Pokemon Go

[io]

Got the Onix/Scyther evolution item today!  I went with Scyther first so I have a pretty decent Scizor now.

I also evolved a few things to try to get the best attackers:

https://pokemon.gameinfo.io/en/pokemon/list/top-attackers

I got the Gengar, Machamp, and Flareon with only 2 tries on the Flarion and 1 on the others.  That Machamp isn't even powered up that much (I ran out of Machop candy) but it destroyed two Snorlax in a gym I was prestiging, including my own 2960 one.

Edit: 7-day stop streak gave me and both of my kids evolution items.  I got the Seadra one this time.  My son got the Porygon one and thanks to his better luck hatching stuff he was able to evolve one.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

You'd think the Gen II drop would be more exciting for me, but other than taking my stock pile of Chansey candy and powering a Blissey up to max (a bit above 2900 for level 32), the changes to the slow / charge attacks on the existing 'mons killed a fair amount of the buzz.

I was interested in seeing how the new Gen compared to an equal metric of the Gen 1 heavy hitters, but instead everyone is starting off fresh.  A large portion of the Gen I evolves now have legacy movesets, and not knowing which are the more efficient ones puts a damper on the past 7 months or so worth of investment.

On the whole, it seems like the new movesets for Gen 1 are superior to the legacy movesets.  There are certainly exceptions, but you can't always rely on your usual suspects to take down enemy gyms, or more importantly prestige your own team's.

Probably the biggest letdown was the low drop rate for the evolution items.  So far I only got the Up-grade for Porygon 2, the one I'm least prepared for (I have 33 candy, but no Porygon with decent IVs and level).  I guess the idea is to make them less common to add to their novelty, but only Scizor seems to be gym competitive anyways, so they shouldn't be afraid to make them a bit more common.

For the Gen II 'mon rarity, I've only seen Stantler on the radar once for rare, and I see TONS of Snubbulls and Spinaraks.  At least the Snubbulls will help get me a gold Fairy medal, and if I happen to evolve to a Granbull with Play Rough (the only fairy move on that freakin' thing) he could have some use in my rotation.

 

[io]

For the Gen II 'mon rarity, I've only seen Stantler on the radar once for rare, and I see TONS of Snubbulls and Spinaraks. At least the Snubbulls will help get me a gold Fairy medal, and if I happen to evolve to a Granbull with Play Rough (the only fairy move on that freakin' thing) he could have some use in my rotation.

We haven't seen any Stantler but I did hatch one yesterday. On a run yesterday we also caught the following new ones: Octillery and Qwlfish and got enough Snubbull candy to evolve Granbulls. Then today I found a Skarmory. My son's phone died and by the time he got it powered back up it was gone. But that made up for the Wobuffet I missed yesterday because my phone was showing no service (while his was fine). That seems to happen often with my iPhone 7 and I have to power it off and back on to get it to work. It despawned right as I clicked on it . I'm hoping those aren't as rare as they seem.

I am flat out of stardust. After getting those new movesets and powering stuff up I ran though all my stardust. I just leveled up (hit 33) and I have a bunch of things to max out and the stupid stardust is holding me back. I did make my Gyarados a nice even 3000 though which is nice.

So as a result I've been using my Pokémon Go Plus like crazy just to catch stuff for stardust. But since power ups are in the 7000 range now, that means 70 catches for each power up. Ugh. And I had my first new Pokémon casualty today. When we got home my son said there was a Cyndaquil nearby so we went out to get it but it didn't show up on my phone. I checked my Journal and it had run while I was clicking the Pokémon Go plus on our way home a few minutes before. So I missed out on that one which is pretty rare around here, apparently.

Last night I had a new Pokémon show up on the Sightings that I couldn't find. I forgot to screen cap it but looking online I really can't figure out what it was. It might have been a Donphan but the silhouette is really hard to identify, especially since no sites seem to be showing the actual sprites yet - they all seem to use the same cartoony ones that don't match what the game has. It looked like a Kabuto with two antenna. And no it was not Hoppip since we have lots of those.

 

[Rig]

Snubbull is very rare in this area; I still haven't seen one.  My friend in CO, who I will be visiting in March, says they are his most common. 

Haven't seen a Totodile yet etther.  Have both the other starters.

Oh yeah...in complete worthlessness:  I COMPLETED THE TINY RATTATA MEDAL!

Seen:  2814 Caught:  2240

I'm never catching Rattata again!

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Last night I had a new Pokémon show up on the Sightings that I couldn't find. I forgot to screen cap it but looking online I really can't figure out what it was. It might have been a Donphan but the silhouette is really hard to identify, especially since no sites seem to be showing the actual sprites yet - they all seem to use the same cartoony ones that don't match what the game has. It looked like a Kabuto with two antenna. And no it was not Hoppip since we have lots of those.

So far I have been using Silph Road Pokedex to check the silhouettes. The main page has the original in-game sprites, but if you click on each one individually they have the Pokemon Go sprite animation.

 

[io]

Snubbull is very rare in this area; I still haven't seen one. My friend in CO, who I will be visiting in March, says they are his most common.

Haven't seen a Totodile yet etther. Have both the other starters.

Oh yeah...in complete worthlessness: I COMPLETED THE TINY RATTATA MEDAL!

Seen: 2814 Caught: 2240

I'm never catching Rattata again!

Snubbull aren't too common here either but there are nests for them. We've gotten a few Totodiles but it is definitely the Cyndaquil family that is going to rare around here, just like Charmander before it.

So far I have been using Silph Road Pokedex to check the silhouettes. The main page has the original in-game sprites, but if you click on each one individually they have the Pokemon Go sprite animation.

Yeah, I can't tell from that. The pictures there, as elsewhere, do not match the in-game pictures - at least as they are when they are silhouettes. Even when I click on them. It wasn't Mareep as one of those spawned on my house today and it looks like a cloud with a tail. This thing was smooth. I suppose it could have been one of the Unowns. There would be 26 different silhouettes for those, right?

What I want is a sight that shows the silhouettes and says what they are! Or at the very least what they all look like as "Sightings" or "Nearby".

 

[io]

Also, apparently Corsola has been confirmed as being south of 31 degrees latitude only.  That is an interesting border, because it means areas of Texas and Florida that have Tauros will still have Corsola.  Further south it changes from Tauros to Heracross.  But that means people in, say, central Florida, get access to THREE exclusives.  That sucks.

I might be in Tucson, AZ next month.  Tucson is at 32.3 or something.  Nogales, AZ which is as far south as you can get without going into Mexico and is an easy drive from Tucson, is 31.34.  !  Those bastards couldn't have made it 32 degrees!?

Eggs since Christmas event: Magikarp, Squirtle, Lapras, Squirtle, Bellsprout, Magnemite, Growlithe, Geodude, Bellsprout, Dratini, Spearow, Ponyta, Charmander, Cubone, Growlithe, Staryu, Voltorb, Squirtle, Horsea, Oddish, Pichu, Cubone, Staryu, Psyduck, Onix, Magby, Geodude, Growlithe, Geodude, Hitmonlee, Krabby, Machop, Meowth, Pichu, Ponyta, Diglett, Oddish, Weedle, Paras, Ponyta, Tentacool, Growlithe, Krabby, Magenmite, Staryu, Slowpoke, Psyduck, Drowzee, Nidoran (F), Meowth, Diglett, Bellsprout, Exeggcute (first "new" egg), Krabby, Staryu, Onix, Exeggcute, Pichu, Exeggcute, Smoochum, Igglybuff, Machop, Machop, Doduo, Doduo, Nidoran (F), Meowth, Vulpix, Stantler, Staryu, Rhyhorn, Vulpix, Phanpy, Oddish, Drowsy, Paras, Phanpy, Diglett, Sudowoodo, Natu, Drowzee, Snorlax, Rhyhorn, Exeggcute, Igglybuff, Nidoran (F), Pinsir, Mareep, Wooper, Vulpix, Tangela, Nidoran (M), Staryu, Wooper, Larvitar, Natu, Gastly

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Yeah, I can't tell from that. The pictures there, as elsewhere, do not match the in-game pictures - at least as they are when they are silhouettes. Even when I click on them. It wasn't Mareep as one of those spawned on my house today and it looks like a cloud with a tail. This thing was smooth. I suppose it could have been one of the Unowns. There would be 26 different silhouettes for those, right?

What I want is a sight that shows the silhouettes and says what they are! Or at the very least what they all look like as "Sightings" or "Nearby".

Hrm, a cloud with a tail... my best guess would be Dunsparce.

And keep in mind some of the animations don't include the effects, like for example I was trying to identify something I missed, which turned out to be Quilava. The shape threw me off since I was expecting flames or something, but apparently its not included on the sightings silhouette.

Also as of yesterday afternoon they did plenty of rebalancing on the quick moves, gym battling is back to its previous state, not the clunky mess it was with all moves being 1s cooldown or greater.

 

[io]

Yeah I figure either Dunsparse or one of the Unowns.

Today I got 2 more new ones: Shuckle and Sneasel.   There are nests for both in our little town now with the Weds nest change.   We could only find one of each at the nests but that's enough for now.

We've had 3 of the new 10km egg Pokémon spawn on our house so far: Sudowoodo, Mareep, and Pineco.

Have yet to find the big prize yet: Larvitar (or Tyranitar).

Oh and our favorite neighborhood GPS spoofer is at it again.  He had a Heracross in a gym today.  Earlier he's shown off all the regional exclusives and right after the Japanese Lapras event ended he put a Lapras in like 5 different gyms.  He's been careful not to show those again but we know what he's up to .

Edit: And... Just saw my first Tyranitar in a gym.  It wasn't the spoofer but someone I've never seen before.

 

[Rig]

Have you reported the spoofer? Niantic has a form you can fill out.
My friend hatched a Larvitar...wish I could get that lucky!

I did get a Tyrogue last night. New one for me!
EDIT: Second one now!

 

[io]

I haven't reported him.  And last night he put an Ampharos in a gym.  We've seen one Mareep so far...  But he hasn't been as annoying about taking over every gym in town like he used to, so unless he starts doing that again regularly I'm not going to report him.

We went to the mountain biome area again last night.  It is a little frustrating that they get so many more spawns than we do in the grass biome.  They seem to have everything we have (including Sunkern, Sudowoodo, etc) but with a lot of others like Phanpy, Aipom, Chinchou, Swinub, Sneasel, not to mention Clefairy and the occasional Dragonite (and supposedly Larvitar/Tyranitar).  We also caught our first Gligar up there.  As we were driving from one spawn area to another my son saw a Larvitar on the Nearby but it disappeared before we could track it down.

Oh, and I now have two Porygon upgrade items and another Dragon Scale (I already made a Kingdra).  I really need those other ones not more of the same!  At some point I might even have to start throwing these away.

(And why the are Paras still in 5km eggs!?)

Edit: And my first new 10km egg: of course, its a Sudowoodo, which is probably the most common 10km egg Pokémon around here and for which there is no use for additional candy...

Edit #2: Had to run out to pick up my son and apparently I snagged a Dunsparce with my Pogo Plus.  That's the first new thing I've ever gotten with it.  Looking at the silhouette I guess that is what I saw the other day.  In the still shot its flippers are all the way up in the animation so they do sort of look like antenna.  I don't remember the big tail, but that's probably what it was.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Had an interesting 5 min or so play over the weekend, found two back to back Chansey with very low CP each (both less than 50cp), which with the Pinap berries I was able to get another quick 14 Chansey candy.  It felt like the Valentines day event was still on.  Though honestly the Pinap berries are probably the best thing Niantic has added in awhile, makes you actually want low CP rare 'mons to show up.

Still majorly disappointed by the Gen 2 evolve items, still only got the Up-grade from my first 7th day streak, nothing on my second streak.  I read somewhere the drop rate is close to around 0.15% or so, just another way they are artificially lengthening the Gen 2 collection rate.

And aside from a Tyrogue from a 5K egg (which had a high HP stat, so I was able to get Hitomtop after the evo as well), I've had bad luck getting anything Gen 2 from eggs.  Hatching a Gligar from a 10km egg is bittersweet, the new dex entry is nice, but nothing to do with all that extra candy for now...

 

[Rig]

I'd be very annoyed with a 10km Gligar, as I have five or so already from the wild.

Recent 2km was a Pichu.  :/  I still, STILL need Igglybuff.

Found a nearby town with a Houndour nest and had Houndoom within an hour.  I'm at 200 in my Pokedex. 

Pinap berries are indeed the best thing that's happened to the game in quite a while.  Will be exciting to stack those on a double candy week in the future.

 

[io]

Though honestly the Pinap berries are probably the best thing Niantic has added in awhile, makes you actually want low CP rare 'mons to show up.

Still majorly disappointed by the Gen 2 evolve items, still only got the Up-grade from my first 7th day streak, nothing on my second streak. I read somewhere the drop rate is close to around 0.15% or so, just another way they are artificially lengthening the Gen 2 collection rate.

No kidding on the Pinaps and low CP mons. I was really disappointed that I ran into a 989 Dragonaire tonight (especially given that it was under 50% IV). But since it had an orange ring with an Ultra ball I didn't feel like I could Pinap it. I did Pinap a few Dratinis earlier though. This is at the Magikarp parking lot here in Atlanta. Nothing is really different here except maybe a few less Magikarp since there are so many new garbage spawns. But overall I'm not seeing *anything* new here that I haven't seen at home. Its kind of disappointing that you can travel 2000 miles from home and be in the exact same biome.

I'd be very annoyed with a 10km Gligar, as I have five or so already from the wild.

Recent 2km was a Pichu. :/ I still, STILL need Igglybuff.

Found a nearby town with a Houndour nest and had Houndoom within an hour. I'm at 200 in my Pokedex.

I just hatched a second Igglybuff. I have yet to get a Tyrogue though.

Right before I had to go on my trip I found a Cyndaquil nest. But we didn't have much time there and I only got about half what I needed. Otherwise they don't spawn much either at home or here in Atlanta. I'm hoping the nests don't change tomorrow so we can go to the nest next weekend when I get home.

The Atlanta airport had a few Houndours and Slugmas which otherwise aren't in this biome too commonly.

I have yet to see a Larvitar, and have only found one wild Mareep (which spawned on my house). At least my last two 10km eggs have been decent. I got my first ever Snorlax from an egg (I have caught about 12 - but this hatch has way better IVs). And today I hatched a Mareep. So now I have 33 candy. I could evolve the second form but I might as well wait to see if I can find a higher level one. I also caught a second Skarmory today.

 

[io]

Also, the ing Unowns are going to be a pain.  We have yet to find one and there are 26 to catch .

They must be pretty rare because I have yet to see one in a gym either.

Oh and are you guys finding the party hat Pikachus?  I was lucky to find 2 at home before I left but that's been it.  They certainly are not spawning like the Santachus did.

 

[Rig]

In the three Facebook PoGo groups I follow (larger cities), I have seen one person find/announce an Unown.  They were using a lure modulte at the time they said, but I don't know if it actually appeared in the lure (I doublt it).

I've only seen and caught one Pikachu.  Would at least like a pair so I could evolve one.  I got mine opening my game as I left work yesterday.

 

[io]

Yeah I mean I'm here in Atlanta for work and using my spare time around lunch and after work actively looking for Pokémon and haven't found a single Pikachu here yet.  I'm glad I found those 2 at home.  What's funny is that they were both from the same stop and it wasn't a nest area.  We found one, had dinner, then found another at the same stop when we left.  It was odd.  They were both female.  In fact every Pikachu I've found since Gen 2 came out has been female.  All the old ones were male.

I'm getting  A LOT of Magikarp candy now.  I use a Pinap every time so it really adds up.  I can already evolve another Gyarados but I think I'll wait for a better Karp to start with.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

I've caught one Party Hat Pikachu so far, and yes it was female as well.  Recently in egg hatches my last two consecutive 10km eggs were Pineco, which I guess is cool since I was able to get a quick Forretress, but I have a feeling I'm going to be getting alot of those plus Gligar...

For the starters I'm in the Cyndaquil biome, and I see a decent amount of wild spawns that I don't have to go nest hunting.  I've seen and caught three Chikorita, however all of them have been decent CP I didn't Pinap them.   I caught one lone Totodile with a Pinap, and I've been buddying that one ever since, since it doesn't look like they are in the eggs yet.

I've seen Larvitar on the radar once (which since I'm not really familiar with Gen 2 I didn't know it was that until afterwards, otherwise I would of chased it down), and Mareep twice (wasn't able to go after it though).

 

[Rig]

I found enough Pineco in the wild for a 84% IV Forretress.  I have a 10km egg that will hatch today, and I'm very much hoping I don't get one of those.

Dratini (to power Dragonite), Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, or Larvitar would be my most wanted... (so I'm sure to get Mantine).

EDIT:  And I just hatched a Larvitar!  Gave me 24 candy, and it's 91% IV's.

 

[io]

I hatched a Larvitar today too!

I also caught two Partychus, and one was male (report on Silph Road is that spawns have increased as of today).   I also found several Skarmory yesterday and today.  That was odd.

I also had an odd gym experience.  First I was at dinner and I noticed a few gyms go empty and sit that way.  I put a Pokémon in 1 and then went to the others and someone else had put something in by then (but this was several minutes after they were beaten).  Then they all got beaten again and left empty.

Then I went to a completely different area where I can drive slowly and use my PoGo Plus to get lots of stops (old downtown Norcross, GA).  There is a gym in a park there that I've been in before and it usually doesn't last.  But tonight was crazy.   There was a level 8 red gym that I took down by myself.  I put my 3006 Fatlax in there and went back to my loop.  When I came back it was beaten and empty.  OK, so this time I put a Skarmory in.  Did the loop again, and came back and it was beaten and empty again.  This time I put in my Donphan.  Went around again and it was beaten but another Mystic put a Bayleaf in.  I put in something else.  Went on the loop again.  Came back and it was empty one last time so I put in a Partychu.  Did my last loop and came back and it was a level 2 red gym.  I beat that and put a 10 Magikarp in this time.  (And yeah I'm back at my hotel now and just looked and of course my Karp is dead...)

At no time did I see anyone else anywhere near the gym.  These two places were about 10 miles apart but it sure seemed like something odd was going on with spoofers beating the gyms but leaving them empty.  I never see that kind of turnover at home.  It was just bizarre.

Edit: Oh sweet, apparently I picked up a King's Rock from all those stops I spun tonight.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

That gym story is odd, certainly sounds like spoofers to me.  Thankfully (maybe not to Niantic) but the gym scene around here has been pretty stable since Gen 2 released, I can still sneak in a few of my 'mons into the level 10 towers, however the power creep is getting pretty bad around downtown (some of these level 10 gyms have a minimum 3000 CP it seems like...).

For Gen 2 evolve items, I picked up a Sun Stone on a random Pokestop, which turn into my Bellossom, but then shortly afterwards I picked up another Up-grade, which I stopped walking my low IV Porygon to about 40 candies, waiting for a good hatch so I can evolve with the extra candies.  I've yet to hatch a single Porygon though...

I also caught a Flaaffy outside my house yesterday, which I still haven't caught a Mareep yet (everytime I see it on the Nearby I can't run out and get it, seen three so far now).  The Flaaffy was low CP (343), so I was able to Pinap it for an easy 10 candies.

Finally hatched my Elekid, and I did hatch another Dratini out of my last 10km egg.  Churned my Dragonite to about 2500 CP with the candies, the legacy Breath / Claw moveset is pretty fun to attack with.

 

[Rig]

We went as a group to a large city to play all day yesterday.
I caught a wild Hitmonchan! Leaves me only needing Hitmonlee for the Kabuto (aside from regionals).

I also hatched a Tyrogue into Hitmontop, and found another four or so new ones for the Pokédex. Was a good day of playing.
Still haven't maxed out my Dragonite, and he's at 3100-ish CP.

 

[io]

We went for the 4th time to the Clefairy biome to try to find Larvitar.   We failed in that but we did pick up a Togetic from a lure!  That thing was beastly to catch.  It ran from my little kids but me and my older son caught it.  It took me about 30 ultra balls (with a raspberry every time) before I caught it though.  I only had 33 Togepi candy after hatching my only Togepi and walking it for a while.  I'm glad I stopped walking it a while ago.

I got one Larvitar from a hatch but other than that we've seen just one on the nearby one and couldn't find it.

And yet that stupid spoofer in our town has at least TWO of them.  Today he topped two gyms with them and put an Ampharos in another.  The bastard.  (We've only seen one Mareep too).

It seems like we got 90% of gen 2 really easily, but that last little bit is going to be a slog and a pain in the ass.  Oh I did finally hatch a Tyrgoue the other day, but it isn't max HP so no Hitmontop for me yet.

I'll be in the desert in a few weeks so maybe we'll actually find one there in the wild.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Nothing much of interest for me recently, I've gotten used to the common / uncommon / rare Gen 2 'mons for my biome, so now I'm back to nest hunting to try and catch what I know won't pop up randomly.  Also hatched my 2nd Gligar, so... yay?

For Gen 2 evolve items I finally got a King's Rock, now I have a semi-useless Politoed (maybe I'll use him for prestige battles).  Honestly it's hard to get excited for anything in Gen 2 that doesn't have a 2700+ max CP cap, as with the gym power creep its hard to find even less frequented gyms with Pokemon under 2200 CP.

Niantic really needs to add some CP boost features when placing pokemon in gyms.  Something along the lines of a unique type CP boost (say a 10% CP boost for adding the first fire type in a gym, dual typing wouldn't get double bonuses), or even a first defender CP bonus (encouraging you to take down enemy gyms for your 'mon to be higher placed), or even both.

Sure this may just mean someones 3200 CP Dragonite will now be even higher, but that may encourage putting in a wider variety.  Either way it would be simple to implement and would certainly make things a bit more interesting.  Of course then there is Blissey....

 

[io]

I haven't seen that idea anywhere (CP boosts).   That's a good one.  Well, they are changing up the gym battling in some way (so says John Hanke) but we have no idea how at this point.  It could all be completely different by this summer.

Fortunately the lack of Chansey in our local biomes means our gyms aren't saturated with Blisseys.  I'd say I see more Tyranitars than Blisseys now.  Otherwise it is the same old same old (Dragonite, Snorlax, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Rhydon).

Besides collecting the last few Gen 2 things, my goal at this point is to aim for as many 3000+ Pokémon as I can get.  It gets tough since I'm always out of stardust.

But right now I'm level 33 and I have: Snorlax 3006 CP / 69% IV, Gyarados 3016 CP / 98% IV, Rhydon 3021 CP / 93% IV, Gyarados 3023 / 100% IV, Dragonite 3257 CP / 89% IV.  I think these are all maxed out.

I have another Rhydon at 2989 but I think he's maxed at my current level (can't tell for sure since he's in a gym).  My next 3 are Vaporeons which are currently maxed in the 2880 range.  It will take me a couple more levels to get them over 3000.  I have a Dragonite and a few more Gyarados below that but I don't want to waste a bunch of Dratini candy on a 33% IV Dragonite (he was 2818 when I caught him so he's decent as is).  And I'm kind of waiting for a higher IV Magikarp to evolve before powering up a lesser Gyarados.

I hatched a pretty good Snorlax with Lick / Heavy Slam (which is supposed to be a good defensive move) at 93% IV.  But unfortunately he's only 1900 CP.  I have 46 'lax candy which won't get him too far.  With the lack of Stardust, too, I'm going to wait until I hatch an even better one or maybe catch a better wild one.  I haven't seen a wild Snorlax since Gen 2 dropped though - gotta make room for all those Spinarak and Murkrows!

My evolve items are all out of balance.  I've gotten 2 Up-Grades but only I have just one lame-ass Porygon so I'm waiting.  I've gotten 3 Metal Coat, so I currently have an extra.  I've gotten 2 Dragon Scales (only has 1 use), and one King's Rock (I did Slowking).  So I need a second King's Rock (for Politoed) and 2 Sun Stones.  Meanwhile my son has gotten 3 Sun Stones.  Bleh.

 

[Rig]

Not too much here for me lately...except I'm going to Vegas all day Friday.  Hopefully I can split my time between gambling and playing Go. 

Except, I keep getting repeat items...of the ones I don't need!  I have Kingdra and Porygon2 now, yet I have duplicates of those items.  I cannot get any Metal Coats or Sun Stones. 

 

[Billytwoshoes]

I haven't seen that idea anywhere (CP boosts). That's a good one. Well, they are changing up the gym battling in some way (so says John Hanke) but we have no idea how at this point. It could all be completely different by this summer.

Well the actual gym battle system is fine (repetitive, but its entertaining enough if you actively dodge and time your charge moves), its really the lack of variety in what you are up against. Another alternative idea for a daily challenge are neutral gym battles (once per day), where you go up against another neutral team with 10 pokemon, with the theme of the gym changing daily (fire, water, grass, etc.), and you get to collect badges if you swept the gym. Coins, stardust, Exp could be earned as well of course.

Fortunately the lack of Chansey in our local biomes means our gyms aren't saturated with Blisseys. I'd say I see more Tyranitars than Blisseys now. Otherwise it is the same old same old (Dragonite, Snorlax, Gyarados, Vaporeon, Rhydon).

I still see the odd Tyranitars in the gyms, but man the Bilssey outbreak is bad around here. I just saw a level 10 Valor gym with eight out of the ten positions were Blissey (the two top mons were a Vaporeon and Dragonite). Most level 10 gyms have at least 2-3 Blissey in them.

But right now I'm level 33 and I have: Snorlax 3006 CP / 69% IV, Gyarados 3016 CP / 98% IV, Rhydon 3021 CP / 93% IV, Gyarados 3023 / 100% IV, Dragonite 3257 CP / 89% IV. I think these are all maxed out.

Nice! I still have yet to have a single 'mon break 3000 CP. My highest is my Blissey which is barely above 2900. I could of had a good enough Rhydon that may have come close, but I chose moveset over IV, so my highest (which is around 2860) is still a ways off. Dratini and Magikarp candy are hard to come by, so I can't depend on those.

I should of just spent the star dust on my crappy moveset Rock Smash / Megahorn Rhydon I have, but the IVs are great (at least 95%). I still might, but its only 2400 CP or so, and I'd rather save the dust for when I get some metal coats.

Also on a whim I decided to evolve my second Alakazam (my first one got Psycho Cut / Psychic, so I didn't see the need to do another one, plus Abras are common and I usually end up going for the XP boost and gym fodder Kadabra route), and I ended up getting Psycho Cut / Future Sight. The IVs are not as good as my first (which I have kept maxing out), but now I have another good glass cannon attacker to take on the Blissey armies.

 

[Rig]

On the Vegas Strip now. Finished my Gen 1 Pokédex, and have got like four new ones last night/today.

 

[io]

Not too much here for me lately...except I'm going to Vegas all day Friday. Hopefully I can split my time between gambling and playing Go.

Except, I keep getting repeat items...of the ones I don't need! I have Kingdra and Porygon2 now, yet I have duplicates of those items. I cannot get any Metal Coats or Sun Stones.

I've gotten 3 Metal Coats and not a single Sun Stone.

I saw a shadow yesterday for the first time in a while. At first glance I thought it was a Tyranitar. But no... It was a Feraligatr (Totodile evolution). I almost had enough candy for that anyway, but now I can wait on a good IV/high level Totodile to get a better one. The only starter final evolution I don't have now is Meganium which is funny since Chikorita are the most common of the 3 here. We found a Meganium in the first few days but it ran from me. I have enough candy but crappy Chikoritas so I'm waiting.

 

[io]

Dammit... I was about to go walk to pick up my daughter from school and I saw a shadow on the Sightings.  My son ID'd it as Pupitar!  I walked to all the usual spawn points and couldn't find it.  I forgot to use the scanner before I left (there is one site that still works) so I went home to do that.  Unfortunately it is slow and by the time it scanned, the thing was gone.  So frustrating.  That was the first good thing to show up on Nearby or Sightings in weeks.

 

[Rig]

I'm up to 220 caught. I could be at 222, but waiting for better IV's.

Tonight, I got a Sun Stone. Last night, I got a Metal coat.

 

[io]

We went to the Clefairy/Mountain biome for a bit tonight to try once again to find a Larvitar (or another Dragonite).  We failed in that yet again, but for the second time in a row found a Togetic up there.   Very odd.

 

[io]

There's an increased water spawn event going on now.  I knew right away something was up when 2 Magikarps in a row spawned on my house.  I also saw a Seel on the nearby which has NEVER happened here before.   My son and I drove around a bit and Magikarp, Psyduck, Slowpoke, and Tentacool are everywhere and we saw the occasional Totodile, Seel, and Squirtle, and even one Tentacruel.  But no freaking Lapras of course.  If Seel is there, Lapras should be.

Anyway, there are also apparently shiny Karp and Gyarados about.  But only those two apparently.  And you can't tell if they are shiny till you try to catch them.  And they are not shiny for everyone!  That is a big change and will also help stop the spoofers from stocking up on them.

 

[io]

Oh, also there's a free Magikarp hat!  If you don't see it, quit and restart your game.  I'm very surprised they didn't charge for that as I would have gladly paid 400 coins or so for it.  It could be the hat is just temporary for the water spawn event - don't know about that though just speculation.

 

[Rig]

I'm curious as to why Gyarados' color changed?  (Not meaning shiny.)  I brought it up on a local Pokemon group.

Mine is now a darker blue color.  (Legacy Gyarados, and male.)

My friend evolved his first one yesterday during the event.  His is also male, but is the lighter blue.

Strange...

We've seen nothing unusual (like Lapras) yet.  Have yet to see any of the Totodile line, which is annoying, as that's what I need from this event.

 

[spideymike]

I found a Girafarig the other day. Not too much newer. Noticed a lot of water-based Pokemon (yesterday was World Water Day - so i guess that's probably why).

 

[io]

I'm curious as to why Gyarados' color changed? (Not meaning shiny.) I brought it up on a local Pokemon group.

Mine is now a darker blue color. (Legacy Gyarados, and male.)

My friend evolved his first one yesterday during the event. His is also male, but is the lighter blue.

All of mine changed into the darker blue body/cream stomach. I didn't realize new ones looked different. Maybe that's a little nod to those who ground for Gyarados before they made Magikarp spawn everywhere so now everyone will have them. That's a great idea going forward - wish they had done it for the starter evolutions for example before that starter event. Or did your friend evolve it before updating/restarting his game? Because the color simply might not have changed yet due to that.

I found a Girafarig the other day. Not too much newer. Noticed a lot of water-based Pokemon (yesterday was World Water Day - so i guess that's probably why).

That could be why. (Then what will they need for there to be a ground/fire type event? That's what I want!). One thing's for sure, though, this game is much better when there are events running - pretty much any event.

In any case, this event goes until 1pm Pacific next Wednesday. I'm hoping to find a Lapras before it is over. They are supposed to spawn more now. But more than never could mean they are still very rare.

 

[io]

I caught a shiny Karp last night!  It was probably the 30th-40th Magikarp I've caught since the event started.  Unfortunately it has crappy IVs (22-24%) and was only 70 CP.  As much as I want to put a red Gyarados in one of my local gyms I'll wait until the end of the event to see if I catch another first.  Hell I already have enough candy to evolve two Gyarados.  But I'd like to keep a shiny Karp anyway and it might as well be the bad one (assuming I can ever find another).  And in case you didn't know this, you can't tell it is shiny until you click on it and get to this screen:

[attachment=26055:IMG_0302.PNG]

 

[io]

We went out karp hunting tonight and my son found a shiny.  On Silph Road they are accumulating people's findings and coming to the conclusion that there's a shiny about every 180 Karp.  That's not too bad and much better than the regular games that's for sure.  And it fits with what we've seen.  With 3 phones trying to get them, that averages to 1 in 60, and that's just about exactly what we've seen (2 in 100-something karp sightings but 300-something different catch attempts).

 

[Rig]

My wife and I haven't seen or caught a shiny Magikarp, and we've been farming them pretty good since the event started.  She has enough for two more Gyarados, and I haven't enough for 1.5.  :/

 

[100xp]

Re: color changes, I know some of the pokemon have subtle features based on gender. Both my Gyarados are legacy, the new darker blue and male. I also thought maybe they changed the color to accommodate ppl who have color blind issues.

I don't think I'm up to the 180 magikarp mark yet but I'm pretty dam close and no shiny yet. I have 732 candy saved up, I've been using pineapples every time I try to catch one of the fish. hopefully I'll catch another 90+ IV magikarp between now and not to far into the future so I can make another bruiser.

Gyms in my area are getting stupid. They're usually stocked with a mix of 3000+ CP tyranitar, snorlax, blissey, and dragonite. Occasionally you'll see a vaporeon, gyarados, or rhydon. While it's nice to see the majority of the gyms in my area are matching faction...it makes it difficult if not impossible to have any chance to collect coins.

Caught 2 Lapras recently both abysmally low IV's but I'm finally happy to catch some. Been playing since 7/11...have yet to see a Snorlax on the map let alone catch one. I did finally hatch a Chansey and she's...perfect (maybe good karma for not abandoning the kids to run out to try and catch a Chansey during the Valentine Event). Now the game is laughing at me because I need 90 candy to max level her to 32.5 from where she is now after I evolved her. I'll have a maxed out Blissey yet (shakes fist).

 

[Rig]

A friend of mine went an hour away to a casino...and came back with three Lapras. I haven't seen any in my town during this event. Nobody has posted on the town Facebook group either, so the "best" I've caught was a Blastoise. Only seen one Totodile, also. :S

 

[100xp]

Lapras 1 spawned for me at night near the town diner.

Lapras 2 spawned for me the next afternoon in the middle of a school playground/soccer field. I took a gamble and threw some pineapple at it and caught it.

I've seen & caught 3 Blastoise, 1 during this even. All of them low CP and 30% IV ish scores. I keep them just to remind me what the bottom of the barrel looks like.

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Had a good weekend, my 7-day bonus was a metal coat, and then that same day I picked up another random metal coat.  Both my high IV Onix and Scyther turned into ideal moveset Steelix and Scizor, however I'm shy of the candy to max out the Scizor (about 2400 CP now).

I have a sunstone on hand to wait for a good IV / level Sunkern, since I already have a Bellossom.  Now I just need another crown and a dragon scale to finish up the special item evolves.

I'm loving the water event, being in a mainly fire / ground biome its awesome picking up so many water 'mons.  I saw a Feraligatr on my Nearby, but it was late and I couldn't drive out and get it.

I did catch a Lapras finally though, glad I don't have to wait on eggs for that one.  Low CP and semi-bad moveset but it can be my trophy for all I care, as it officially closes off my Gen 1 dex (for now).

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Out of all of the special events, the ending of the water theme has hit the hardest.  They really should just consider this kind of biome overlap every other month, it puts less pressure on any specific 'mon from spawning (and therefore the relative rarity), and I never once got tired of any specific species.

I've noticed some small updates that didn't get much attention recently, like the ability to check out the gender collection rate in the Pokedex now (and allowing you to see the changes on each 'mon).

And while I am getting tired of seeing Gligar come out of every other 10km egg, overall you have to give Niantic credit for finally fixing the 5km egg overload issue.  Eggs are cycling much faster due to a larger amount of 2km eggs, and the 10km egg rate seems to have been increased. Before I was lucky to have my 3 time use incubators host a single 10km egg, now some of them get 2 out of 3 or even 3 of 3 duties on those varieties.

 

[100xp]

Re: 10 km eggs since Gen 2 launched.

- Skarmory (right after I caught one)

- Pineco

- Larvitar (80 something)

- Chansey (100%) +36 candy

- Pineco

- Larvitar (98.7%)

- Pineco

- ?

So that's the pattern of 10km eggs just after Valentine's event of which I didn't catch any Chansey. I have an 10 km egg cooking right now that should hatch probably late tonight depending my commute to early tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be Chansey for teh candy. Blissey as my buddy is rough cause she's cp 1977 atm and that won't cut it in my neighborhood for holding a gym.

 

[100xp]

Meh...that 10km egg hatched into a Gilgar. So I'm hoping if the pattern continues this way the next one will be a Larvitar then a Chansey or better.

 

[100xp]

Yeah, they gave me another Gilgar...meh.

 

[Rig]

Was very annoyed yesterday.  My wife saw a shadow at a Pokestop a decent bit away from us, so we turned around and headed that way.  It was Flaffy.  I haven't seen any of the Mareep line, so I was stoked.

Sadly, it was gone by the time we got there!  I was pretty pissed.  (She has hatched a Mareep, but I have not.)

 

[Billytwoshoes]

Was very annoyed yesterday. My wife saw a shadow at a Pokestop a decent bit away from us, so we turned around and headed that way. It was Flaffy. I haven't seen any of the Mareep line, so I was stoked.

Sadly, it was gone by the time we got there! I was pretty pissed. (She has hatched a Mareep, but I have not.)

I've caught three Flaaffy and four Mareep so far, two of which for the Mareep have been close to level 30 (but meh IVs). I've also hatched one Mareep, but even then the IVs were lower than I would expect from a hatch.

I finally caught my first wild Dratini ever over the weekend, low CP so I was able to Pinap it easy enough. My Dragonite is now 2923 CP, with plenty of levels to go to boost over 3000 CP, which will be necessary to rank in the gyms near my work.

I also hatched two Larvitar in a row, the higher IV one is going to be my buddy for while now. One more 10km cooking, I'm fully expecting a Gligar / Pineco.