When Pokémon Go Fest was announced for the city of Chicago, many players were bummed that they might miss out on the first live event for the game. Turns out, July 22nd is going to be a worldwide spectacular where everyone can participate.
Folks in Chicago will get perks of course, including increased monster encouters, special challenges and raids, new medals, and unique eggs. The challenges, however, will not rest entirely on the shoulders of the players within Chicago. Here’s Niantic:
During the day, there will be three Challenge Windows in which Trainers everywhere will work alongside those in Chicago to unlock global rewards. During the Challenge Windows, Trainers in Grant Park will attempt to unlock perks for Pokémon GO players around the world by catching certain types of Pokémon. Each Pokémon- type will be tied to a different perk, so Trainers at the park will need to carefully choose which Pokémon they catch. Will those in attendance try to catch Electric-type Pokémon to reduce the distance required to hatch Eggs, or Grass-type Pokémon to increase Stardust bonuses, or other Pokémon- types to secure a variety of other bonuses? Join in the action and find out!
Meanwhile, Trainers outside of Chicago will attempt to catch as many Pokémon as possible during the Challenge Windows to extend the duration of the bonuses unlocked by those attending the event. If Trainers around the world catch enough Pokémon, a mystery challenge will be unveiled in Grant Park that, once completed, will unlock an extra-special bonus across the globe.
The teamwork aspect of this sounds rad. Kotaku will be in Chicago reporting on what happens first-hand, so I’m curious to see what players will choose to unlock. This whole thing sounds like Pokémon Go’s “true” anniversary celebration.
Here’s a closer look at the potential challenge rewards and times:
In other news beyond Pokémon Go Fest, Niantic announced that it is also making the Safari Zone real. As many of you know, the main games have special areas where all sorts of rare monsters spawn. They’re going to apply that same concept...to shopping malls, of all things:
August 5, 2017
Fisketorvet—Copenhagen, Denmark
Centrum Cerny Most—Prague, Czech Republic
August 12, 2017
Mall of Scandinavia—Stockholm, Sweden
Stadshart Amstelveen—Amstelveen, The Netherlands
September 16, 2017
CentrO—Oberhausen, Germany
Les Quatre Temps—Paris, France
La Maquinista—Barcelona, Spain
And finally, because this game doesn’t have enough damn electric rodents in it, Japan is going to get a “Pikachu Outbreak” event from August 9–15th.