Pokemon GO News: Christmas is going to be terrible

If the Pokemon GO event Niantic considered this week goes through to a live game, it's going to be just the worst. That is, if nothing changes, and we get Delibird in an EX Raid battle – oh my goodness that'd be so silly. Delibird is the worst possible Pokemon in the game, but also the perfect Pokemon for Christmas, Hanukah, Festivus, and every gift-giving event in-between. If Delibird is indeed released with gift-giving powers this year, it'll be the biggest punch in the expectations we've had yet.

What's Missing

Not because Delibird doesn't look cool, and not because a new Pokemon with a new ability isn't something we want. But think of the implications of having a Delibird as the biggest gift of the year. Think of what was expected at the start of 2017, and consider what we've been left with. Two MAJOR game features remain completely no-show in the Pokemon GO code.

One missing feature is person-to-person Pokemon trading. A feature that's been in Pokemon games since Pocket Monsters. Since the Gameboy brought us Red and Blue. We're well over a year into Pokemon GO's existence on smartphones and there's no way to trade.

On a similar note, Pokemon GO has no major social aspect. On devices made to speak with one-another, we don't have any way to communicate in Pokemon GO. Not unless you consider naming your character "HelloJerry" and beating a Pokemon Gym near you just to greet your friend who lives next door. That's about as far as that goes.

The other major feature still not implemented in Pokemon GO is person-versus-person battles. This is another feature that's been in Pokemon games since the beginning, yet remains completely without code (at least implemented code) in Pokemon GO today.

What We See

To the best of our knowledge, thanks to our source with knowledge of the subject matter at hand, the Pokemon GO Holiday 2017 event will go as follows. The event will begin on the 21st of December (or one day before or after). At that time, several bonuses will be released, either after requisite number of Pokemon are caught worldwide, or just automatically.

One bonus will be double stardust rewards wherever stardust is generally given. This doesn't happen with every single event, but there's a good chance it will happen this event. The same is true of Pokemon Candy. What's a winter holiday without candy? Double candy, candy for everyone!

There's a GOOD CHANCE Delibird will make its first appearance in the game for this event. Niantic's been planning the Delibird drop since before last years event – so it's HIGH TIME this holidaytastic piece of pocket monster makes its self known. Complete with gift giving move.

It would not be a surprise to see more common Pokemon like Stantler pop up during the event, far more common than usual. Don't spend your dust until then! Head over to the Pokemon GO Hub on Facebook to join the conversation on the matter already in progress!