The Pokémon GO Fest Finale 2022 was supposed to bring Ultra Beasts, Shaymin, and the end of the Willow story. But the big mystery ultimately fell flat, says MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.
I don’t know about you, but: I just love it when a game manages to tell a captivating story. And yes, I realize that Pokémon GO is not exactly the game where you should expect a gripping narrative.
I was all the more surprised when the real-world monster-collecting game really took some bold steps in June 2022.
Suddenly an exciting story: After years of research, storytelling, and consultation, Professor Willow, the number-one contact for trainers in Pokémon GO, suddenly disappeared. The character who guides new and old trainers through the game, manages research, and introduces new elements, was just gone.
In his place was Rhi, a mysterious member of the “Ultra Research Team,” with the goal of investigating the new wormholes and preventing a possible invasion of Ultra Beasts. Rhi also told us that Willow was “stuck somewhere in the Ultra Dimension” – exciting!
Normally, I quickly click through the quest texts and only occasionally read what the professor has to say. But this upheaval was so striking that I thought: There might be a really good story here.
But the story just didn’t take off.
A strong start fizzles out – what a shame
What made the beginning so good: I always find it exciting in Pokémon GO when something unexpected happens. For example, when Meltan suddenly appeared everywhere or when huge numbers of Bidoof started to invade the game over the course of a week. You really feel like something special is going on. Often things go more like “on the side.”
The story of the missing professor also started with exciting elements. On the one hand, there was the striking replacement by Rhi, but also things like the new “Ultra Gates.”
Sure, they work just like raid eggs – but hey, at least Pokémon GO tried to integrate elements of the story into gameplay.
In the following weeks, Rhi told us more and more about the Ultra Beasts and pointed out that our research could help save or at least find the professor.
Anticipation slowly built up – after all, it was to be expected that the GO Fest Finale would also feature some kind of “story finale.” I was curious how Pokémon GO would handle this.
The first problems: Already during these weeks, the story started to show slight cracks. The reason was quite simple: Rhi took the lead at events like the Community Day with Kapuno, but at the research breakthrough or the conclusion of older special research tasks, a familiar face appeared: Professor Willow was still haunting the game and appeared on trainers’ smartphones as if nothing had happened.
Well, Rhi just wasn’t programmed in. What a shame, because it would have made it clearer that we were currently fighting a problem and that the professor was indeed gone.
Return at the finale: The GO Fest Finale took place over the weekend and was supposed to bring the final installment of the Willow story as announced. I was curious how we would find and save the professor.
The answer: Not at all. Rhi handled it herself and wrapped the story up in a few sentences.
Good news, Rhi told us: After analyzing the wormholes, the professor was found and brought back. Without our great efforts, this would not have been possible. I mean… did we do anything?
After that, Willow also spoke to us. The good man apparently had quite an adventure, as evidenced by his heavy adventurer jacket and new glasses. He also said himself that he had experienced a fantastic adventure but now wanted to go to sleep.
Sounds super exciting. It raises the question: Why were we not there?
That’s it already? While it was exciting to read the story about the professor, gameplay-wise we were basically doing the same thing as always – catching Pokémon in the wild, battling monsters in raids.
In terms of the story, the most interesting part was what happened after the event: Briefly, the professor spoke of a presence of the sun and moon on his adventure – and suddenly Sunflora and Lunatone spawned endlessly after the finale. However, this will probably only be a teaser for what the Season of Light will bring.
With all this buildup, it was surprisingly little. I don’t expect the entire map in the game to be transformed into the Ultra Dimension – but that we didn’t have to do anything at all to save the professor, I didn’t quite expect. Anyone who just clicked through the text probably didn’t catch much of the story.
Even in the Pokémon GO subreddit “TheSilphRoad” there is discussion about the return of the professor and his, well, cooler appearance. It is humorously commented that he is obviously an evil version from another dimension.
And I admit: If this is all just a trick, the story continues, and in the end, it leads to an epic boss fight against Fake Willow to save the real professor – then I said nothing. But I doubt it.
What do you think of the Pokémon GO story about the professor? Did it interest you, or do you not pay attention to what is in the quest texts anyway?
If you enjoy puzzles, you can currently take a crack at the teasers for the new Season of Light.
