Trainers, Niantic has just lifted the curtain on Ultra Bonus Unlock, announcing what our tireless summer research project has yielded. Professor Willow’s Global Challenge has ended and now three distinct events are unlocked in September:
- Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres in raid battles from September 13 at 1:00 PM PDT until September 20
- Features increased Kanto spawns worldwide and new Kanto specific raid bosses from September 13 – 30
- Related guides:
- Mewtwo is joining regular raid battles on September 20 at 1:00 PM PDT and lasts until October 23 at 1:00 PM PDT
- No word on Shiny Mewtwo, and no word on Mewtwo day, we guess this is a Mewtwo month?
- Related guides:
- Farfetch’d, Kangaskhan, Mr.Mime and Tauros will be available in 7 KM eggs, allowing everyone to complete their Generation 1 Pokedex entries.
- According to the Japanese version of the official article, only Eggs picked up from Sept 13th, 1 PM PDT – Sept 30 will contain Gen 1 Regionals
- Related guides:
Our take on the Ultra Bonus event
Are we disappointed? No, we are really not. Ultra Bonus has been touted as a massive Research breakthrough, and it really is massive, spanning throughout entire September and featuring iconic Pokemon and, finally, Mewtwo. That’s not bad, especially for Trainers who really couldn’t participate in the EX invitation system and it also clears up some room for Deoxys to appear in the EX invitation system.
On the other hand, the introduction of Generation 1 regionals to 7 KM eggs is a magnificent way to promote walking, hatching and it alleviates a lot of complaints people had with the regional system. Not to mention that it actually makes hatching 7 KMs eggs exciting again.
We can’t complain, this is a rather expected but very thorough reward. Is it revolutionary? No. Does it give us the same things we had before? Sure. But it also makes clear that everyone will have the chance to complete their Pokedex regardless of their ability to travel.
We’re happy, but we’ll be even more happy if Niantic plays this right and silently releases all Generation 1 shiny forms. Niantic, if you reading this, do the right thing. Make this the best month ever, because everyone needs a shiny Rapidash in their life (check out our Massive Pokemon GO leak reveals shiny models for Gen 1 and Gen 2 Pokemon, Kecleon and Gorebyss article for more info).
