Pokemon GO update plus New Year's Eve event

By Chris Burns/Dec. 16, 2016 5:00 pm EST

Now that Super Mario Run is out, Niantic's in high gear trying to keep Pokemon GO users interested before the new year. As such, the next Pokemon GO event may well be upon us in one of two places. The first of two places – or days rather – is Monday of next week. If Niantic decides on Monday, the next event will be a Christmas-timed event which will last for at least a week.

The second of two days when the next Pokemon GO event could potentially start is the 30th of December, 2016 – one day before New Year's Eve. Or just New Year's Eve itself – whatever ends up making more sense to Niantic when the time comes. While our anonymous source familiar with the matter has been highly accurate in the first couple of months of Pokemon Events, this set of weeks is getting a bit mixed up.

SEE THIS: Pokemon GO Christmas Event Changes

It's still sensible to assume that the 2-week span claim between each release of several new Pokemon from Pokemon GO Gen 2 is valid. That would place the next release of new Pokemon right in the midst of the holiday break season. And what better time to release the most Christmas-friendly Pokemon of them all?

Delebird is generally a Pokemon that's not particularly highly sought after, but around this time of year it becomes significant. Delebird's appearance in the TV show came with gifts. Hopefully he'll be bringing more egg incubators this time around because I'm fresh out.

A recent communication from Niantic to Pokemon GO users included the following (signed, The Pokemon GO team). "Look for another update from us in a few weeks. You may even get a special message from Professor Willow." The message likely refers to an announcement for the next Pokemon event. This lines up well with the end of the Pikachu with Santa Hat, which ends on December 29th, 2016, at 10 AM PST.

The other bit – a message from Professor Willow – means we're going to see more Pokemon GO Gen 2 pocket monsters. This is what happened when the first announcement about Gen 2 Pokemon came, and it'll be what happens when the next batch comes, too. The next update will likely bring some Gen 2 Pokemon to the wild, not just eggs as it was with the first release.

Expect some big changes in early 2017. And just before then, it's all about the next 2-3 Pokemon from Gen 2. See more in our @TeamPokemonGO Twitter portal to see more information about the game before it's made official from Niantic!