New Pokemon join Pokemon GO every year, and 2022 is no exception. On the contrary, 2022 seems like it could be particularly rich in new Pokemon additions. Pokemon GO is in the midst of the Season of Alola right now, which has brought a wealth of monsters from Pokemon Sun and Moon to the game for the first time already. There's still about two months of the Season of Alola left to go, so Pokemon GO fans have many more additions to look forward to. This isn't the only reason that Pokemon GO could grow aggressively, though. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet might have an impact too.
Earlier this year, Game Freak and Nintendo confirmed that the next generation of Pokemon games is at hand. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will release this year, and while Game Freak hasn't revealed many of its new Pokemon ideas yet, fans have gotten a glimpse at the new region's starters. The Generation 9 region is bound to have a lot of new Pokemon, and those Pokemon could crop up in Pokemon GO sooner rather than later. The mobile game has a history of promoting core Pokemon projects through new monster additions, meaning the same thing could happen by the end of 2022.
Pokemon GO's Generation Celebrations
When Pokemon GO first released in the summer of 2016, it did so in the midst of Generation 7's earliest days; Pokemon Sun and Moon released only about half a year later. Sun and Moon didn't intersect with Pokemon GO immediately, since Niantic was focused on adding new Pokemon generations in chronological order. However, in 2018, Pokemon GO added Alolan Exeggutor, and more Alolan variants of classic Pokemon joined the game shortly afterwards. At the time of Alolan Exeggutor's debut, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were only a few months old, so it made sense to use Pokemon GO as a platform to acknowledge one of the newest games.
Niantic celebrated a new Pokemon game more directly when dealing with Pokemon Sword and Shield. These games released in November 2019, and around the same time, Niantic introduced Galarian Weezing to the game through Raids. More Galarian versions of Pokemon joined Pokemon GO shortly afterwards, marking notable occasions like the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield's DLC packs. The contrast between Pokemon GO's modest nod to Alola and the more direct celebration of Galar suggests Niantic has grown more interested in interacting with Pokemon game releases.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Potential Represenative
2022 has already seen Niantic do something similar to its Galar celebration. Hisuian Voltorb and Electrode appeared in Pokemon GO to celebrate the launch of Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Altogether, that makes it seem highly likely that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will get some sort of guest star in Pokemon GO at launch. Since Game Freak hasn't revealed many Generation 9 Pokemon, it's hard to say what will join Pokemon GO first, but patterns suggest that it won't be the Scarlet and Violet starters. Instead, it seems like some regional Pokemon variant from Generation 9's region will probably appear in Pokemon GO, assuming that Scarlet and Violet continue the regional variant trend.
Pokemon GO still has a lot of mission Pokemon from previous regions to add, but there's no harm in skipping forward to add a Pokemon or two for the Scarlet and Violet launch. The start of a new Pokemon generation is a momentous occasion, after all, so it makes sense that Pokemon GO would acknowledge it. It's hard to believe that Pokemon GO has lived through two full generations of Pokemon games already, but the game's continued growth suggests that it's not going anywhere. Pokemon's ninth generation won't be the first new generation that it celebrates, and it probably won't be the last.
Pokemon GO is available now for Android and iOS devices.