Pokémon Go 2017: Professor Willow Coming Back, Bringing Gen 2 Pokémon?

Pokémon Go has had a long, profitable run for Niantic and the company seems to be making efforts to continue it as far as it can. While there have been games which have done well for a limited amount of time and then fizzled out (like Flappy Bird), what keeps Pokémon Go at the top of the ladder are regular updates.

We have already seen two updates to the game ­­— the New Years’ Update and the Valentine’s Day update — just a month and a half into 2017. And there is more in store for the rest of the year too. One of the major updates expected to roll out to the game is the Gen 2 update, which is expected to be the biggest update in its history, bringing 100 Pokémon at once.

Much has been previously speculated about the update but there hasn’t been any word from Niantic. Now, it seems the company is finally putting out indications that a big update is in store. The company sent a message to Birmingham Mail on Friday, stating: "Look for another update from us in a few weeks. You may even get a special message from Professor Willow. Remember to be alert at all times when playing Pokémon Go.”

One the face of it, the message does not look too indicative of anything, but the mention of Professor Willow is something that will make Pokémon Go enthusiasts sit up and listen. Professor Willow is the character who starts off the game by handing players their first Pokéball and an appearance of this character could only mean a major update is in the works, which could be the Gen 2 update.

A major update is the need of the hour for the game, as many players have been left underwhelmed by the Valentine’s Day update since it bought just double candy and rare Pokémon, but no new Pokémon types such as Gen 2 Pokémon or Legendary Pokémon.