Pokémon Go spent all weekend hyping a mysterious raid egg
It was Espurr effective!
Pokémon Go has been teasing a curious raid egg, which is set to hatch later tonight.
The game's social media accounts began trailing the development on Saturday, with the first of four videos (to date) teasing a pink egg with a six-hour countdown. Fans excitedly waited six hours, to be greeted by a new video, now with a 44-hour countdown.
Another incoming message! Trainers, it looks like we've stumbled upon some mysterious Raid Eggs. Can you help us make sense of all this? #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/NK1SmLrRwD
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) November 28, 2020
Immediately, fan speculation went into overdrive, and some lofty suggestions were made. Could it be Zygarde, the Gen 6 Legendary made up of many individual cells? Perhaps Niantic was introducing it cell by cell?!
How about Phione, the mysterious Gen 5 Mythical creature Pokémon Go will skip over as it launches the first Gen 6 arrivals this week? Or Kecleon, the chameleon Pokémon which is now the game's only missing 'mon from Gen 3?
Surely something big must be coming after all these teases? Or maybe... not.
Fans soon realised the initial teaser included a brief glimpse at the game's Psychic-type Pokémon background, ruling out all of the above guesses. The second teaser also included the logo for Psychic-type creatures, while the third included a plane flying past, trailing a banner with the number 677.
Pokémon #677 is Espurr, a Psychic-type creature from the upcoming Gen 6, whose cry can be heard in the fourth and latest teaser - seemingly confirming Espurr is indeed the Pokémon all these videos have been teasing.
Espurr is a cute creature, though not overly powerful or particularly rare. Fans are now a little surprised it has been given so much fanfare.
Well Espurr's cry can be heard in this one, plus the 677 in the last one.
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) November 30, 2020
Why are they teasing Espurr so much? If it was a Mythical or something then I get it, but Espurr...really? https://t.co/nQSOhYy9bz
Both Espurr and its evolution Meowstic are bipedal cats. The latter species is unusual, though not unique, for the fact its male and female variants having different movesets and Pokédex descriptions. And that's about it!
So, why the big fuss? Well, previous generations have been added to Pokémon Go with at least one creature released exclusively within raids and eggs (Gen 4's Shinx, Gen 5's Klink), and with their Shiny versions from the off to grind for. It seems like Espurr is destined to become Gen 6's version of this.
Pokémon Go has a big week ahead of itself, with the impending introduction of the game's first level cap raise, tomorrow's addition of a season mechanic, and then its Gen 6 rollout which begins on 2nd December.
Earlier in the month, it was reported Pokémon Go was having its most lucrative year yet, despite (or because of) the changes it has made to adapt to life in lockdown. Many of its pandemic-era changes have now been guaranteed to remain until at least June 2021.
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