Though Niantic's AR mobile title Pokemon GO is over four years old, it continues to be popular thanks to ever-evolving events and the introduction of new Pokemon to catch from different generations of the mainline series of game. Thanks to the 2020 Pokemon GO Fest last month, Pokemon GO player spending reached its highest peak since launch, and content following that up in August includes a new Research Breakthrough encounter: Scraggy.
The Generation 5 Dark and Fighting-type Pokemon will be available through September 1, 2020, at 1:00 pm PDT, according to news posted by Niantic on July 30. Scraggy follows up Generation 3's Trapinch in June and Generation 2's Larvitar in July, which fans have felt are underwhelming offerings compared to earlier Research Breakthrough rewards like Kyogre and Groudon.
However, even if Scraggy and its evolution Scrafty do not necessarily fit a powerful, meta-breaking mold, they do work with the mobile game's current focus on creatures from the Unova Region that characterized Pokemon Black and White as well as their sequels. Niantic is also hosting bonus event weeks throughout the month because of how popular Pokemon GO Fest was, and the Timed Research rewards for Ultra Unlock 2020's Dragon Week include potentially shiny Deino encounters.
On top of the monthly Research Breakthrough and bonus events for Ultra Unlock 2020, fans of the mobile game can expect plenty more content to keep them occupied as Niantic focuses its efforts on letting players enjoy the game from home. Pokemon GO's August 2020 events include four spotlight hours, the first of which will feature Horsea on August 4.
Another major event coming this month is a rerun of Pokemon GO Fest 2020. Despite how successful the event was in July, from breaking player spending records to trainers catching nearly one billion Pokemon overall, technical issues accessing the game made some attendees feel cheated, so Niantic is hosting a Pokemon GO Fest make-up event on August 16.
There are also more long-reaching updates being planned for the mobile game that fans can look forward to. For example, Mega Evolutions are coming to Pokemon GO, though Project Lead Matt Slemon told fans that developers will be spending extra time to make sure they release correctly. Rotating content like the Research Breakthrough encounters should give players options to keep themselves occupied in the meantime.
Pokemon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.
Source: Niantic