What Would Mega Evolutions Entail for Pokemon Go?

In the recent Pokemon Presents video, Pokemon Go was given a small section. In it, we are informed that Go Fest, a normally local event in various cities, would be made completely digital. A new legendary Pokemon, Victini, was also teased to be released in Pokemon Go. But more importantly, we were treated to a brief trailer which very clearly suggested that we are getting Mega Evolutions. In 2020, apparently. The Pokemon Go section ends with viewers being told that Mega Evolutions will be added based on Pokemon Go’s unique gameplay.

But what does this mean for Pokemon Go?

Well, frankly, who knows? What we know so far is very, very limited, apart from the fact that it’ll be “unique”.

While Mega Evolutions are incredibly powerful, they actually got phased out of the main games, somewhat replaced by Z-moves. Only for both Mega Evolutions and Z-moves to be phased out and replaced with Dynamax. Most likely, all three types of special move will probably be replaced by a new gimmick in generation 9 Pokemon.

But Pokemon Go on the other hand has different battle systems and tends to… borrow these phased out things. After all, there haven’t been Shadow Pokemon in the main games for ages, but Shadow and Purified Pokemon are a good chunk of Pokemon Go’s content. While the Pokemon Company does control a lot of what Niantic can do with the IP, it’s possible (but unlikely) that we could get permanent Mega Evolutions. They’ll be expensive though, almost certainly.

Either way, unless they’re stupidly hard to get, Mega Evolutions will completely shake up the current Pokemon Go meta, both in raids and in PvP. Because Mega Evolutions have massive stat boosts and even different typings. Assuming they’re added as they are in the main games. It’s not always a one to one comparison, so Mega Evolutions might be nerfed significantly or made hard to obtain, simply so that other Pokemon have a chance to be used.

Should we prepare?

I mean, I would, but I don’t know how to prepare. We don’t know how exactly we’re going to get Mega Evolutions.

So this could mean anything from seeing Mega Evolutions in raids, to having to spend 500 candy, to the effect being cheap to unlock but only available in raids. A lot of theories right now is that Mega Evolutions will be tied to Best Buddy status, but that means taking a long, long time walking one Pokemon or spending tons of berries on lots of Pokemon. Really, it takes about a month to get a Pokemon to Best Buddies.

But luckily, we do have plenty of time. Hopefully. The announcement for Pokemon Go simply said 2020. Which means that could be anything from next week until December 31st. So, if I were you, I’d pick your favourite Pokemon and start working towards making it your best buddy.

Or I might be completely wrong about the whole Best Buddy thing and they’ll just appear in raids. If that’s the case, then I’d just get some raid passes.

What about the other stuff in Pokemon Presents?

Eh, I dunno. The Isle of Armour DLC seems cool but it doesn’t seem to add much aside from Legendaries and Galarian Slowpoke. But if I’m genuinely honest, Pokemon Smile seems pretty damn creepy. I don’t know, something about it seems very off-putting and I don’t like it at all. I honestly don’t have any comments on Pokemon Cafe Mix, aside from the fact that the art style looks neat.

A new Pokemon Snap game though is great. It’s been, what, 20 years? There’s going to be a ton of nostalgia fueling that game. Sure, taking pictures of Pokemon is kinda weird, but it’s nowhere near the levels of using Pokemon to help kids brush their teeth or monitor sleep or things like that.

Seems a bit sad though that I’m only really interested in the Pokemon Go stuff, but oh well.