With the arrival of July, Niantic has finally revealed the new Field Research Breakthrough reward forPokemon GO, andfans are not pleased. It seems that Larvitar will be claiming the throne after last month’s ground-type, Trapinch.
Although Larvitar is admittedly a popular and powerful Pokemon, fans are unamused that the Breakthrough reward continues to be relatively common. For context, theinitial Field Research Breakthrough encounterswere unique opportunities to catch an elusive (possibly Shiny) legendary inPokemon GO. Fans used to complain that the reward pool contained too many legendary Pokemon, and didn’t offer a fair chance at their favorite.
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Now, the complaint tends to be that rewards have become largely irrelevant to longtime players. What started off as a cute potentialencounter with Flower-Crown Eeveeor Pikachu has spiraled out of control into rewards that’re arguably void of value, like Alolan Exeggutor, or Shinx -especiallyconsidering the fact that previous rewards were historically legendary. Fans were displeased with last month’s Trapinch, although the eventual dragon-type was perhaps a slight upgrade from Shinx. Likewise, Larvitar is a slight upgrade from Trapinch, but the fact that Pokemon Trainers aren’t even receiving additional reward candy has left many upset.
Larvitar is one of the few lucky Pokemon to have been honored with a Community Day, which is a day-long event that makes the Pokemon in question spawn wildly out of control (with a conveniently boosted Shiny rate.) Although Larvitar’s Community Day was two years ago now, players have had genuinely countless opportunities to capture the earthy fan-favorite, and its shiny variation, since then. So in other words, most respectablePokemon GOplayers have had the chance tocatch Shiny Larvitarand stock up on the candy needed to power them up.
Despite Field Research reward drama and a literal pandemic,Pokemon GOcontinues to roll with the punches anddevise unexpected ways to connectits users through their love of Pokemon and technology. Larvitar may seem like yet another lackluster reward, but it is still definitely better than another whelming chance at Exeggutor or Shinx - which is to say, players should continue to voice their concerns. Niantic is listening, though the changes may start small.
Pokemon GOis available now on iOS and Android devices.
