Tuesday tends to be one of the least enjoyable days of the week. The Monday blues have passed, but there’s almost a full week of work left to go, and it feels like a mountain to climb.
This Tuesday, however, is full of surprises Pokémon fans will love.
Pokémon Go will be holding a Spotlight Hour for Spheal later in the day, which means its encounter rate will drastically increase, and in turn, improve the odds of finding a Shiny one.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are winning, too. From now until Sunday, they’ll be able to score all kinds of different sandwich ingredients for free via Mystery Gift bundles simply by entering a code.
Subway’s slogan might be ‘eat fresh,’ but Nintendo has one-upped them by letting trainers eat free.
In other news, Pokémon Go’s raid rotation has changed across the board, with five new tier-one raid bosses, four new tier-three raid bosses, and one new tier-four and tier-five raid boss.
And on a final note, data has revealed the most-used competitive Pokémon so far in the Pokémon VGC 2023 Series 1. The top picks are surprising, and there’s one clear-cut winner.
So, turn that Tuesday frown upside down, and let’s get stuck into some exciting Pokémon news.
Pokémon Go Spheal Community Hour confirmed
A Spotlight Hour for Spheal is happening in Pokémon Go today (Tuesday, Dec. 13) between 6pm and 7pm local time. Its encounter rate will be drastically increased in that hour.
If you’re on the hunt for a Shiny Spheal, there couldn’t be a better time. The increased encounter rate means the chances of catching a Shiny Spheal are much higher, so don’t miss out!
Eat all the sandwiches!
From now until Sunday, Dec. 18, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players can receive a free bundle of sandwich ingredients by entering the code ‘T0MAT0SL1CE’ in the Mystery Gift section of the Poké Portal.
The full list of rewards include:
- 5 Whipped Cream, 5 Jam, 5 Yogurt, 5 Peanut Butter, and 5 Marmalade
- 5 Bacon, 5 Ham, 5 Prosciutto, 5 Chorizo, 5 Herbed Sausage, 5 Hamburger
- 5 Curry Powder, 5 Rice, 5 Noodles, 5 Cheese, 5 Egg
- 5 Bacon, 5 Lettuce, 5 Tomato, 5 Cheese, 5 Mayonnaise, 5 Mustard
- 5 Smoked Filet, 5 Rice, 5 Wasabi, 5 Salt, 5 Vinegar
- 5 Chili Sauce, 5 Jalapeno, 5 Curry Powder, 5 Wasabi, 5 Horseradish
- 5 Cherry Tomatoes, 5 Cucumber, 5 Green Bell Pepper, 5 Avocado, 5 Red Onion, 5 Watercress
- 5 Banana, 5 Strawberry, 5 Apple, 5 Kiwi, 5 Pineapple
- 10 Potato Tortilla, 10 Tofu, 10 Potato Salad, 10 Hamburger, 10 Friend Fillet, 10 Noodles
- 30 Klawf Sticks
Making sandwiches has become all the rage in Scarlet and Violet. Trainers use them for the various boosts they grant, like ones that increase the odds of encountering Shiny Pokémon.
Plus, who can say no to free sandwiches?
New Pokémon Go raid bosses have clocked in
Out with the old and in with the new. The raid bosses in Pokémon Go have changed. Here’s a full list of the new additions in each tier, organized from the highest tier to the lowest.
- Tier-Five: Terrakion
- Tier-Four: Aggron
- Tier-Three: Poliwrath, Tyranitar, Breloom, Mawile
- Tier-One: Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Timburr, Mienfoo
The raid boss roster changes went into effect as of Monday, December 12, at 6am local time.
Ah, so that’s why I keep seeing those Pokémon!
Pikalytics unearthed data on the current Pokémon VGC meta and put together a list of the most-used Pokémon in the competitive scene, along with which of their moves are used the most. The winner, surprisingly, is Gholdengo.
The Ghost and Steel-type Pokémon was used by approximately 30 percent of trainers, with its go-to moves being Make It Rain, Shadow Ball, Protect, Nasty Plot, and to a lesser extent, Dazzling Gleam.
Gholdengo was often paired in battle with Garchomp and Murkrow, who were the second and third most-used Pokémon with pick rates of about 28 percent and 27 percent, respectively.
The rest of the top ten was made up of Amoonguss, Annihilape, Armarouge, Hydreigon, Grimmsnarl, Arcanine, and Indeedee-F, rounding it off to be a versatile list.
That brings an end to yet another daily news wrap. You can always rely on the Pokémon franchise to pick you up and give you wings to soar through the rest of the week, regardless of which aspect of it is your cup of tea.
This Pokémon columnist is pretty keen to hyper train a Gholdengo now that I know how strong it is, so that’ll keep me busy tonight!
