If you’ve been playing Pokémon Go the last few days, then you’ve probably noticed a few new faces showing up at gym raids. Although the changes weren’t completely unexpected, they still took us by surprise as they happened without fanfare or announcement from Niantic.
For those of you planning to participate in raids this week, here’s a list of the new gym bosses you can expect to see (sourced from pokemongohub.net).
Level 1
Ivysaur
Charmeleon
Wartortle
Metapod
Level 2
Magneton
Sableye
Sandslash
Tentacruel
Marowak
Cloyster
Level 3
Ninetales
Scyther
Omastar
Porygon
Level 4
Poliwrath
Victreebel
Golem
Nidoking
Nidoqueen
Even though the list isn’t as exciting as we’d hoped it would be, there’s still a few good Pokémon to be had.
- Golem is a terrific gym fighter against Legendary Pokémon. You can never have too many.
- If you’ve not hatched /caught a Porygon, this is your chance to add him to your Pokédex.
- Omastars, Cloysters, and Magnetons will now be available for those who’ve never hatched/caught enough of their original forms to evolve them. Also, Omastars are great to use in certain types of battles.
- Venusaurs are proving to be quite good against the current US Legendary; Suicune. If you’re able to capture an amazing Ivysaur in a gym, you can evolve him into a better quality Venosaur than you would most likely catch in the wild (based on our personal experience & the rarity of his appearance in our area). It also expends 25 less units of candy to evolve a Venosaur from an Ivysaur than from a Bulbasaur.
- Just like with a Magikarp (which has disappeared from gyms), the Sableye can be shiny. During the Halloween event, we had a decent shot of finding one. However, now that the event is over, the odds of catching one have severely decreased. Having this guy as a new gym boss gives our odds of capturing a shiny Sableye, a much-needed boost.
Along with the new bosses, came a reduction in the timing of the raids. Players still have an hour warning, but now have 45 minutes instead of 60 to complete a battle.
Even though this is most likely an attempt to increase the chances players (in larger cities) will arrive at a raid simultaneously, it’s not a great development for us personally. Our rural group, which has no problem coordinating a meet-up, is now unable to fight at as many multiple raids in a row (while running a lucky egg) as we could previously.
If you’re concerned about no longer seeing a Snorlax or Tyranitar at a raid battle, don’t be. These guys (with a few others) are still making appearances (at least as of right now). We’re not sure if we’ll be saying goodbye to them soon or if they’ll be around for a while to come. For the time being, we’ll just enjoy them while they’re still here.
We’re uncertain of why Niantic has chosen not to communicate regarding their most recent changes. Hopefully, they’ll fill in the missing details for everyone very soon.
As always, we’ll keep up-to-date on the latest news and let you know as we hear more.
