INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pokémon GO just got a little surprise update, complete with a curious new feature: &Lucky& Pokémon.
Most things in Pokémon GO are adapted
from things that already exist in the Pokémon universe
Items like incense, lucky eggs and the like all exist in the main Pokémon series (though what these items actually do tends to be a bit
different in GO).
Lucky Pokémon, as far as I know, is a new concept altogether.
So what are they And how are they different from existing
Shiny Pokémon
Shiny Pokémon are rare variations of existing Pokémon with colors that differ from the standard
You might tap on your 398th Dratini, for example, only to find that it bright pink instead of the standard blue
You might randomly tap a Minun to find that it has green ears instead of blue, or an Aron with red eyes instead of blue
It a fun way to keep players tapping on Pokémon even after their Pokédex is technically complete
The differences are only skin deep, though; beyond the visual shift, Shiny Pokémon are generally functionally the same as their non-shiny
version.
The new &Lucky& Pokémon, meanwhile, don&t look much different (save for a sparkly background when you look at them in your
They do, however, have a little functional advantage: powering them up requires less stardust
In other words, you&ll be able to make them stronger faster and with less work.
How do you get &em By trading
While folks are still working out the exact mechanics, it looks like non-Lucky Pokémon have a chance to become Lucky Pokémon when traded
from one player to another
According to Niantic, the odds of a Pokémon becoming &lucky& after a trade increase based on how long ago it was originally caught.
And for
the collectors out there: yes, for better or worse, &Lucky& Pokémon are now a category in the Pokédex
Niantic just added trading to Pokémon GO a month ago, and this is a clever way to get players to care about trading even after they&ve
already caught everything there is to catch.
This update also brings a few other small changes, mostly just polishing up the way the
friend/trading system works:
You can now give friends nicknames
That super useful for remembering who is who, or for remembering that you added PikaFan87 because they promised to trade you a
Kangaskhan
You now get a bit of XP for sending gifts
Gifts can now contain stardust
You can now delete gifts from your inventory
