As a part of the 7th Anniversary for Pokemon Go, Niantic has released an official post on the official Pokemon Go Website pointing out many of the Year 6 highlights. And while it's good and fun to look back over the content released through the last year, the real highlight of this news post absolutely has to be the official anniversary celebration image, pictured above.
It's a pretty busy image and is easy to just overlook without a thought, but it's actually a gold-mine of not-yet-released content. And if the previous years of murals along these lines have taught us anything, it's that this is very likely a teaser for upcoming Pokemon that we can expect to see in the coming days. While it's not hard to analyze this image at a glance, we've taken it upon ourselves to take a look and see what type of not-yet-released content we could find, and highlight what it could mean for us in the potentially near future.
Confirmed Information
The Pokemon and information in this section are all already confirmed, but they are worth a mention due to their prevalence on the banner.
The most obvious Pokemon worth mentioning in this section are Mega Tyranitar and Mega Rayquaza; these are set to be two of the absolute best Mega Evolutions, and their impact on the game will definitely be significant to say the least. Mega Tyranitar stands to be the best Dark Type Mega Evolution and one of the best Rock Type Mega Evolutions, while Mega Rayquaza is set to ascend to the throne of the Dragon Types, and also potentially rule Flying types by a very wide margin.
But what about Snorlax? It's been around since day-1, so it shouldn't be here at all, right? Well, Snorlax is here to highlight the long-awaited (and less than greatly anticipated) Pokemon Sleep, which is apparently set to release soon. It's not exactly exciting for many of us, but it's still upcoming content, so it's worth a mention.
Kalos
Running back to Generation 6, we now have confirmation of some new content related to good old Kalos, with several not-yet-released Pokemon released prominently on the banner.
To start with, featured very prominently in this artwork is Zygarde, 10% Forme. This dog-like Pokemon is actually the most basic forme of the Legendary Pokemon Zygarde (Cells and Cores don't count, as they aren't catchable/usable in the main series), which later has access to its 50% and Complete forme. The latter in particular could potentially weigh very heavily on the Master League, as it has an HP total near Chansey's level, but with much, much better Attack and Defense. For now, only the lackluster 10% forme is shown, and Niantic has a bad habit of treating Pokemon with forme-change capabilities as entirely different Pokemon, so we'll have to see what becomes of Zygarde in the future.
Next up is a duo of Rock/Fairy Type Pokemon, Carbink and Diancie. Carbink is a rare but regular Pokemon, meaning it will probably show up as a rare spawn and as part of events. More interesting here is Diancie, which is a Mythical Pokemon said to be related to Carbink, yet not via any evolutionary/forme ties. We speculated that Diancie was on its way for Go Fest 2023, as did just about everyone that looked at the logo, but this pretty much confirms that it's on its way. But more important than Diancie is the fact that we may also see Mega Diancie in the semi-near future! This is the Rock Type Mega Evolution, even surpassing Mega Tyranitar in many scenarios, so we have a lot to look forward to on that front!
Alola
If I'm being honest, Alola is probably my all-time favorite Pokemon region, and we've got at least a little love for this friendly archipelago in our new banner.
Naganadel is an Ultra Beast, and a bit of an interesting one at that. This Dragon/Poison Type monster has the potential to pretty much rule the non-Mega Poison meta (for whatever that may be worth), but it's also unique among Ultra Beasts as it has a pre-evolution: Poipole. This means that its release-method is a bit up in the air, but I'd wager that we'll see Naganadel drop as a raid boss first, then Poipole drop for events later.
After these Ultra Beasts, we come to the fan-favorite Mimikyu. This little guy may not be super-meta, but holy cow is it loveable!
Galar
Even though Galar saw its grand release last year, we still have a treasure-trove of new Pokemon to catch from this region.
Among the Galar Pokemon teased here, the two big ones are Corviknight and Hatterene. However, neither is super-likely to make massive waves. Corviknight has some potential in PvP, and Hatterene is basically another Gardevoir in practice if given the right moveset, but both are pretty popular, so it'll be fun to see them here.
The other Pokemon here is Alcremie, which is shown in two different formes here... two out of sixty three potential formes that it has access to in the main series! And that isn't even counting its Shiny formes! Yeah, Niantic is going to milk this Pokemon for a loooong time.... pun intended.
Hisui
We've already got a few Hisuian formes in Pokemon Go, but here come some more!
Two more regional evolutions of existing Pokemon, Hisuian Goodra and Hisuian Lilligant show up on our banner as well. Steel/Dragon and Grass/Fighting Types respectively, both are potentially interesting new Pokemon to add to our collections in Pokemon Go.
Paldea
Get ready for Generation 9! Paldea is featured prominently here in the form of the starters, but they're not alone!
The most prominent Pokemon from this region are the three starters; Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. Starters are always an exciting prospect, but we can definitely top them this time, as we also have Paldean Wooper! This happy little Poison/Ground Type is a popular little new-comer to the series, with a unique evolution in Clodsire. Say what you want, but it's definitely going to be great to see a Paldean Wooper on the map!
Look to the Future
According to recent press-released, most of Niantic's games aren't doing super-well, with several outright closing or being cancelled. However, Pokemon Go is definitely their cash-cow, so it's not hard to imagine that they'll re-double some of their efforts here. Hopefully the new year for Pokemon Go brings new possibilities, and hopefully we'll see some great new content in the near future. In the meantime, why not drop by our Discord and say hi? We'd love to hear what you have to say about what's potentially right around the corner!
