After years of waiting, Kecleon has appeared in Pokémon GO. While it’s not particularly helpful, it is one of the most exciting monsters in the game, thanks to its special release. The game could use more of this, says MeinMMO author Max Handwerk.
One of the longest discussions and puzzle-solving inquiries in the history of Pokémon GO has ended: “When will Kecleon come?”, “How does Kecleon land in the game?” and similar questions were finally answered over the weekend after the Community Day with Igamaro.
Now, the rare chameleon can be collected by spinning certain PokéStops where it hides in its invisible form.
This form of encountering Kecleon is quite unique, and there is little comparable in Pokémon GO. Additionally, the monster was just thrown into the game without much prior announcement – a real surprise, especially given the long discussions.
This small feature, however, gives the game a much-needed boost of excitement and surprise. Because even though Kecleon is quite useless in the game, it will be memorable to players. Niantic should keep this in mind – and plan for more surprises.
Kecleon is weak in Pokémon GO, but cool
What can Kecleon actually do? Looking at Kecleon in Pokémon GO, it is relatively uninteresting. As it stands now, it has no utility as a raid attacker, nor is it a useful team member for the battle league.
In the main series games, Kecleon has the special ability “Color Change,” which allows it to turn into the respective types of the attacks it is hit by. Another hidden ability called “Transformational Art” works in the opposite direction and turns it into the type of its own attacks that it uses.
However, in Pokémon GO, these abilities do not exist, which causes it to lose a considerable part of its uniqueness. So only the long-built hype around Kecleon and the eventual release of the monster remain in the players’ memories.
Yet, with that, it has achieved much more than many other monsters.
Special releases like Kecleon breathe life into Pokémon GO – Please, more of this
Do you remember the release of Meltan in Pokémon GO? When everyone suddenly wondered what that blob was that was crawling around on the map? Or the not-so-distant release of Gierspenst, which suddenly chased you and sent you on a coin hunt?
I think Kecleon will also rank among these, even though it really doesn’t do anything in the game: as a special monster that feels less interchangeable than many of the Pokémon in the game that have no place in players’ attacker teams.
And above all: As a monster that has managed to surprise me and create a memory. Unfortunately, many of the Pokémon in the game are simply fillers that you catch once for the Pokédex entry and then don’t pay further attention to.
Do you remember the release of, let’s say, Eguana? I don’t. Yet, every new release actually represents an opportunity to create curiosity.
What makes Kecleon better? With Kecleon, the game has succeeded in giving a monster a personality, thus allowing it to stay in players’ minds. Simply by making the release itself a surprise and giving it a special feature.
Most Pokémon get an “event” upon release, or at least celebrate their release within a special event. The Kecleon surprise, however, was something truly special. Especially for players who had no prior announcement or anything, finding a Kecleon must have been a joyful surprise.
Given that Pokémon GO no longer brings waves of monsters today but instead releases new monsters individually, this is a system that Niantic should use more often.
Imagine a new ground monster digging through the earth, and you had to catch it in the wild while it was digging before it disappeared. Or a new flying Pokémon chasing across the screen instead of just fluttering around in one spot.
If a Pokémon can’t do anything, at least make it cool. That definitely encourages the desire to go out and discover new monsters.
A second opinion: My MeinMMO colleague Franzi Korittke has also shared some thoughts on the release of Kecleon:
Like many other players, I have eagerly waited for the release of Kecleon in recent years and am very excited that I could finally complete my Platinum Medal for Hoenn.
However, I somehow expected more from the release of the little chameleon. After all, Niantic made a big deal about it in interviews and planned a very special debut for Kecleon. With this background, I found the release right after a Community Day to be less spectacular and honestly expected a standalone event instead.
Nevertheless, I think it’s cool that the developers came up with something special for Kecleon. You can’t just find it in the wild or in raids; you have to specifically look for it at the photo disks of the PokeStops. This makes the search for the little monster a bit more interesting and varied.
Franzi Korittke
Author at MeinMMO
Survey on the Kecleon Release in Pokémon GO
We want to know from you: What do you think of the Kecleon release? Participate in our survey:
What do you think of the Kecleon release? Was it a cool surprise for you, or did it disappoint your expectations after all these years? Did you expect a standalone event? And what do you think of the monster itself? Let us know in the comments!
By the way: If Kecleon does not appear for you, Team Rocket may play a role. Here you can find out everything about the issues with Kecleon and the Rocket Radar.
