Submitted by Sammy Snyder on
After rolling out the heavily requested ability to battle other trainers, Niantic announced its 2018 Holiday plans for Pokémon GO. The festivities begin on Tuesday, December 18 with the return of Delibird the Delivery Pokémon and all types of wintry bonuses. Starting tomorrow the Pokémon GO universe will officially enter winter as more Ice-types start appearing in the game. Pokémon will also be getting in the holiday spirit with outfits, such as festive hats.
Niantic will also be dishing out a few holiday gifts until January 2nd. The Pokémon Smoochum, Azurill, and Munchlax "will have a greater chance of hatching from 7 km Eggs," and trainers will be able to earn a single-use Incubator once per day until the holiday deadline. Holiday bonuses include double the Candy rom December 18 to December 22, double Catch Stardust from December 22 to December 26, and double XP from December 26 to December 30. Incubators will be twice as effective from December 30 to January 2.
Delibird-themed sweater, gloves, and boots will be landing in the Style Shop, also starting tomorrow.
Version 1.99.2 of Pokémon GO with trainer battles recently became available to iOS users. Trainers can now challenge each other in battle by using Battle Codes. Ultra and Best friends can send remote Trainer Battle challenges to each other, and trainers can practice battle against team leaders Spark, Candela, and Blanche.
Pokémon GO is available for free on the App Store.