Gen 2 has hit Pokémon GO with loads of new stuffs to get us hooked on to the game once more! We have new Eevee Revolutions, new special evolution items, 80 brand new Pokémon, new opportunities for Gen 1 Pokémon to evolve into new Gen 2 Pokémon and loads of exciting new moves. This means that the entire game dynamics is set to change and you can now bring your game to a whole new level! Read on to find out more about these updates and how you can use it to your advantage.
See Less Of Gen 1 & More Of Gen 2 Pokémon
More than 80 Pokémon are added to the game but exactly of how often they show up are still being formulated. But Niantic knows that folks wouldn’t be terribly excited for Gen 2 if your usual Rattata and Pidgey kept showing up so they skewed the numbers a bit. Roughly 70 – 80% of spawns are Gen 2 right now, which means they’re being weighted very heavily by Niantic. It’s unclear how long this trend will last so take advantage while you can.
Critical Captures & More Animation
Besides the new ball/berry selector, “Critical Captures” was also introduced into the game, where you will sometimes snag an instant Pokémon catch on a single shake. Critical Captures could be the capture bonuses provided by medals. Plus, you now get a 50 XP bonus if your first ball catches a Pokémon. This happens decently often, so it’s a nice little general XP boost. Last but not least, you may notice that certain Pokémon have new move animations you haven’t seen before. Keep an eye out for these.
No Double Berries
Two new types of berries, one that slows the movement of Pokémon so they’re easier to hit, another that gives you double candy for a capture. They join the original berry which lets you catch the Pokémon easier.
While everyone’s first idea to stack all three berries, the moment you see something you really want, Niantic isn’t making it that easy. You have to pick which berry effect you want active because only one will work at a time. This is indicated by a little berry icon by the Pokémon, and you can only apply one per breakout cycle. Choose wisely. I have to believe that most of the time the original berry will be preferable, but I can definitely see occasions to use the double candy berry instead.
Catching Evolved Pokémon Gives Bonus
Instead of the usual 3 candies, a 2nd stage evolution will give 5 candy, and a 3rd stage will offer 10 candy. This should motivate you to catch those Pokémon you might have avoided because of the resource sink, but now they’ll help with candy for XP and evolutions. A very welcome change here. You may also be getting more Stardust as well but we are not sure on exact amounts.
Gen 2 Babies Now Found In Wild
With the arrival of Gen 2, Gen 2 babies expanded into the wild as well. While you will still hatch them as the “base” level from eggs, all of them are now in the wild, including rare ones like Togepi, so keep an eye out.
Lapras Got Downgraded By Market Forces
You might be confused why your Lapras suddenly got knocked out of your list of high CP Pokémon. Gen 2 saw many moves rebalanced or removed but Lapras seems to be the onlyPokémon to have its CP re-evaluated. Hence you may see yours lose as much as several hundred CP. This will prove disappointing to those who wasted many, many hours walking their buddy to earn candy for upgrades.
Gender May Be Big In Future
There are a few visible changes like a male Gyarados with blue whiskers or a female Raichu with a non-pointed tail. While gender currently means nothing right now, you may want to start collecting both a male and female version of each Pokémon. You never know … Pokémon GO may introduce breeding in the future, and you’ll wish you had two parent Pokémon when that happens.
Gen 1 Pokémon With New Evolution In Gen 2
With the release of Gen 2, some Pokémon which previously came with no evolutions now get their first while others with existing evolutions now get additional or split evolutions. We have compiled a comprehensive list on the Gen 1 to Gen 2 Evolution, please read our post: Eevee Revolutions & Other Gen 1 Pokémon With New Gen 2 Evolution
Special Items & How To Find Them
Each of these items corresponds with one or more specific Pokemon evolution. The following items connect with the Pokemon listed beside them – in addition to the candy they require, which is almost always 100.
Sun Stone + Gloom = Bellossom
Sun Stone + Sunkern = Sunflora*
King’s Rock + Poliwhirl = Politoed
King’s Rock + Slowpoke = Slowking
Metal Coat + Onix = Steelix
Metal Coat + Scyther = Scizor
Up-Grade + Porygon = Porygon2
Dragon Scale + Seadra = Kingdra
All special items, including the evolution items and the berries, can be obtained at Pokestops. But the drop rate for the evolution items appears to be pretty low when compared to the drop rate for the new berries. If you’ve been visiting Pokestops and haven’t received any special items yet (especially evolution ones), don’t despair. Try again!
New Eevee Revolutions
Staying true to the anime, if you use these names based on the trainer who owned these Eevee Evolutions in the anime. You can choose the evolution you want, however, you should know this will only work ONCE.
Change Eevee Name Tamao to Umbreon or Change your Eevee Name from Sakura to Espeon
It will cost 25 Candies just like the current evolution
We hope you find the above information on Gen 2 useful. Do share with your friends and also your thoughts in the comments section below!
