The new Pokémon GO update 0.97.2 for Android and 1.67.2 for iOS prepares the game for encounters with Mew.
Trainers, the new update 0.97.2 for Pokémon GO is currently rolling out and is being released gradually for various regions. So far, there has been no official announcement from Niantic about this, but data miners have already been busy. The new research feature, known in the community as “Quests”, is making its way into the game through this update. Additionally, mythical Pokémon are being added.
Update 0.97.2 prepares for Quests – APK Mining
The developers at Niantic prepared us on Monday that trainers will soon be able to participate in research. These researches are tasks where you need to catch Pokémon or spin PokéStops to complete them. For this, you collect stamps. Once seven stamps are reached, you achieve a research breakthrough.
In the data mining, the experts from TheSilphRoad examined the new update 0.97.2 and showed what has changed with the update.
Professor Willow returns
Professor Willow, who has already explained a lot to you at the beginning of your Pokémon GO career about the little monsters, is back. It seems that the professor is out and about with his team and reaches you with actions in the game that resemble a FaceTime call. He can show various emotions, appearing happy or even impatient.
It seems that collaborating with the professor on the quests will be entertaining. By the way, Willow also appears in the new loading screen of the Pokémon version:
Two new badges
In the APK, data miners found hints about new badges.
- One relates to the challenges (Quests)
- the other badge relates to encounters with Mew
It is suspected that the Quest badge will be activated directly on Friday when the research starts for the trainers. Because the graphic for it has already been found.
The graphic for the Mew badge has not been found yet. This could indicate that these encounters will happen later.
Mythical Pokémon
Before this update, there was a value for Pokémon in Pokémon GO called “IsLegendaryOrMythic”. This determined whether a monster is legendary or mythical. In the new update, the individual values appeared
- IsLegendary
- IsMythic
While this is just a small change, it indicates that Pokémon GO is preparing for mythical Pokémon like Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Deoxys.
New monster encounters with Mew
If you achieve a research breakthrough, you have the chance to encounter a legendary Pokémon. Players assume that this encounter will unfold differently than, for example, a raid. And it seems that the update confirms this assumption. There are two new encounter values in the code that clearly differentiate between a Mew encounter and a research encounter
- ResearchEncounter
- MewEncounter
As the data miners from TheSilphRoad explain, there are additional details related to the MewEncounter. However, they do not want to share these because the encounter should be a magical moment for the trainers.
Poké Balls will no longer be “remembered”
A few patches ago, the catch mechanics in Pokémon GO changed slightly. The game remembered which ball you used last and selected this as the default ball for the next encounter.
It seems that this change was unintended, as it was removed from the game again.
16 options for Quests
A large list of possible options for the new quests can be found in the new update. Clearly, it all starts on Friday.
Variety will be ensured in the quests. The following options are probably aimed more at beginners or players who are not yet familiar with Pokémon GO.
- MULTI_PART – Multi-part Quest
- CATCH_POKEMON – Catch Pokémon
- SPIN_POKESTOP – Spin PokéStop
- HATCH_EGG – Hatch Egg
- COMPLETE_GYM_BATTLE – Complete Gym Battle
- COMPLETE_RAID_BATTLE – Complete Raid Battle
- COMPLETE_QUEST – Complete Quest
- TRANSFER_POKEMON – Transfer Pokémon
- FAVORITE_POKEMON – Favorite Pokémon
- AUTOCOMPLETE – Auto-complete
- USE_BERRY_IN_ENCOUNTER – Use a berry in an encounter
- UPGRADE_POKEMON – Upgrade Pokémon
- EVOLVE_POKEMON – Evolve Pokémon
- LAND_THROW – Land a throw with a ball
- GET_BUDDY_CANDY – Earn candy with a buddy Pokémon
- BADGE_RANK – Badge rank
- PLAYER_LEVEL – Player level
Additionally, the code contains another list of various factors for quests. These are probably aimed more at advanced players:
- PokemonType – Pokémon Type
- PokemonCategory – Pokémon Category
- WeatherBoost – Weather Boost
- DailyCaptureBonus – Daily Capture Bonus
- DailySpinBonus – Daily PokéStop Spin Bonus
- WinRaidStatus – Won Raid
- RaidLevel – Raid Level
- ThrowTyp – Throw Type
- WinGymBattleStatus – Won Gym Battle
- SuperEffectiveChargeMove – Very effective Charge Move
- Item – Item
- UniquePokestop – Unique PokéStop
- QuestContext – Quest Context
- BadgeType – Badge Type
- PlayerLevel – Player Level
Additionally, there are the values “Story_Quest” and “Challenge_Quest”, which are probably just descriptions for field research and special research.
Quest Rewards
The following seven rewards are apparently available as rewards for completing quests:
- Experience Points
- Item
- Stardust
- Candies
- Avatar Clothing
- Quest
- Pokémon Encounter
For players in the village, Pokémon encounters as quest rewards should be particularly good. We expect there to be monsters that can also be found in raids. Since these are hardly found in the village, this would be a great opportunity for village players to update their PokéDex.
So we can look forward to the new quests, their challenges, and rewards. What do you think of the outlook on the new feature?
In April, the next Community Day in Pokémon GO starts and it brings Voltilamm.
