Niantic showed off new artwork to celebrate the 7th anniversary of Pokémon Go on July 6 and, like with previous years, it has begun to tease upcoming content that players can expect for the game.
One of the biggest things to stand out straight away is the generation nine Paldea starters of Fuecoco, Quaxly, and Sprigatito. What makes their appearance so surprising is that the generation eight starters from Galar of Scorbunny, Froakie, and Sobble are nowhere to be seen. Previous anniversary images have included various starters from previous games that would eventually make their way to Pokémon Go and the Galar starters were not included in last year’s image.
There are a few other Paldea Pokémon teased as well in the image such as Paldea Wooper and Gimmighoul. Galar fans don’t have anything in this image though, with fan-favorite Pokémon Hatenna making a small appearance.
On top of that, we also seem to be getting a future release of some Hisui Pokémon, including Hisui Goodra and Lilligant, teases towards missing Ultra Beast Pokémon, a Zygarde tease, and teases for upcoming Pokemon Go fest introductions such as Mega Rayquaza and Diancie.
Of course, as we look at last year’s picture there were a lot teased in that that never daw the light of day a year later, such as Dusk-Form Lycanrock, so these images and the content being teased should always be taken with a pinch of salt and a lot of fanfare.
There is honestly a lot of content here and if all of these come to the game in the next year or so, Pokémon Go players should be eating well. I myself am so excited for the year ahead, though the missing Galar starters will be a slight worry. Hopefully, it’s just Niantic having some fun at the expense of its fans.