In Pokémon GO, you can now search for the new Zygarde cells for a few days. However, this is currently frustrating trainers. We at MeinMMO will show you what the problem with the cells is and what change players are now demanding from the developers.
What game content is it about? In Pokémon GO, you can use a new feature: Routes for just over a week. With this, players can create special paths that other trainers can then follow. Once you complete these routes, you will receive various rewards, such as experience points, hearts with your buddy, or special badges.
But that’s not all. On the routes, you can also collect so-called Zygarde cells. You need these to improve the Pokémon Zygarde, which you receive from the special research From A to Zygarde
.
However, players are having difficulties with the cells and are now demanding an important change. We will show you what it is.
Trainer loses Zygarde cell due to route end
What is the problem with the Zygarde cells? Anyone wanting to solve the special research for Zygarde must collect the corresponding Zygarde cells. You can find these on the new routes in the game. At least that’s the theory, as getting them is not so easy.
As many trainers report on social networks, the cells appear rather irregularly. While some players are lucky and manage to collect a whole bunch of the new item, others are left empty-handed. The quick disappearance of the cells also causes frustration among players.
The Reddit user ROFLcoptr501 explains in his post that he has experienced that the new cells tend to spawn near the end of a route. However, this has its pitfalls, as getting too close to the end PokéStop ends the route and the cell is gone. He writes:
Based on observations and the experiences of others, it seems that the best way to get a Zygarde cell is to slow down at the end of a route and not get too close to the end PokéStop until you collect the Zygarde cell. I’ve had a lot of luck with this strategy, because sometimes I slow down near the end of the route and spend almost a whole minute wandering around near the end PokéStops, and as I get closer to the end PokéStop, the green sparkle may appear. But today I had a case where the green sparkle literally appeared for half a second, then the route ended and it disappeared. Honestly, that’s such a terrible player experience that I wonder how this feature was tested, if at all.
ROFLcoptr501 via reddit.com
Trainer demands change: After this experience, ROFLcoptr501 wishes for an important change regarding the Zygarde cells from the developers. From his perspective, these should rather be a reward for completing the route in the future. He writes (via reddit.com): Niantic, please ensure that you receive the Zygarde cell as a reward at the end of the route, OR make sure that the cell doesn’t disappear immediately after the end of the route.
Trainer find approach dangerous
Further criticism of the Zygarde cells: Other players have also had this experience that ROFLcoptr501 describes. After they often only had the chance to get one of the Zygarde cells near the end of the route, it immediately disappeared with the automatic ending of the route.
Overall, some trainers find it annoying to constantly have to watch their smartphone or feel that they might miss one of the Zygarde cells while catching monsters. These can spawn, with a bit of luck, also at the beginning or in the middle of the route, as individual players confirm.
Some also find this approach dangerous, as not all routes go through parks or forests, so players may not perceive their real environment properly while constantly staring at their devices. For this reason, many would welcome a change. Comments like the following can be read (via reddit.com):
- ucdxelvis:
Exactly that happened to me today. And I really hate staring at my phone all the time. I would be willing to settle for an additional highlight (like shiny, tiny, big animations), but please, please, please reward us automatically with the cells at the end of the route.
- RabidRathian:
I had assumed it worked in such a way that I would automatically receive them at the end of the route, but after I completed a route yesterday, I checked the quest and the task to collect a cell was not completed. No idea when or if a cell appeared at all, since I was actually trying to catch Pokemon for Community Day. It feels like I was punished for trying to use one of the main functions of the game instead of just walking and staring at my device without interacting with it.
- MarinaBlu:
I had a cell that appeared after 2/3 of the distance, but it was on a busy sidewalk and I was walking briskly. When I tried to click on the cell, it did not appear anymore, and even when I went back, it did not reappear. The game currently demands that we stare at the screen the entire way; otherwise, we risk not picking up the cell in time. Most routes in my city do not go through a park, so it is very dangerous to focus solely on the screen, as we have to avoid other pedestrians and cross the street (usually in heavy traffic). Hopefully, Niantic will adapt how to get the cells because it’s not safe to follow most of these routes while staring at the screen.
- Posaune:
The cell should only be given as a reward for completing the route.
Whether Niantic will change the collection of the new Zygarde cells again remains to be seen for now. If there are new information, you will find out from us at MeinMMO.
What is your experience with the Zygarde cells? Have you been able to secure any already? When did they appear on the route? Or have you had less luck so far? Please feel free to write it to us here on MeinMMO in the comments and share your thoughts with other trainers.
The problems surrounding the Zygarde cells are not the only issues trainers are facing with the new feature. The route feature itself has several bugs that the community is complaining about.
