaining a strong stable of Pokémon. Trading has always been present in the video games and trading cards, so why not the mobile game?
A trading system not being in Pokémon GO when it launched was a bit of a disappointment for anyone getting Pidgey after Pidgey and having nothing to do with them. As with the gym revamp, Niantic has insinuated that getting this feature in the game is a priority and will likely make its way into the game sometime in 2017.
