It’s Diamond and Pearl time
Following an artwork tease a few months ago, Sinnoh-region Pokémon from Diamond and Pearl will soon begin appearing in Pokémon Go. That means starters like Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup, as well as familiar Gen 4 creatures like Garchomp, Lucario, Dialga, Palkia, and that little rascal Bidoof.
Hope you’ve been saving up!
Niantic is also planning a number of changes to Pokémon Go that are likely to delight some players and annoy others who have invested a lot of time and energy into perfecting their competitive roster.
Battle mechanic rebalancing
- CP values will be adjusted going forward to improve game balance.
- HP values will be adjusted to close the gap between high HP Pokémon and low HP Pokémon.
- Pokémon Defense and Stamina values will be retroactively rebalanced, allowing highly defensive Pokémon to be valuable in battle by outlasting opponents rather than simply running out the clock.
- Defense values have also been slightly retroactively reduced for most Pokémon. Changes like these will help narrow the gap between Pokémon with the highest defensive stats and other Pokémon.
Pokémon migration changes
- We are making adjustments to weather and, moving forward, it will have a reduced effect on the rate at which Pokémon appear.
- As you explore a given area, you will notice that a greater variety of Pokémon species will appear over time and at different rates.
- Certain areas, such as parks and nature reserves, will now contain more varied Pokémon species.
These changes are set to appear in the live game in the “coming weeks.” Niantic says the tweaks were “based on Trainer feedback and are designed to promote an improved overall experience.”
Community Note: Upcoming Changes to Pokémon GO [Niantic]