Pokémon Go Halloween Event Could Bring Gen 3 Pokémon

Software development company Niantic, which focuses on building games, is all set to hold yet another annual Halloween event this year where it is expected to finally launch Generation 3 Pokémon. The details about the Gen 3 Pokémon were revealed in a datamine of the Pokémon Go update 0.79.2 by The Silph Road Pokémon Go community.

The datamine revealed the sound files of the ‘cries’ of the next-gen Pokémon, including those of Deoxys along with the Gen 3 badges. The information was found in the game’s patch, which revealed a loading screen with the Pokémon. The game has a new loading screen nearly every three months, which are often based on upcoming in-game events. Last year’s screen featured a Gengar Gen 2 Pokémon in the run up to Halloween.

“With the Gen III sound files and species entries now firmly in our client app, and the new splash screen showing Gen III species in the Halloween aesthetic, we're putting our money on getting Gen III in time (or during!) the Halloween event,” The Silph Road said on its Reddit page.

The datamine adds to a series of hints about the next-gen Pokémon, which surfaced in previous Pokémon Go events. The most important highlight is the upcoming event may only have Halloween themed Pokémon — Ghost and Dark Type pokémons.

Gen 3 Ghost and Dark Type pokémons include:

• Shuppet
• Banette
• Mega Banette
• Duskull
• Dusclops

All of them have been featured in the loading screen artwork, which also shows a trainer surrounded by pumpkins, also related to the Halloween theme. However, he wears a Mimikyu hat, which could also be a hint for the release of the pokémons — Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

The update is also expected to add Johto Legendary pokémon and Mewtwo but it is likely to skip Celebi, Delibird, Ho-Oh, Mew, and Smeargle.

Gen 3 Pokémon were born in 2002 and were available first in Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance handheld video game players. The whole series is comprised of 135 pokémons including Treecko, Torchic and Mudkip. The update is also expected to have a new Pokédex, which goes up to number 386, as well as Halloween-themed music, along with a “Lavender Town” theme.

Niantic is yet to put out any confirmations about the launch of Gen 3 Pokémon, but chances are the company may host the event on the same dates as the last year — Oct.26 —Nov. 1. The company rolled out Gen 2 Pokémon during the Halloween event last year. The limited release pertained to Baby Pokémon. The company is expected to follow the same trend and release five pokémons during the event and rest of them later.

Gen 3 Pokémon are expected to be better designed than Gen 2 Pokémon and may have more augmented reality-based features.