The last major Pokémon Go update was announced more than a month ago. Players have been waiting intently for the next update since, given that the previous Halloween and Christmas updates brought in-game goods such as Baby Pokémon and extra XP.
One of the reasons the next Pokémon Go update is highly anticipated is because it might bring along Gen 2 Pokémon — a collection of around 100 new Pokémon previously expected in the game’s Thanksgiving update.
Another reason is simply that regular updates keep players engaged. They are what brought Pokémon Go back to the top in app stores and therefore, Niantic is not expected to keep players waiting for too long, which could cause interest in the game to wane away. Even code changes in the APK have pointed towards the existence of Gen 2 Pokémon.
Since Niantic holds Pokémon Go events on major U.S.-centric holidays and the next one happens to be Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day — the company is expected to hold an event introducing Gen 2 Pokémon.
Slashgear reported Friday, citing an anonymous source, the Gen 2 event could be held on Valentine’s Day since it represents love and friendship simply due to some long-awaited Pokémon, which are created with ‘Friendship’.
One such Pokémon is Eevee, which evolves into different Pokémon based on the generation of the game being played. If Gen 2 Pokémon are available, Eevee’s evolutions Espeon and Umbreon will come into play just like they did in the original Pokémon game. Eevee evolved in the game not by fighting, but by increasing its friendship level. Eevee’ friendship level needs to reach a certain level after which its evolution would start happening.
What could ‘friendship’ be in Pokémon Go? One of the current metrics that the game measures, but does not utilize, is the distance you covered while hunting Pokémon. This metric could possibly be turned into the friendship level in Pokémon Go.