After a year of random Gen I Pokemon and repeats of old shines, I'm pumped for Pokemon Go Community Day. That's because in June, Gible will be the featured Pokemon, fulfilling a fan wish from 2019. It feels like a sign that the pandemic-induced restrictions are coming to an end, and that Pokemon Go's monthly event can actually be a big deal again.
For the longest time, Community Day was a celebration of the most popular Pokemon. Starters like Charmander and Treecko appeared in their shiny forms, as did powerful "pseudo-legendaries" like Dratini and Bagon. These chances to grab multiple shinies, something never before seen in Pokemon games, played out in a certain order. Dedicated players could predict which Pokemon would get the spotlight next. That level of routine might sound boring, but the pattern is what made it exciting. The hype was real when you knew your favorite was coming up soon, and some players even took Community Day off from work. Then Covid happened.
Pokemon Go is a game designed around going outside and meeting friends, yet suddenly everyone was told to stay inside. Developer Niantic deserves praise for how it adjusted to the worldwide lockdowns. It quickly pivoted to offering free daily items and Pokemon spawns, as well as tailoring challenges so that they could be completed from the safety of your couch. It was all very well done, except for Community Day.
Community Day was canceled in March 2020, a sensible move in the first month of lockdown. What followed were Community Days based on fan votes, with the contestant Pokemon being random picks like Rhydon and Weedle. The vote was a smart way to keep players engaged in uncertain times. Things started to slow down, however, when it was revealed that both the first and second place Pokemon would get Community Days. A second vote followed, turning a neat idea into four months of stalling. A later Community Day featured Magikarp, a Pokemon that had already been plentiful as a shiny in multiple previous events.
This trend into 2021, with both January and February Community Days highlighting Pokemon that had been shiny for months. But finally, a year later, Niantic revealed that March 2021 would star Fletchling. It was the first time a Pokemon from Pokemon Go's newest generation would be featured. We were looking to the future instead of the past, a sign that Community Day might move forward once more.
Sure enough, April saw the Grass-type starter Snivy take the spotlight (something I personally wanted very badly). Then Gible comes in June. Granted, May has an odd detour with Swablu (albeit with its awesome Mega Evolution), but hints of the classic pattern are there. We got a starter and a pseudo-Legendary. Could shiny Tepig grace our phone screens in July? And maybe Axew in the Fall? I think so, because it looks like Pokemon Go Community Day is ready to be hype-worthy once more.