Pokémon GO Update Adds Gen 2 and Holiday Pokémon

Today Niantic Labs announced a long-awaited update for the insanely popular Pokémon GO. This update will add new monsters from Generation 2, which was introduced in the Johto region of the Gold and Silver installments of the video game series.

Starting today, you can now hatch Pichu, Togepi, and “select others” from eggs. Until today, all Pokémon could either be caught or hatched. These will be the first to be available from eggs only. The announcement did not say if or when we’d be able to catch these Pokés in the wild, only that more Pokémon will be introduced to the game in the next few months.

Also revealed was a limited-edition holiday Pikachu! Until December 29th at 10 AM PST, you can find and catch the iconic Pikachu in a festive Santa hat. This Pokémon will be available all over the world, so don’t worry about your region being left out of the festivities!

Niantic is encouraging players to share their new hatches and catches on social media with the hashtags #PokemonGO and #HolidayPikachu!

Data miners at The Silph Road found files for Gen 2 Pokémon in the game’s code last month, so we’ve known this was coming. It’s a bit of a tease that we can only find new Pokémon in eggs for now. But the miners found codes for legendaries like Entei, Lugia, and Tyranitar, so it will be exciting to see those powerhouses when the time comes. I’m betting Niantic will hit us with Gen 2 but make us wait for the legendaries. Maybe different regions will get their own exclusive legendary!

This new update is coming shortly after the recent Pokémon GO/ Starbucks promotion. Most Starbucks locations have been turned into Pokéstops or Gyms to encourage more foot traffic there. For their side of the promotion, Starbucks introduced a new drink called the Pokémon GO Frappuccino.

Do you have the update yet? Let us know what new Pokémon you hatch in the comments!