Pokemon Go will have a special Halloween event from October 26th through November 1st. (Niantic)
Pokemon Go Hub discovered that generation three Pokemon are coming to Pokemon Go this Halloween after performing a datamine of the 0.79.2 version of the game.
Not only have Pokemon Go Hub found almost all of the required files for the Generation three Pokemon including audio files as well as a new Badge entry added in reference to the Gen three Pokedex entries, but a brand new Halloween 2017 loading screen features ghost type Pokemon from gen three. The Pokemon seen in the loading screen are Sableye, Duskull, Dusclops, Shuppet and Banette as well as the dark/flying type Murkrow from gen two. The only thing missing are new moves and abilities, but all the other static assets are there.
NianticThe loading screen for Halloween 2017
In addition, they found code referencing Halloween music for nighttime as well as big chunks of code changed for bug fixes and new debugging and tracing tools.
Gen three Pokemon (the ones from Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald) were first discovered in a datamine of the 0.71.0 version of the game last August. A list of the names for all 135 Pokemon from the generation were found in the game’s code as well as a list of 73 new candy families. There was no evidence of sound files or new moves at that point.
Niantic CEO John Hanke recently told Taiwanese magazine Business Weekly that “there is a lot of Pokemon that have not yet been launched,” as reported by Sunday Express.
“So I think the next secret weapon will be the launch of the next Pokemon generation,” Hanke continues. “I hope the players will soon see them.”
Gen two Pokemon were added to the game on February 16, 2017 and the existence of them was found by Pokemon Go Hub three months before.
Earlier in October, The Pokemon Company teased the arrival of a new Halloween event for Pokemon Go. Many believed the phrasing of the article suggested that brand new Pokemon were coming to the game during the event.
Last year’s Halloween event increased the spawn rate for “spooky” Pokemon and also granted players extra candy for catching, transferring, and hatching Pokemon, so we can expect these effects to return. The event also lasted from October 26, 2016 to November 1, 2016, so we also expect a similar time frame for this year’s event.