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Just in time for Halloween, ‘Pokémon Go’ adds selection of third-gen monsters

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Just in time for Halloween, Niantic’s Pokémon Go will see a few spooky third-generation Pokémon make their debut appearance alongside classic monsters like Drowzee and Cubone. But these won’t just be a limited-time promotion to get players back into the mobile game — more Pokémon from Ruby and Sapphire will arrive later this year.

Beginning on Friday, October 20, Pokemon Go players will be able to capture the new creatures and they will be able to disguise their Pikachu with “Mimikyu’s Disguise Hat.” The depressing Pokémon made its debut in Sun and Moon, and is resembles a potato sack poorly designed to look like Pikachu.

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The third-generation Pokémon were rumored as early as this summer, with players spotting them in the game’s code.

“You’ll also earn extra candy while you’re out trick-or-treating with your Buddy Pokémon,” Niantic continued in the announcement. “Candy rewards from catching, hatching, and transferring Pokémon will be doubled, and your buddy will find Candy twice as fast during the Halloween celebration!”

Though Pokémon Go was a smash hit in 2016, long-term players have grown impatient with Niantic regarding key features that arguably should have been in the game at launch. Players still cannot trade Pokémon between each other, limiting the ability to have a complete roster of monsters. While large raids were added, giving trainers the chance to fight together, there is still no option to battle another player. Speaking to Bloomberg, The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara confirmed that there are still plans to add both of those features to the game, though it’s unclear exactly when that will be.

Ishihara also mentioned in the interview that the company could plan a line of accessories for the upcoming Nintendo Switch Pokémon role-playing game. Very little is known about the title thus far, but it will be the first time a “main” Pokémon game to be released on a home console. Its portability also means that players will still be able to take it into the wild to trade and battle with friends.

The final Pokémon games for the 3DS family of systems, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, will be available on November 17. The fighting spinoff Pokkén Tournament DX is out right now for Nintendo Switch, as well, after previously releasing on Wii U.

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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