Fans are hoping that a new Pokemon Go event could be in the works from Niantic.
Some kind of New Year’s event could be in the offering, following the launch of the new Pokemon box items that are currently available in the in-game store.
While fans already have had access to the Pokemon Christmas boxes, a new set went live on December 25.
From December 25 at 9:00 p.m. GMT through January 4, 2018, the in-game shop will include special boxes featuring Premium Raid Passes, Luck Eggs, Super Incubators, and Star Pieces.
Trainers can purchase Winter Boxes for 480 coins, Great Boxes for 780 coins and Ultra Boxes for 1480 coins.
Star Pieces are particularly useful, because they grant users double stardust from all situations for 30 minutes.
Before that, Trainers were able to grab boxes containing Super Incubators, Lure Modules, and the all-new Star Pieces, while dataminers originally found six “Special Boxes.”
Niantic have only confirmed the current ongoing Christmas event, meaning there’s room for speculation that there could be new Pokemon Go Gen 3 launches being planned.
It should be noted, however, that there might not be any new bonuses, with these new boxes only extending the in-game shop event for a little longer.
What will happen after that, if anything, is anyone’s guess.
Dataminers have found references to new Master Ball items being added to the game’s code, suggesting that a new update is being worked on.
Niantic has also had a few other surprise festive bonuses running as part of the Pokemon Go Christmas event.
In order to give players a better chance of catching more Gen 3 Pokemon, Niantic has made a major change to Lure modules.
Instead of lasting just 30 minutes, Lure Modules will last for six hours.
The effect will last until January 4, which is when the Christmas event comes to an end.
“Surprise, Trainers! In celebration of the holidays, from now till January 4, Lure Modules will last 6 hours when activated!” Niantic confirmed.
“With these long-lasting lures in play, everyone’s chances of catching more Pokemon originally from the Hoenn region go up!”
Niantic have announced that they are rolling out a new update that’s sure to help all Gen 3 Pokemon trackers.
The development team have now confirmed that they will be releasing a new wave of Gym and Pokestop locations.
This is being done using Niantic’s older AR title, Ingress. Ingress Agents are able to submit new locations via the Operation Portal Recon program.
This also happens to affect Pokemon Go, with Niantic confirming that new locations will be popping up this week.
“With the help of Ingress Agents around the world using Operation Portal Recon, we’ve identified interesting new locations to play our games,” a message from the Niantic support team explains.
“We’re happy to say that many of these locations will also be added to @PokemonGoApp over the next few days.”
This could prove a huge boost to Gen 3 collectors and Raid players, especially in rural areas.
There’s already been reports of new Gyms popping up in smaller towns, meaning more chances of battling the best Pokemon.