We Need to Talk About the Egg Pool

Back at the beginning of June we had our last ‘permanent’ egg pool shake-up, affecting the 7KM eggs only, and introducing some of the Galar regions’ new Pokémon into the mix. Before this, our last egg pool shake-up was waaaay back in January when the first Unova region Pokémon were introduced. And since then, things have gotten pretty stagnant. So, let’s talk about the egg pool!

2KM Eggs Egg 2 km

2KM eggs have a fairly small pool, with 16 different species as possible hatches. We have both the Unova starters and the Sinnoh starters, Unova newbies Venipede, Dwebble, Woobat, Patrat, Lillipup and Purrloin as well as the old 2KM faves Wailmer, Magikarp, Luvdisc and Swablu. I’m controversial, I don’t mind the starters being in 2KM eggs because they are a bit of a rarer spawn, and there are many who would love to specifically collect perfect IV starter Pokémon. The Sinnoh starters can all be shiny, and the Unova starters give us the chance to hoard candy and good IV Pokémon ready for their (hopefully) eventually happening Community Day. Swablu is a Great League MVP so it’s not one I have too much objection to being included, and some of the Unova newbies are to be expected. However, when the egg pool is so small, even with 11/16 as potential shinies, it’s a pretty uninspiring egg hatch.

Pokémon GO Wailmer and Wailord
Pokémon GO Wailmer and Wailord

So what changes would make 2KM eggs more exciting again? There are other common Pokémon who could easily be added back into the mix. Pidgey now has it’s shiny and its Mega available, making the hunt for that 100IV ever more prevalent. Currently, the pool has a focus on fairly common water types, so why not switch it up for some common grass types? We could see Bellsprout, Oddish and Budew involved, all of which have a shiny form available. Why not reintroduce some of the old 2KM egg Pokémon such as Geodude, Caterpie and Zubat? They all now have their shiny forms in game so would raise a lot less eyebrows than yet another Purrloin. There are plenty of common spawns that could make the mix more fun, including Pidove, Ledyba and Wurmple, super common spawns, but with shinies available, people won’t mind hatching them half as much as a Venipede. Diluting the pool could make some of those regular sighs as you hatch yet another Lillipup a bit less frustrated.

5KM Eggs Egg 5 km

I have to be honest, 5KM eggs are probably some of the worst hatches of all the pools, and the one with the easiest potential to fix it! Currently, we can see Unova species Roggenrola, Tympole (why?!), Trubbish, Joltik, Gothita, Minccino, Solosis, Karrablast and Shelmet as the newest additions to the pool. Roggenrola is certainly one most players don’t mind hatching, but Tympole? Surely a 2KM hatch at best with how common it is in the wild. Minccino is a common spawn and has had its own dedicated research day, and the rest are fairly unexciting if we are honest. (Sorry Joltik, I do love you though!). Outside of the Unova region, we can also hatch Cubone, Ponyta, Eevee, Grimer, Burmy, Scyther, Gligar, Skorupi, Skarmory, Cherubi, Clamperl and Buizel. You can also hatch pretty much any of your local areas Regional Pokémon (bar Sawk and Throh, but we’ll get to them in a minute). There is a fairly good mix thereof shiny and non-shiny, I’m particularly a fan of all the Burmy types being in the eggs because most players only ever see its Trash form, but it just feels stale. I think having regionals as a fairly common hatch in 5KM eggs is a good call for those travelling (remember those days?), as they are easy to pick up and don’t take too long to hatch, giving you a good shot at regionals even when you aren’t in an area for too long.

How do we fix 5KM eggs? Well, let’s be controversial. We all used to grumble because the egg pool was so absolutely massive that your chances of getting a shiny were slim. Well, your shiny chances remain as slim as ever, so why not reintroduce a whole bunch of old 5KM egg Pokémon that now have their shiny forms available in-game? Sandshrew, Voltorb, Magnemite, Staryu, Exeggcute, both Nidoran forms, Growlithe, Seel, Doduo, Machop, Lickitung, I miss them all! Many of the previously common Kanto spawns are now a lot rarer with so many Pokémon being in the game, and most of the time I only see them as quest rewards. So let’s get them back in eggs, eggs are so much more fun when there is a lot of shiny potential. Currently, 26/48 can be shiny but keep in mind, I’ve included ALL regional Pokémon in that figure, so the actual pool and your shiny chances are a lot lower depending on your region. There is even an opportunity to add in some of the old 10KM Pokémon that have had their Community Days and have been removed from the egg pool, like Larvitar, Beldum and Dratini, they are still rare, so why not make them a rare 5KM hatch? I also think potentially adding in Rufflet and Scraggy for those players who aren’t PvP focused could be a fair way to make them tricky to get, maybe with a 1% hatch rate, but actually obtainable for those who don’t care about PvP or who haven’t been unable to climb to the necessary rankings to encounter them.

10KM Eggs Egg 10 km

10KM eggs are right now, kind of a mess. There are a total of 18 different Pokémon hatching from 10KM, including all the regionals. We have shiny chances with Klink, Shinx, Absol, Gible, Riolu, Deino, Timburr and Feebas, and non-shiny Pokémon in the form of Sawk/Throh, Audino, Litwick, Axew, Darumaka, Golett, Ferroseed, Alomomola and regional Sigilyph.

I think it’s fair to say right now that most people’s biggest frustration, is Feebas. Feebas hatches out of 10KM eggs at such a ridiculous rate, easily 20% if not higher. I know there always has to be a more ‘common’ hatch in the 10KM egg pool, but Feebas is so useless, that it really makes it frustrating when you’ve walked all that way to hatch yet another Feebas. Milotic is a pretty Pokédex filler and not much else, and I say that as someone who really loves Milotics design! There is no need at all for Feebas to hatch at such high rates, it could very easily be lowered to a more reasonable rate and people would have less issue with the pool. Your chances of hatching an Axew seem to be almost nil, yet you are drowning in Feebas!

When was the last time you remember hatching Deino, Axew or Riolu? No, I can’t remember either! There are a whole lot of players out there right now who have never hatched an Axew to even get it registered in their Pokédex, never mind its evolutions, and your best chance at Riolu seems to be the Adventure Sync 10KM egg.

Now let’s talk about Sawk and Throh. I assumed when they were added into the 10KM egg pool that they were going to be rare regionals, but I see my regional Sawk multiple times a day, every day. They aren’t meta relevant so bar hundo collectors no one really needs a good IV one, and even for those who are travelling, they seem to be a fairly common spawn to be able to randomly come across. Sawk and Throh should be moved into the 5KM egg pool with the rest of the regionals. I’d argue that Heatmor and Durant are rarer regionals as wild spawns, but they are happily in 5KM eggs. Even the brand new Bouffalant is in 5KM eggs, so why are Sawk and Throh in 10KM eggs?! They have to go. Sigilyph is a little more complicated because it spawns in such a small region compared to some of the other regionals that how rare it is can be questionable, but I can imagine it can be frustrating to hatch for those who it is local for if it hatches anywhere near the rate of Sawk and Throh.

Gible

What would I like to see in the 10KM egg pool? A more fairly spread chance for all those currently hatching from it, and the removal of Sawk, Throh and Feebas. I think Absol being in 10KM eggs is a great addition because it was always tricky to get a raid group together for Absol, so it is many players best way to hunt the shiny. With an average of 16 Pokémon in your regions egg pool (assuming you don’t have access to Sigilyph), if they all had a 6.25% hatch rate, I think players would be a lot happier with the current pool, even if the regionals and Feebas remained. One Pokémon hatching at a rate of roughly 20% and another at 1% seems unfair, and rebalancing would quell a lot of frustrations with this egg pool.

As for potential new additions, I wouldn’t mind seeing Yamask appear in the 10KM egg pool, it vanished after its appearance Halloween 2019 and hasn’t been seen since, so why not a rare egg hatch? Larvesta could be a potential Unova newbie when it eventually gets released, it is hugely meta relevant and a fan favourite, adding it into the 10KM egg pool could be a fun way to make it that bit trickier to get it.

7KM Eggs Egg 7 km

7KM eggs are probably the one that needs the least work because they are essentially optional. If you don’t want anything in the egg pool, don’t open gifts when you have egg space, and you don’t have to hatch them, easy! Currently, they have a mix of Alolan and Galarian Pokémon. From Alola we have Geodude, Sandshrew, Meowth, Diglett, Grimer and Vulpix, along with all their shiny forms, and from Galar we have Meowth, Farfetch’d, Stunfisk, Zigzagoon and Darumaka. Hopefully, we will see more Galarian Pokémon added soon, as the code for Ponyta, Slowpoke, Mr. Mime, Corsola and Yamask has been in-game since July. With the Galar Pokémon being egg exclusive, and the Alola Pokémon having their shiny forms available, 7KM eggs are pretty good!

Where are the Baby Pokémon?

One of the biggest frustrations many people have with the egg pool right now is the complete lack of baby Pokémon. Essentially right now, all baby Pokémon have been removed from the game save for Riolu in 10KM eggs, and Mime Jr as a regional. Where are they and why have they been removed? The majority of the baby Pokémon have their shiny forms available, and yet, they have been removed completely from the game as it stands. They have previously been in 7KM eggs and were then moved to a range of 2KM, 5KM and 10KM eggs depending on their rarity before they just vanished. There are plenty of meta relevant baby Pokémon (Munchlax, Riolu, Togepi, Elekid, Budew and Azurill) that people want to hunt for whether for PvP, GO Rocket battles or raids, and with so many shinies available, people want them back! I know I’m hunting for that shiny Bonsly and Happiny, and with them missing from the egg pool, they are impossible to hunt for right now. I’d love to see these added back into the egg pool between the 2KM and 5KM pools, with Riolu staying in the 10KM eggs.

Conclusion

We need a good shake-up of the egg pool, and we need it soon! We want some excitement to come back to eggs, and with so many options available, it can be easily done. More shiny chances, and fairer hatch rates, and as always, we’d love to see more transparency from Niantic in terms of hatch rates too.

Author & tags

kittypokemonsalot
kittypokemonsalothttps://www.kittyramblesalot.com/
Turtwig obsessive, real life Psyduck, Pokémon GO AR Photographer, found footage horror fan and Pokémon GO Hub AR Queen

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