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Pokemon Go players brace for another year of augmented reality playing to be set by Niantic. Men play Nintendo Co.'s Pokemon Go augmented reality game on their smartphones during the Pikachu Outbreak event hosted by The Pokemon Co. on August 9, 2017 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. A total of 1, 500 Pikachus appear at the city's landmarks in the Minato Mirai area aiming to attract visitors and tourists to the city. The event will be held through until August 15. Getty Images/Tomohiro Ohsumi

It is a brand new year for "Pokemon Go" players, and 2019 promises another year of goodies and surprises. But perhaps what augmented reality gamers should look forward to the most are the rumored strange things about to happen in the Hoenn region.

A recent newsletter sent out to all "Pokemon Go" trainers included a special note on the New Year Surprise, according to Serebeii.net. It seems that the upcoming changes will affect the migration of certain pocket monsters, although details were not divulged.

For those who have been playing "Pokemon Go" for a while now, this hardly comes as a surprise. Nintendo Life suggested that this may have something to do with regional exclusives swapping places in the game. In the past, Seviper and Zangoose switched places, same with Solrock and Lunatone. Should this trend be followed, other Hoenn region exclusives like Torkoal, Relicanth, Illumise, Volbeat and Tropius may be up for relocation.

Aside from that, there is a lot to look forward to for "Pokemon Go" this January. There is the January Field Research which will welcome the entry of two new Pokemon Legendaries. According to Game Spot, players who are able to complete enough tasks to achieve a Research Breakthrough will get the chance to face some Legendaries, speculated to be Ho-Oh or Lugia.

The two Legendaries may not necessarily be new for folks who have religiously played the hit augmented reality game from Niantic. They both appeared during a special Raid weekend last month but left on Dec. 17.

Regardless, to keep players busy, the best way is to make sure that one is able to spin the PhotoDisc one will come across at Poke Stops. The goal is to see if one is lucky enough to get a Field Research Task which a player must complete each day. Seven stamps are needed for one to get a Research Breakthrough.

Aside from that, there is the ongoing Adventure Sync Hatchathon 2019 event to look forward to. This is similar to the one held last November, although the bonuses this time around will be smaller. This includes:

  • Increased Drops of 5km and 10km Eggs from Pokéstops/Gyms
  • Double Hatch Candy
  • Double Hatch Stardust

So far, there are no known modifications to the egg pool of 5 KM and 10 KM eggs, although the 2 KM eggs have gotten a boost. The event will run from Jan. 2 starting at 8:00 a.m. EST to Jan. 15 at 4:00 p.m. EST, according to Pokemon Go Hub.

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