As Pokémon Go’s three-month Timeless Travels event enters its final weeks, Pokémon Go Tour has returned with a theme that’s suitably Sinnoh.
Recent months have seen plenty of content based around Pokémon’s Sinnoh region - first introduced on the Nintendo DS in 2006 before returning to the limelight on Switch in 2021 - and to round it all off, this year’s annual Tour is based around Sinnoh monsters, new forms and mechanics included.
The Tour series began in 2021 and has taken place every February since, with each year focusing on a different era of Pokémon history. It started with the originals in Pokémon Go Tour: Kanto, then proceeded to the sequels with Go Tour: Johto, advanced to 2002’s Hoenn last year, and is now catching up to Sinnoh.
With great power comes new abilities
Players in Los Angeles have already had a chance to participate in the latest event, with Go Tour: Sinnoh having kicked off in LA exclusively last weekend to ticket buyers. Everyone else will be able to join the global expansion on February 24 and 25, participating in limited-time raids, hunting elusive shiny Pokémon and even finding Pikachu in a beret.
While of course serving as its own revenue source for The Pokémon Company and Niantic - with players buying tickets for extra benefits and generally encouraged to play and spend more - the Go Tour event also acts as further promotion for Pokémon Legends: Arceus on Nintendo Switch. After all, the event is introducing Origin Forme Dialga and Palkia to Go for the first time after their Legends debut, features the game’s signature Space-Time Distortions, and even shares a slogan with the titular Arceus’ order: "Seek out all Pokémon."
The incentives to catch Dialga and Palkia go beyond collecting too, having a broader gameplay impact depending on which players acquire. Dialga’s Roar of Time will allow players to pause timers on certain in-game items and give a longer period to benefit from their effects; Palkia’s Spacial Rend will increase the range of wild Pokémon spawns, reducing the distance players need to walk to encounter them.
Only last week, Niantic made a major change to its redeem codes to encourage players onto its web store - just in time for the latest Tour...
