Hello Trainers! Pokémon GO 0.233.0 update is currently rolling out to a device near you and it brings with it some pretty neat updates under the hood. There appears to be a very large update coming to the Mega system in Pokémon Go (finally!), along with some more updates (again) to the route maker system, a new android widget and more!
💡 Disclaimer: You know the drill by now, everything in this article is data mined, and therefore subject to change or not even being released at all. Keep that in mind as we go through his. Routes have been in the code since 2019, so… yeah. All of this information is publicly provided by the PokéMiners and is included along with some of my own commentary.
Mega Updates
There’s a lot to cover when it comes to the Megas, so let’s not waste any time and dive in!
New Mega Icon
A new Mega Evolve icon was discovered, the Miners aren’t exactly sure what it’s for just yet. So we’ll have to wait and see.
Mega Portraits and Badges
The Miners recently found new Mega Portraits for all of the Mega Pokémon available. Interestingly Mega Kangaskhan along with Mega Latios and Latias were discovered as well. I suspect that the next Mega we’ll get will be Kangaskhan, and Latios and Latias will be part of Go Fest later this summer.
MegaPokemonSilhouette SetColorForContext megaPokemonMaterial megaPokemonPortrait portraitRectTransform MegaPortraitAsset MegaPokemonPortraitSettings FormString AccentColor colorOnDarkBackground colorOnLightBackground portraitYPosition portraitSize DARK LIGHT
The new Mega portraits are in the game code as well.
Mega Level Settings
GetMegaEvoLevelSettings
It looks like Mega Evolutions will have levels, a lot of it is still obfuscated so the PokéMiners are having to do a bit of guesswork at this point.
Mega Energy
megaEvolveButton megaEnergyContainer megaEnergyImage megaEnergyCount freeMegaEvoIcon
There’s a new Mega Evolve button on the Pokémon info screen. It also appears that we’re going to get free Mega Evolutions? Perhaps for events?
Mega GUI
MegaLevelsGuiController SelectMegaLevel levelConfigs megaStatusIndicator megaLevelsHeaderText megaLevelBannerText megaLevelBannerBackground BannerColor DisabledBannerColor megaLevelSliderWidget NameOfLevelKey
A brand new Mega GUI is coming, complete with its own Header, Banner, Background, and… a slider widget? Select Mega level?
Mega Perks
MegaLevelPerkUpgrades perkTabView tabIndicator cooldownSprite reducedEnergySprite catchXpSprite allyAttackSprite UpgradesCooldownPerk UpgradesCandyCatchPerk UpgradesReducedEnergyPerk UpgradesXlCandyPerk UpgradesCatchXpPerk UpgradesAllyAttackPerk
There looks like a new perk system coming to Megas. It appears that some perks will include a shorter cooldown, reduced energy, catch XP, increased XL Candy, increased regular candy, Attack bonuses.
It’s likely the attack bonus is the Mega bonus we already have in raids, and the other bonuses will apply to Pokémon you catch that are the same type as the Pokémon you have mega evolved.
Unlockable Mega Levels and Perks
MegaLevelsUnlockNotificationGuiController ShowMeButtonClicked UnlockablePerkWidget UnlockablePerkBulletWidget
The new levels for the Megas will need to be unlocked, and the perks will be unlocked along with the levels. We’ll have to wait and see what perks get assigned to what levels.
Mega Cooldown Widget
MegaCooldownWidget CooldownPerkDaysParameter megaReadyGlowMaterial megaSprite statusIndicatorButton ACTIVE COOLDOWN OFF_COOLDOWN HasTimer TimerColor TimerDescriptionKey
There will be a Mega Cooldown Widget, and it will glow when its over. The PokéMiners suspect that perhaps we’ll get one free Mega Evolution day maybe?
AnimatedProgressIcon .set_WavePower .get_FullTintColor SetIcon .set_MinNoise .get_MinNoise .set_ProgressEmptyColor .get_MaxAmplitude .set_MaxAmplitude .set_PhasePeriod .set_FillFromTop set_ProgressFillColor .get_FillFromTop .get_ProgressFillColor .set_FullTintColor .get_ProgressEmptyColor .set_Frequency maxAmplitude minimumNoisePower waveShapePower progressIconImage SetMaxLines
The cooldown widget will have an animated progress bar that will show the cooldown progress back down to 0.
Tutorial
megaEvolveFirstTimeMessageContainer MegaLevelsFirstTimeTutorial MEGA_LEVELS_TUTORIAL
You didn’t think we were going to get a new feature without a tutorial did you?
Route Maker Updates
Route maker was first discovered in the game code way back in version 0.147.1 way back in June of 2019!
Icon/Badge
The above icon solidifies the PokéMiner’s suspicion that this will be the badge for the Route Maker. The Blue, Green, and Red being recoloured for the actual badge.
Installer
RoutesInstaller routeWalkingPokestopStatePrefab routeWalkingGymStatePrefab tempRouteChoicePrefab tempRouteChoiceViewPrefab routePlanPoiListGuiPrefab routePlanPoiListItemViewPrefab routeValidationGuiPrefab nearbyRouteListItemPrefab routeFinishVerifyWaypointGuiPrefab routeSubmissionConfirmedGuiPrefab
Looks like the Routes will get an install function, like AR+, so it won’t bog down the APK for people who aren’t interested in this new feature.
Finish / Edit Routes
RouteFinishVerifyWaypointGuiController EditRoute
A flag to verify when you finish a route. You’ll also be able to edit routes, I assume you’ll only be able to edit routes you created.
Route Activities
BasePoiActivityState Niantic.Holoholo.PoiActivities OpenTradeActivityState OpenGiftActivityState OpenCompareActivityState GiftTradeActivityState PokemonCompareActivityState PokemonTradeActivityState
These are linked
Gym NPC’s
CreateRouteActivityNpc RemoveRouteActivityNpc
These have been added to the gyms on the map. It appears that if you have a gym on your map you can have an NPC appear at the gym for anybody who’s on the route you’ve created. Perhaps to start one or more of the activities available for routes.
Route Stamps
LIST_ROUTE_STAMPS
A function for seeing all of the route stamps you’ve earned.
PvP Refactor Updates
Dedicated QA Server
combatQaServerHost
It looks like Niantic has added a server dedicated to PvP Quality Assurance.
Time Sync
CombatTimeService get_CombatTimeSyncAttemptsRequired get_CombatTimeSyncEnabled timeSyncProto COMBAT_SYNC_SERVER COMBAT_SYNC_SERVER_RESPONSE
This appears to be a new syncing system added to PvP. The game will keep track of you local time along with the time from the server to help keep your match in sync with your opponent.
Token
TokenFieldNumber SubscribeFieldNumber ProbeFieldNumber ClientOsFieldNumber get_TokenExpireTimestamp set_TokenExpireTimestamp serverTimestamp get_Topics downstreamAction SetListener topics Unsubscribe DEFAULT_TOPIC_LIMIT QueueSubscribeRequest UpstreamCallbacks PendingUpstreams
Getting a Token to talk to the server, and it looks like there is a new topic section that will allow the client to subscribe to different types of messages. The client can also queue up those subscribe requests.
Stop Charge Attack
COMBAT_STOP_CHARGE_ATTACK_EFFECTS
A new WebSocket event type, presumably for stopping the effects of a charge attack that shouldn’t happen based on the state of your match.
PvP Combat Log
VerboseLogInfoGuiController VerboseLogSection ClickUpload raidToggle battleToggle hasLogsSubtitleColor noLogsSubtitleColor hasLogsButtonColor noLogsButtonColor READY_TO_UPLOAD UPLOAD_IN_PROGRESS
This will likely function similarly to the raid combat log system that already exists, and will show up in the same section.
The log will send a plethora of information back to Niantic. The PokéMiners have been able to deobfuscate a lot of it:
- Your specific battle ID number
- Which League you battled in
- Which NPC you batted against (suppose this log is used for more than just PvP, can also be used for Rockets)
- Your entire Pokemon team and the opponents which include:
- Which unique Pokemon is battling
- It’s Pokedex ID
- CP
- CP multiplayer
- Max HP
- All three of its moves
- Everything about the display attributes of the Pokémon (if it’s a costume, if it’s a Mega, if it’s shiny, what form it is, if it’s weather boosted, etc)
- Its IVs
- How many battles it won and lost
- It’s nickname
- What Pokéball it’s stored in
- When the battle started and when it ended
Interesting that they want to know what your Pokémon’s nickname is (watch your language), and what Pokéball it’s stored in. I can’t think of why they’d want that information, but I’m not a software engineer so what do I know…
Adventure Sync
PermissionManagerImpl .get_InUseLocationDevicePermission .get_LocationDevicePermission .get_PreciseLocationDevicePermission .get_FitnessDevicePermission .get_ActivityDevicePermission
A new permission manager for Adventure Sync. This could be related to the new widget that you can put on your home screen for your eggs.
New Widget for Android
The widget that was previously only available to iOS users is now available for Android! The widget will display all the eggs you have incubated and will display your progress towards hatching them.
Subscription Updates
Everybody’s favourite topic! Right? Right?…
get_StorePrice set_StorePrice SkuStorePrice get_CurrencyCode DittoCountryCodeProvider GetCountryCode OnReceivedCountryCode ICountryCodeProvider ShowLegalDisclosureLinks
Nothing super exciting here, the subscription service can now get your local currency and price, as well as the country code. Also, a new setting to display any legal information you might need to see before purchasing a subscription.
Wild Snapshot – Specific Spawns
When you take a snapshot of a Wild Pokémon the game now tracks which Pokémon species and which specific spawn you took that snapshot of.
The only application where this makes any sense would be at in-person events, where you get a quest to take a snapshot of a very specific spawn. Like a wild Legendary at Go Fest or something…
Evolving old Costumed Pokémon?
The Miners also noted that under a Pokémon’s settings it can now list multiple costumes that apply to it. For those that are not aware, some of the reused costumes on Pokémon are technically different costumes in the game’s code. This is why flower crown Pokémon or Santa Hat Pikachu always as a silhouette in your nearby when it’s released. Because that year’s costume is a new costume.
This would allow Niantic to apply a new flower crown Togepi costume that can evolve onto old flower crown Togepi that couldn’t evolve, thus allowing you to evolve that shiny flower crown Togepi that you hatched in 2020 and haven’t been able to evolve…
*cough* sorry. I digress.
Wearables
get_WearablesConnectionVersion
Niantic doesn’t typically refer to the Go Plus devices as “Wearables.” So this is odd. Niantic AR Pokémon Go Glasses confirmed! (For legal reasons, that was a joke)
64 Bit Changes
GetIs64BitOperatingSystem TwoLetterISOLanguageName RuntimeInformation
Back in 2020 Niantic announced that it was going to drop support for 32-bit Android devices in August of that year. However, it reversed course shortly after stating they were going to take some time to investigate “player concerns.”
I suspect the pandemic played a large part in delaying this for so long. Either way, this is the first action we’ve seen on this front since way back then.
Parting Words
That’s all for now folks, lots of interesting stuff in this one. There looks like some interesting stuff coming to Mega Evolutions! I’m excited to see what happens, and what these new updates bring. I am also eagerly awaiting these new routes that they’ve been hinting at for years!
Hints Niantic might finally be ready to drop support for 32-bit android devices is interesting as well, do you have an older 32-bit android device? Let us know in the comments below!
Until next time trainers, stay safe out there!
