Niantic has revealed the featured Pokémon in next month's Pokémon Go community day - and it is none other than the starting form of a beloved powerhouse evolutionary line: Pokémon number 280, Ralts.

via Bulbapedia. Pictured: a baby!

On August 3rd, players will have the chance to grab armfuls of this charming Pokémon, starting at 3pm local time. Not only will this notoriously elusive Pokémon appear more frequently between 4pm and 7pm, any Gardevoir or Gallade evolved from a Kirlia will learn Synchronoise, a powerful psychic move. That is, if the evolution takes place during the eligible time frame: between 4pm and 8pm, as is usual for Community Day.

What's not so usual is that this month's Community Day is happening much earlier than expected. Happening only three days into the new month, it sets a new record for the earliest monthly Community Day to date. Unfortunately, this doesn't leave much time for potential Ralts-collectors to schedule their haul - participating in Community Day can be a time-consuming endeavor, and four days is not enough notice to book those hours off for many players. Hopefully, fans of Ralts can still find a way to evolve at least one Gardevoir during the time frame.

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The psychic type Ralts, called the "Feeling Pokémon," is the starting form of Kalos Champion Diantha's signature companion, Gardevoir. The horns on Ralts' head can sense emotion, and it only reveals itself around trainers with a positive disposition. Down to its appearance, it's reminiscent of a small, shy, over-empathetic child with a bowl cut that covers their head and pajamas entirely too big for their tiny feet who gravitates toward warmth and happiness. This alone has cemented its status as an all-time favorite among many, many fans. The addition of Fairy to its typing was just the cherry on top.

via Bulbapedia

But its staying power as one of the most popular evolutionary lines in the franchise stems from the nature of its evolution. It goes from the small "Feeling" Pokémon Ralts, to the slightly more upbeat, stable "Emotion" Pokémon Kirlia. Then finally, it evolves to the "Embrace" Pokémon Gardevoir, who has access to tremendous psychic power due to its open heart and is said to be at its most powerful when defending its trainer. The fact that Gardevoir remains one of the most powerful and coveted Pokémon in the franchise lends further validation to the idea that empathy and compassion are not weaknesses, but sources of immense strength. It goes beyond being a favorite evolutionary line to represent a cherished philosophy to many fans, who are no doubt ecstatic to see it being featured for this month's Community Day.

So gear up and get ready to get catching! Ralts requires 25 candies to evolve into Kirlia, then another 100 candies to evolve into Gardevoir (plus a Sinnoh Stone to get Gallade). As usual, hatch distances will be quartered and lures will last three hours. And remember; Ralts is only here between 4pm and 7pm local time, so make sure you log into the game on time!

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