It’s almost impossible to believe that a year has passed since the absolute chaos of Pokémon Go blessed us with its battery-chewing, stampede-inducing gotta-catch-’em-all frivolity, but here we are.
Yep, it’s been a whole year since Pokémon began to invade our lives, bringing along with them squeals of “oh my GOD there’s a Weedle in the garden!”, and people literally clocking in hundreds of kms of walking around trying to find as many pocket monsters as they possibly can.
What’s more mind-boggling to me is that people still get all het-up over the game, long after many of us forgot about the app, save for the intermittent push notifications we’re just too lazy to turn off.
If there was any kind of feeling in the depths of your waters wanting you to log back in to find yourself surrounded by Zubats again, this might be it.
Literally fuck *all* of this.
The team from Niantic are holding an 18-day anniversary event across the whole bloody world as of today, and the first couple of lil’ birthday treats to kick off the party have been released.
First of all, you can now capture an Ash Hat Pikachu, which is a normal Pika, but with Ash’s hat. Does what it says on the box, really.
Cuuuuuuute.
Apparently the little mate keeps the hat as it evolves from Pikachu to Raichu, so if you wanna keep one as cutie Pikachu, well I guess you gotta catch two of them.
You’re also able to get your hands on the Anniversary Box for a discount in the in-game shop, which has a bunch of good and helpful shit for Raid Battles like incubators, Max Revives, Ultra Balls, and Raid Passes.
The event leads up to that massive Pokémon Go Festival planned for Chicago on July 22, and there’s rumours swirling that some legendary pokémon will be released into the wild for people to catch.
I truly hope that Pokémon aren’t like Neopets, because I have not checked in on mine in a good few months.
Happy first birthday, Pokémon Go, I’m sorry we all forgot about you.
Photo: The Pokémon Company.
