Pokemon GO Christmas Event: Update reported on Snorlax and XP-bonus

Niantic is expected to hold a holiday season event right around Christmas this year for Pokemon GO. Previous events suggest that the next event will have at least two bonuses for users around the world: XP and Stardust. What we're still hammering out is whether Niantic will once again bring a spawn-wave of rare Pokemon like Snorlax, the sleepy Pokemon. This may or may not have to do with the amount of food celebratory Americans will be consuming on the 24th and 25th of December.

A rumor has been spread that the next 100+ Pokemon release will take place within the month of December. We've now received word from one of our insider (anonymous) sources that this will not, in fact, occur. The Generation 2 release will remain scheduled for early 2017, as originally planned.

This Gen-1-only update does not seem to affect our list of possibilities for the late December event. This Holiday Event for Pokemon GO is coming just in time for several major religious and irreligious year-end events. Niantic will stick to their non-partisan presentation of these events for the most part – just as they did for Thanksgiving.

Niantic is interested in taking advantage of the periods of time where students across the planet have time off. These periods of time often fall on holidays. Here in the United States that means Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (Winter Break) and New Years. It'll also almost certainly mean Easter, the 4th of July (Independence Day), and others, too.

Our previous list of Pokemon that are under consideration for spawning more regularly during the winter break has tightened up, somewhat. Where before we had Staryu and Starme, Clefairy and Clefable, Seel and Dewgong, and Snorlax, now we've cut the fairy-types. Snorlax is still very much under consideration, as are the ice-friends Seel and Dewgong. Our source says Starme and Staryu are on their way out, possibly – we're guessing because they wouldn't do well in the tundra that is the midwest this winter season.

The image appearing at the head of this article was illustrated by FableFire. This image is part of a set called "Pokemon Xmas Meme" and seems to have predicted the future of Pokemon GO. This illustration was made back in 2011, predicting (unbeknownst to its maker) that in 2016 we'd have a very Snorlax Christmas in Pokemon GO.

As we near the end of the year and the start of Generation 2, we can't help but to stick to hope for our previous tip about gifts. It was mentioned to us by our source, but not confirmed, that the three Legendary Pokemon birds may appear before the end of this year. Long-held belief is that these Pokemon will come as gifts to the users of each of the three Pokemon League Teams.

• Team Instinct – Yellow – Zapdos.

• Team Mystic – Blue – Articuno.

• Team Valor – Red – Moltres.

At this point it does not appear that users will be able to switch teams. As Jack Lame said in Anchorman 2: "It's like a frat, or KISS ARMY – you're in it for LIFE!" We'll just have to wait and see if that means that trading will have to be done to complete the Pokedex in its entirety. One bird per person – no backsies!

In summation – there's a very exciting event coming up, likely near the end of December. It'll probably be around a week long – or longer – especially since this is generally the longest vacation of the year for school-going students. Pokemon GO will once again become (or stay) the most-played game by users around the world and Snorlax will once again dominate the gyms.