Pokemon GO Halloween research left as a disappointment this season

It seems that Niantic recycled their formula from last year for the groundbreaking research, but it did lead to some different surprises for trainers of Pokemon GO.

This week, the Halloween special events for Pokemon GO will be wrapping up as the holiday passes. The spooky research events included starter Pokemon from Kanto in neat costumes and the chance for trainers to “trick or treat” by doubling their chances in candy. However, the general research for this year’s events was practically recycled from the year prior.

As with last year, a handful of trainers were awarded a Spiritomb for the second year in a row, yet it felt like it was a bit of redemption for players of Pokémon GO who missed their chance.

Spiritomb is a rare Pokemon, but it would have been a better promotion for four-star level raids. Alongside other Pokemon that were just revealed from Pokemon Black and White, this would have complemented well with more ghost raids that included Chandelure or Golurk.

The inclusion of Yanmask and Cofagrigus was a nice compliment to the other Pokemon from the Unova region, but this should have also included Frillish for being a Water and Ghost-type Pokemon. The spamming of other Ghost-type Pokemon with Shuppet and Gastly could have also featured their final evolutions in raids. If Niantic was using the research from years prior, it would not have hurt doing the same with Halloween raids from the prior years.

The concept of the breakthrough research for the Halloween events revealing Spiritomb was disappointing, to say the least for not changing Pokemon as the final prize. There could have been even better prizes for completing research at each tier level.

Even before catching the prized Pokemon, gaining more Sinnoh and Unova stones would have been an acceptable award to evolve better Ghost-type Pokemon like Dusknoir, Mismagius, or Froslass. With the carrying over from Sinnoh Pokemon to Unova Pokemon, one last chance of Rotom would have been the best reveal for the groundbreaking research. Besides, depending on your region, you would benefit from having the different styles of Rotom (that or a special edition raid promo to catch the other forms).

Finally, the last part of this season’s criticism of the Halloween event was the inclusion of the Kanto starters in their special edition costumes. The only letdown of catching these special edition Pokemon was not letting them evolve into their final evolution stages.

Last year, the special edition Pikachu wore a witch’s hat and the entire evolutionary line was able to wear the same hat. From either hatching a Pichu egg or evolving Pikachu into Raichu, all of them were able to stay a witch. So why could the Pikachu not evolve the same way wearing the Mimikyu costume?

How come trainers could not evolve a Charmander to have a Charizard wearing a Cubone hat? It seems like empty promises left from the handheld game this Halloween season. The biggest frustration is acquiring all of the Kanto starters wearing their costumes only came from one-star level raids. Where the hunt for these Pokemon was tedious, they should have been more accessible like the other Ghost-type Pokemon.

While the events were short-lived, the crowning moment of the Halloween events was the opportunity to catch Darkrai for the first time in Pokemon GO. A legendary Pokemon making its presence known during a haunting timeframe, the timing could not have come at a better time. If you have not captured a Darkrai yet in Pokemon GO, you have until November 1 to fight and catch one in a legendary raid.

The next events that will feature legendary raids will feature the return of the Colossal Pokemon with Regirock, Regice, and Registeel; with the opportunity to catch a Regigigas in special edition raids. Happy Halloween, trainers and best of luck of catching these new Pokemon.