Phones at the ready – Pokémon Go is back, now filled with the second generation Pokémon first introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. Read more: Pokémon Go update adds 80 new Pokémon, special items and berries
The massive update to the game, available on iOS and Android, doesn’t just mean a host more monsters to catch though – like the Game Boy games the latest version of Niantic’s hit augmented reality title draws on, there are new mechanics introduced that may take some getting used to. Here’s WIRED’s guide-in-progress to everything you’ll need to become a Pokémon Master!
Evolution Evolves
As with original version of Pokémon Go, you can still evolve most of your Pokémon into their later forms by feeding them enough Candy. However, the new Pokémon in Gen 2 introduces ‘special’ evolution items.
Special items are used to evolve certain creatures and there are five new items that affect how Pokémon evolve:
For Pokémon with divergent evolutions – such as Gloom or Slowpoke – you’ll have the choice of which form to evolve them into. Whichever you choose, you’ll still need to spend the requisite amount of Candy to evolve them, along with the appropriate item. They disappear after one use though, so you’ll need two King’s Rocks to evolve both Poliwhirl and Slowpoke, for instance.
Where to find special Evolution items
Unlike useful items such as Pokémon Lures or Incense, you can’t buy the special items in Pokémon Go’s store. So where do you get them?
The good news: all five items are random drops from Pokéstops.
The bad news: special items are rare drops. Pokémon eggs have a roughly 20 per cent drop rate, and at present it seems evolution items are even rarer. On top of that, with five different ones necessary and no way to determine which one you’ll get, there’s a high random factor to getting the one you need. Right now, or until Niantic makes them more easily available, there’s no solution aside from persistence.
For Pokémon with divergent evolutions – such as Gloom or Slowpoke – you’ll have the choice of which form to evolve them into. Whichever you choose, you’ll still need to spend the requisite amount of Candy to evolve them, along with the appropriate item. They disappear after one use though, so you’ll need two King’s Rocks to evolve both Poliwhirl and Slowpoke, for instance.
Where to find special Evolution items
Unlike useful items such as Pokémon Lures or Incense, you can’t buy the special items in Pokémon Go’s store. So where do you get them?
The good news: all five items are random drops from Pokéstops.
The bad news: special items are rare drops. Pokémon eggs have a roughly 20 per cent drop rate, and at present it seems evolution items are even rarer. On top of that, with five different ones necessary and no way to determine which one you’ll get, there’s a high random factor to getting the one you need. Right now, or until Niantic makes them more easily available, there’s no solution aside from persistence.
New Eevee-lutions
Gold and Silver made the genetically unstable Eevee even more erratic, giving the cute critter two more possible evolutions – psychic type Espeon and dark type Umbreon.
Thankfully, these are a bit easier to obtain in Pokémon Go than the item-dependent evolutions – it’s simply a matter of renaming your Eevee before feeding it 25 Candy. As with the Gen 1 Eeveelutions, the names to use are taken from episodes of the Pokémon anime, from trainers who used the particular Pokémon on the show.
Berry-licious
Until now, Pokémon Go only had one type of berry, the Razz Berry which made Pokémon easier to catch. The Gen 2 update adds the Nanab Berry and the Pinap Berry. Both can have powerful effects on how you capture and control Pokémon, and even make it easier to evolve them.
The Nanab Berry slow a Pokémon’s movements down.
The Pinap Berry makes a caught Pokémon drop more Candy when you catch it. Use this if you’re confident you can catch the Pokémon you’re after, or if it’s a rarer creature where you need more Candy to help evolve it into its next form.
Baby Pokémon
Although Baby Pokémon were added to Pokémon Go ahead of the main Gen 2 release, the update does tweak how likely you are to hatch the likes of Pichu, Cleffa, or Igglybuff from eggs.
Those three, along with Togepi, all hatch after walking 2km in the real world. Rarer Baby Pokémon Smoochum, Elekid, and Magby all take 5km to hatch now.
The baby Pokémon in Pokémon Go
Magby: Fire-type baby Pokémon evolves into Magmar
Cleffa: Fair-type baby Pokémon evolves into Clefairy
Pichu: Electric-type baby Pokémon evolves into Pikachu
Igglybuff: Dual-type normal/fairy baby Pokémon evolves into Jigglypuff
Smoochum: Dual-type ice/psychic baby Pokémon evolves into Jynx
Elekid: Electric-type baby Pokémon evolves into Electabuzz
Togepi: Fairy-type baby Pokémon evolves into Togetic from generation two.
The update also means Togepi – the only one of the original Baby Pokémon not based on a Gen 1 Pokémon – can evolve into Togetic. It’s an easy enough evolution, requiring you feed it 50 Candy. The only hitch is getting enough Togepi Candy, as relying on hatching enough could take months. The best solution is to set Togepi as your partner Pokémon, which will net you a slow but reliable supply of Candy as you explore together.
