Good news for those of you who still play Pokemon Go or have been wanting a reason to go back, as Alolan forms are coming to Pokemon Go very soon. If you aren’t aware, the Alolan Pokemon aren’t exactly new pocket monsters for you to collect, but instead, new variations on generation one Pokemon that you already know and love. This means it probably won’t increase the number of entries on the Pokedex but it will give you some new goals.
Pokemon Go Alolan forms hail from the island region of Alola, otherwise known as the setting for the most recent set of games, Sun & Moon and their respective Ultra variants. Through adaptation, certain generation one Kanto Pokemon have developed unique attributes after being introduced to Alola’s varied climate on its four islands.
For example, the typically fiery Vulpix and its evolution Ninetales have become ice types in their Alolan forms due to being in a much colder, mountainous environment. In the picture above, you can see the almost all of the Alolan Pokemon are teased with a few notable exceptions. The ridiculously tall Alolan Exeggutor can be clearly seen alongside others like the aforementioned Vulpix, but Golem, Graveler, Grimer, Ninetails, Raticate, and Sandshrew are missing.
No specific release date was given for the Alolan forms; only that you should begin to see the variants in the next few weeks in Pokemon Go. It is currently unknown if you will need to visit certain locations in the world or play Pokemon Go during certain weather conditions in order to find and capture the Alolan versions of the Pokemon.
In other related news, Pokemon Go shares a common name with the rumored title for the next Pokemon games for Nintendo Switch. The two versions are heavily rumored to be called Pokemon Let’s Go: Pikachu and Let’s Go: Eevee. It is uncertain if the name similarities are intentional or not.