Saturday was one of the largest paid international events Pokémon Go organized the Kanto Tour. It cost a non-cheap $ 11.99 and was a celebration of Pocket Monsters ’25th anniversary, with the popular mobile game harking back to the series’ origins for a 12-hour celebration of the OG 151 Pokémon. Except they accidentally let some people in for free.
Reports seem to indicate (thanks Eurogamer) this was first discovered after the 9am international start time flew through New Zealand and Australia, not caught until the rampant time wave spread halfway around the world, leaving many people making a decent sum for a single day play a little.
As a reaction, POGO Niantic creators have promised a hitherto unclear “bonus event” for those who paid to play, to try to make up for any difficult feelings.
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It certainly wasn’t the only thing that went wrong during the day, but after the full 12 hours of play, I can attest that it was a pretty good time overall.
Other issues included a rather tiring period when the game only allowed players to use local raid passes when entering remote raids, which certainly didn’t do me any favors on PokeRaid Plus there was one a lot of delay on the app, with the millions of additional people online at once.
For most of the day, however, there was a packed schedule of tasks and challenges to plow through, with the ultimate prize of Shiny Ditto’s first appearance at the end. This was accompanied by an insane collection of Collecting Challenges, with all 151 Kanto region Pokémon available to be captured at different times of the day.
It also featured shiny versions of every Kanto ‘mon, including all versions that have never been released before – and all much more likely than usual. Every hour the roster of available Pokémon changed, while raids saw performances from Moltres (shining trapped!), Zapdos (shining trapped!), And Articuno (muffled grief, but there’s still time). Oh, and yes, MewTwo too. Ahum. Have patience with me …
GLOSSY CAUGHT!
Um, yes, I was playing with my six-year-old and this was clearly all for him.
I still deal with his disappointment in discovering that shiny Ditto notfinally transform into the shiny versions of the Pokémon he fights with. (“But what’s the point?! He’s just a different color Ditto!”) Believe me, telling him it’s the same in the console games (size 3, I’ve heard) is no comfort. Nor rationalize that it wouldn’t be a very good impersonation if he had a different color (but pooh about that stupid argument, Redditors, because regular Ditto doesn’t mimic shinies!).
Finishing out the day’s antics has unlocked something a lot more exciting, though: the pursuit of a shiny Mew. This is no small feat. The first round of challenges asked us to get 151 great throws, which we polished in a day. The second asked us to collect 151 different types of Pokémon, plus 30 of each type. That’s potentially 540+ catches, albeit significantly reduced by samples overlapping two species. Oh, and to catch Pokémon for 30 days in a row. So that will keep the grinders from getting there first (but as always, the Aussies and Kiwis will be able to get it before the rest of the world). I don’t dare to find out what phase 3 could mean.
Keep an eye on Niantic’s social media for information on what the bonus event will be. I really hope it gives another chance to get a flipping shiny Snorlax because that cuddly beast escapes me so much.