Pokémon Go Solstice Event: Fire-Type, Ice-Type Pokémon, More XP, Lucky Eggs And More

Pokémon Go completes one year of its release Tuesday. The augmented reality game, which took the world over by storm in July 2016, is still popular among gamers, although it no longer has the kind of buzz it had when it started. Niantic stated in a post on the Pokémon Go blog that the game has reached 750 million downloads in its first year of existence.

To celebrate the milestone, Niantic will hold some in-game and real-world events over the next couple of months, starting with its Solstice Event on Tuesday.

Read: Pokémon Go Makes Players Happier, Friendlier, More Physically Active: Study

The new event will have several highlights:

Fire-type Pokémon: Fire-type Pokémon are elemental type Pokémon, which are pretty rare. They are made for short battles and can be negated by water-type Pokémon. It has high offensive and low defensive capabilities. The power of fire-type Pokémon increases 50 percent during sunlight and decreases 50 percent during the rain. These include Charmander, Charmeleon, Ponyta, Flareon, Charizard, Moltres and Salandit among others.

Ice-type Pokémon: Ice-type Pokémon are one of the rarest types of Pokémon since there have been only 43 in the whole series. They defend well, but are weak in offense. While some are based on real-world creatures such as Yak, others are mythical. They are effective against grass-type Pokémon but are vulnerable to fire-type, water-type and most importantly, other ice-type Pokémon. Notable Ice-type Pokémon include Jynx, Lapras, Ninetales, Articuno, Sneasel and Dewgong among others. It’s defensive capabilities are enhanced during a hailstorm.

More XP: Players will get more XP if they are able to throw Poké Balls accurately.

Lucky Eggs: Lucky Eggs will be available at a discount in the in-game shop.

Collaborative game play: Niantic also declared it will be shutting down Pokémon gyms for a short time, when it introduces collaborative game play.

Real-world events: The company also announced the first real-world Pokémon Go event, which will be held in Grant Park, Chicago on July 22. The tickets for the Chicago event will be available starting June 19, 1 p.m. EDT. It also said it would be holding celebrations in Europe from June-September in partnership with Uniball-Rodamco shopping centres.

A special “Pikachu outbreak” event will be held in Yokohoma, Japan in August, where the company says it will be “exploring a unique Pokémon Go experience.”

Read: Pokémon Go Might Be Used As A Common Core Learning Tool In Classrooms

Pokémon Go has come a long way since it launched. From being just a smartphone game, it has actually become a tool for fitness as it makes players walk around to find Pokémon nests and capture new Pokémon. In fact, its use as a Common Core learning tool is being explored by the Iowa State University School of Education — since it is very popular with kids and encourages them to be more active, it can serve as a multi-modal tool.