We’ve taken a bit of a break from new Pokémon in Pokémon GO: blame it on the winter. But there are still plenty of Gen 4 creatures yet to come out, as evidenced by the fact that I’m still 1 measly entry away from my gold medal on the Gen 4 Pokédex. And a couple of these we’ve been waiting for with bated breath ever since things got going, and plenty of trainers might even have some shiny Eevee’s saved up for the occasion. Eevee has two evolutions in Gen 4, nearly completing the set. Leafeon and Glaceon are coming to Pokémon GO sooner rather than later, and now we might have an idea of how we’ll be evolving them.
Prolific Pokémon GO dataminer Chrales recently found some new items hanging out in the game client, and they seem to point pretty directly not just to Leafeaon and Glaceon, but also to Probopass and Magnezone. Here’s what they were able to find:
new lure items texts and raid week quests pic.twitter.com/RVuRywH2WK
— Chrales (@Chrales) May 6, 2019
It’s these lures that we’re interested in, all of which contain hints about evolution. The glacial lure would get you a Glaceon, the Mossy lure would get you a Leafeon, and the Magnetic lure would likely get you a Probopass and a Magnezone. That’s not spelled out specifically in these descriptions, but it’s pretty apparent given the fact that all these evolutions have yet to be released.
It would be a new mechanic, both for evolutions and for lure modules, which have remained unchanged since launch. A lure module for specific types of Pokémon is the sort of thing that people have been wanting for ages, and it’s nice to see it’s going to make its way into the game. What’s unclear is how we’ll get them: currently lure modules are premium purchases, but that wouldn’t fly if they’re required for these evolutions. Special or field research is my best guess, but we don’t appear to know that yet.
The first Eeveelutions had a simple naming trick to guarantee which one you wanted, which was about what the game was ready for at the time. The next ones had the naming trick as well, but they also had a slightly more complicated mechanic that involved walking them for 10km and then either evolving them during the day or the night. These things are far and away more sophisticated than that, and it reflects the transition the game has gone through since launch.
