First 19x Pokemon GO Gen 5 Pokemon releases revealed

Pokemon GO will launch several Generation 5 (Gen V) Pokemon (from the Unova region) all at once this month. Early clues and codes in the game suggest that we've got the first 19 Pokemon from Unova ready to roll, some Shiny, some not-so-shiny, all of them super cute. Let's have a peek at what we've got coming up first, starting on the 16th of September, 2019.

Tepig and evolutions

One of three expected Pokemon to launch with the first wave of Gen V Unova monsters in Pokemon GO is Tepig. This Pokemon was teased this week by Niantic with the following text.

"Reports show that this Pokémon can shoot fireballs from its nose," said Niantic. "It also uses this ability to roast Berries before it eats them." Fire, pig nose, berries, tasty tongue emoji – all make this either a very odd and never-before-seen Spoink (probably not), or a Tepig!

Tepig is a pure Fire Type Pokemon, but once it evolves into Pignite, it's also considered both Fire and Fighting Type! The final evolution of Tepig, Emboar, is also both a Fire and a Fighting Type Pokemon, and all three will be part of Pokemon GO at the same time!

Oshawott and evolutions

Easily one of the cutest Pokemon in Unova, Oshawott was also teased by Niantic this week as coming to Pokemon GO soon. According to Niantic, this monster "has a scalchop on its stomach to use in battle and to break open hard Berries. For those who don't know, a scalchop is a shell-type weapon."

What better way to introduce Unova to Pokemon GO than with the three Starter Pokemon from Pokemon Black and Pokemon White? Ash had an Oshawott in the Pokemon anime series episode 658: "In The Shadow of Zekrom!" This episode debuted in the USA in 2011 as a one-hour special with the episode "Enter Iris and Axew!"

Oshawott will be capable of evolving into Dewott. Dewott will be able to evolve into the monstrous Samurott, and all three Pokemon will be pure Water Type Pokemon.

Snivy and evolutions

It should come as no surprise that one of the first three Pokemon from Unova coming to the Pokemon GO universe is Snivy, given the early hints about Tepig and Oshawott. These three Pokemon together create the Starter Pokemon trio: Grass-Fire-Water. With Snivy will come Servine and Serperior, all of them pure Grass Type Pokemon.

One terrifying backstory

Yanmask was teased by Niantic this week as one of the first Gen V Pokemon that'll come to the game. This creature is a Spirit or Ghost-type Pokemon that used to be a human. While we do not know the full text of this Pokemon in the Niantic-made Pokemon GO game, previous Pokemon games suggest that this Pokemon is LITERALLY the ghost of a dead human being.

Per the official Pokemon Company International Pokedex entry, Yanmask #562: "These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves. Each retains memories of its former life." Chalk that one up as another Cubone-level unsettling backstory for a pocket monster.

UPDATE: Niantic's made it official: Yanmask is still freaky! This Pokemon will appear as follows; "Reports show that each of these Pokémon carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry..."

The full list so far

We know a bit more about which Pokemon will be released to Pokemon GO in the first Unova wave thanks to the multi-event text for Septembers Ultra Bonus Week. Per the big list of September rewards we can list all the following in the same list as what we've gained above.

The full list of known first-wave Unova (Gen 5) Pokemon coming to Pokemon GO are as follows:

• 495 Snivy

• 496 Servine

• 497 Serperior

• 498 Tepig

• 499 Pignite

• 500 Emboar

• 501 Oshawott

• 502 Dewott

• 503 Samurott

• 504 Patrat (Shiny!)

• 505 Watchog (Shiny!)

• 506 Lillipup (Shiny!)

• 507 Herdier (Shiny!)

• 508 Stoutland (Shiny!)

• 562 Yamask

• 563 Cofagrigus

• 599 Klink (Shiny!)

• 600 Klang (Shiny!)

• 601 Klinklang (Shiny!)

The Pokemon GO Gen V Unova release date is September 16, 2019. That'll be the date where the Shiny Pokemon listed above are first launched. It's possible the rest of the list will appear starting at the end of this week (on September 23), but they could also launch on the 16th, too – we shall see!