With updates, activities, events, and more coming out every single week in Pokémon GO, we thought it was about time to take a look at this week, and how it stacks up with what we have seen in previous years. “This Week in Pokemon GO History” is a series on GO Hub that takes a look at this calendar week throughout 2016, 2017 and 2018.
This week we will be taking a look at week 41 of this year, which takes into account October 8th to October 14th.
Week 41 of 2018
Besides the Female Pokémon Event, this week of 2018 was actually pretty easygoing, most Trainers just went to continue on their Psychic Spectacular catches, so overall this was a pretty slow week.
Female Pokémon Event
In the midst of the Psychic Spectacular Event, Niantic announced and started a very limited and special event. Although there was no formal name given for said event, a few things are certain. For one, this celebration is a direct response to “International Day of the Girl Child”, and to celebrate, Niantic increased the Spawn of our more female Pokémon such as Luvdisc, Clefairy, Wobbuffet, and finally, Nidoqueen, for a total of 24 hours. Speaking of Nidoqueen, its shiny variant was introduced, bringing the first instance of an evolved shiny being discover-able in the wild.
AR Garden
While Trainers worldwide were out and taking AR pictures with the newly added AR+ on Android devices, Niantic was hosting a brand new AR Playground in Mori Garden in Tokyo, Japan. Setting it apart from any past AR experience playgrounds, the AR Garden also included a sound system to really put Trainers into the genuine Pokémon experience.
Game Data Changes
Easily one of the biggest changes we have seen, this week brought us 18 brand new moves, all of Generation IV, new Background tracking, and the integration of AR+ on multiple Android devices.Along with this we also saw the addition of two new cries for Meltan, leading us to believe that one belongs to its evolution.
Week 41 of 2017
This week of 2017 is where the ball started rolling with Pokémon GO, with more events and more fun coming around the corner.
Safari Zone: Stockholm and Amstelveen
Like other european Safari Zones, these Safari Zones gave Trainers an exclusive in-game medal, special 2Km eggs, all-day Lures, and some rare Pokémon such as Kangaskhan, Chansey, Larvitar, and Unown! Along with this, Trainers also had a better chance at finding Shiny Pikachu and Shiny Magikarp!
Link to original release notes
Game Data Changes
With Halloween being right around the corner, Niantic decided to surprise Trainers by adding Generation III! Although this wasn’t Generation III sprites, these changes brought about code referencing Generation III Pokédex Entries, the new Halloween loading screen, and audio assets.
Week 41 of 2016
With nothing that newsworthy going around at the time, we have to pile up everything from this week of 2016, together.
Mini-News
With no real heavy changes this week, we have to look at the little things. This week included the addition of Pokémon no longer spawning while travelling at a certain speed, although this was initially met with outcry, in the long run, it was for safety reasons.n Besides this, a new update was rolled out which substantially fixed the battery life issues.
Final Notes
It’s fun to see what Pokémon GO has gone through over the past years, but what about you, Trainer? Has your Pokémon journey continue to grow? Or did you stop for a while? Do me a favor, take a look at your best Pokémon you got this week, now look at what your best Pokémon was a year ago, and then two years ago. Send us your pictures in the comments below and tell us about how your Pokémon journey has gone!
Curious to see how this week stacks up compared to last week? Take a look at Week 40 of Pokémon GO history here.
Have fun, and stay safe, Trainers!