Can you believe that today we are celebrating 8 whole years of Pokémon GO?! It has been a wild time! As is tradition, Pokémon GO have released an incredible piece of art to commemorate the occasion, featuring a variety of different Pokémon, and potential teasers for what is to come. This year’s art appears to have a heavy focus on Gen 8, fitting for the 8th year of Pokémon GO!
Like last year, this year’s anniversary art is drawn by Yusuke Kozaki (@kymg on Twitter), who is also in charge of character design for Pokémon GO, and it is brilliant!
One thing to remember, is that just because a Pokémon or feature is teased, does not mean it is coming to Pokémon GO any time soon. The seventh anniversary art featured Alcremie, Hatenna, Mimikyu, Corviknight, Hisuian Lilligant, and Hisuian Goodra, none of which are in GO a year on.
Galarian Pokémon
Pokémon GO fans will be very excited to see that Galar Pokémon feature prominently in the artwork!
The Galarian starters are some of the Pokémon that are missing from GO that seem to be most requested on social media. With the Gen 9 starters already in game, Galar felt quite skipped over, so fingers crossed this means we will finally see them debut!
A variety of other Galar Pokémon feature that have already been released into GO, but hidden amongst them is another that isn’t yet, is Morpeko! Morpeko has two forms, Fully Belly Mode and Hangry Mode. It changes mode during battle, so it will be interesting to see how this mechanism works in Pokémon GO.
| Fully Belly Mode Morpeko | Hangry Mode Morpeko |
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Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon
Featured directly in the centre of the image, is Wartortle that appears to be Dynamaxing! Dynamaxing is a temporary battle effect that was introduced with Gen 8 in Pokémon Sword and Shield, that affects the size and appearance of Pokémon, and allows them use of a special move known as a G- Max Move. Some Pokémon are also capable of Gigantamaxing, which is a special form of Dynamaxing, with only 32 different species having access to Gigantamaxing. There has been recent speculation that both Dynamax and Gigantamax will come to GO soon, thanks to datamines that seem to hint at it.
If you don’t know much about Dynamax and Gigantamax, here’s how it works in the main series!
Other Pokémon and NPC
The characters featured here may seem random, but with hindsight, we can see that Mateo was actually featured way back in the sixth anniversary art, so they may not mean anything to us now, but they could in the future!
Featured to the left of Wartortle, we can see a character cooking, who appears to be wearing Team Yell clothing, the villain team in Pokémon Sword and Shield. They are fans of gym leader Marnie, and interfere with those attempting to beat her. Another teaser for Galar?
Outside of the characters, we see a large amount of already released Pokémon, including the brand new Dawn Wings and Dusk Main Necrozma, who will see their global release during GO Fest Global 2024 next weekend.
Plenty of Paldean Pokémon are shown, including Armarouge, Ceruledge, Greavard, Annihilape, Pawmot, Bombirdier, Floragato, Bellibolt, Crocalor, Baxcalibur and Cetoddle.
PhD Pikachu also makes an appearance, who was recently released as a reward for winning 100 Pokéstop showcases.
Noivern, Delphox, Pikachu, Gengar, Axew, and Hisuian Decidueye are also depicted, and currently available in GO.
Conclusion
So what does this art mean for the 8th year of Pokémon GO? A potential focus on the Galar region, which has widely been missing from GO since it was first released, a new feature in Dynamax and Gigantamax, a new team to battle? We can’t be sure, but it certainly looks like the Galar region is about to make a major impact!
What do you hope for the 8th year of Pokémon GO? Let us know!
