Niantic has officially announced Pokemon Go season 9, which is coming to the much-loved mobile game in just a few days. The ninth season looks like it'll revolve around Hoenn, adding Mega versions of the three Hoenn starters and a new Pokemon Go Tour as well.
This news was announced via the official Pokemon Go Twitter account, alongside a trailer showcasing some of the 'mons you can expect from Season 9. Lots of Gen 3 Pokemon, including Swablu, Manectric, and Glalie, are prominently shown, as well as Mega Blaziken, Mega Marshtomp, and Mega Sceptile.
The trailer also teases the appearance of Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, both of which were originally introduced as part of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It's not clear how those forms will fit into Season 9 just yet, but we'll likely learn more as we draw closer to the season's debut.
As well as these, a list of events and raids coming as part of Season 9 has also been revealed (thanks, Serebii). That list shows that five-star Raids featuring the legendary Pokemon Virizion, Terrakion, and Cobalion will be held throughout December, with a final five-star Raid featuring Kyurem to round off the year.
Other events include a Heading to Hoenn Mega Raid Day this Saturday, which is where you'll be able to catch the Mega Evolved versions of the starters outlined earlier, as well as a Community Day later in the month. As you'd expect, this month's Spotlight Hours are all about ice and water types, with Wooper, Spheal, Bergmite, and Cubchoo all getting Spotlight Hours on one day each throughout December. There's also a new Go Battle League on its way, so get ready to take on other Trainers for glory and rewards.
Pokemon Go is still going strong, having racked up a pretty impressive $300 million for the economies of the cities in which Pokemon Go Fest took place this year. The game also recently saw the culmination of a months-long event surrounding the Ultra Beasts, so it looks like we're finally done with those creepy cosmic beasts and can move onto something a little more grounded.
Elsewhere in the world of Pokemon, the latest flagship games Scarlet and Violet are finally upon us, and they've enjoyed record-breaking sales for both the franchise and Nintendo as a whole, despite performance issues that have led to a pretty divided reception among fans. Happily, there's a 60FPS mod in the works that aims to fix at least some of those performance issues. Stay tuned for more info on all things Pokemon.
