Niantic has rolled out a big new update for Pokemon Go, which finally implements two commonly requested features–trading and friends lists–to the mobile game. On top of allowing players to send Pokemon and items to each other, the update introduces several new Alolan Pokemon, which can only be obtained through the gifting feature.
As its name suggests, the gifting feature allows players to give and receive special Gifts. These are collected by spinning PokeStop discs and can be sent to other players on your friends list (they can’t be opened by the player who first obtained them). The Gifts include “a stash of helpful items,” among them new 7 km Eggs, which will hatch into the Alolan form of a Kanto Pokemon.
At the moment, four Alolan Pokemon are available through the 7 km Eggs: Grimer, Vulpix, Sandshrew, and Meowth. Niantic has also confirmed that an additional two Alolan Pokemon–Diglett and Geodude–will begin appearing around the world during the weekend of Pokemon Go Fest, which takes place on July 14 and 15.
Alolan forms were first introduced in Pokemon Sun and Moon for 3DS. These have a different appearance and type than their Kanto counterparts; Alolan Vulpix, for example, is an Ice-type rather than a Fire-type. 18 Gen 1 Pokemon have Alolan forms; you can see the full list, along with their new types, below:
- Rattata (Dark/Normal)
- Raticate (Dark/Normal)
- Raichu (Electric/Psychic)
- Sandshrew (Ice/Steel)
- Sandslash (Ice/Steel)
- Vulpix (Ice)
- Ninetales (Ice/Fairy)
- Diglett (Ground/Steel)
- Dugtrio (Ground/Steel)
- Meowth (Dark)
- Persian (Dark)
- Geodude (Rock/Electric)
- Graveler (Rock/Electric)
- Golem (Rock/Electric)
- Grimer (Poison/Dark)
- Muk (Poison/Dark)
- Exeggutor (Grass/Dragon)
- Marowak (Fire/Ghost)
The first Alolan form to appear in Pokemon Go was Exeggutor, which was available for a brief period of time last month to coincide with the announcement of Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee. Following the new update, Alolan Exeggutor can once again be found in the wild, although it is much rarer than it was during its initial run.
In addition to the new Alolan forms, two rare Pokemon–Lunatone and Solrock–have swapped regions to celebrate the Summer Solstice. A new Legendary, Regice, can also now be found in Raid Battles until July 19. The remaining two Legendary titans, Regirock and Registeel, will begin appearing in the game later this summer.
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