Niantic has begun sending out an update to Pokémon GO today which adds in a handful of new Pokémon from the Gold and Silver versions of the video games, including Pichu, Togepi and others. While virtually any other Pokémon is one that you can find and catch in the wild, or evolve into from another that you caught, the new Pokémon that are added into the game as of today can only be acquired by hatching eggs. To acquire the eggs, nothing has changed here if you’ve been playing the game and are aware of the methods, if you’re new to the game, when you visit PokéStops and spin them, you’ll have a chance at getting an egg along with other useful items.
These new hactchable Pokémon are the first new Pokémon to be added into the game since launch, although players should look out for other new additions in future updates. It’s also worth noting that this is not the update which was announced the other day which will include quite a bit more content, such as Pokémon genders, costumes, shiny Pokémon variants and more.
In addition to Togepi, Pichu, and the select other unnamed Pokémon that you can acquire by hatching, Niantic has added in a little bit of a festive element to the game. Similar to the way players were able to find all kinds of Halloween-themed Pokémon during the month of October, since it’s December and Christmas comes up in the next week, there will be plenty of chances to stumble upon a more holiday festive Pikachu. These Pikachu will be abundant according to Niantic, stating that they’ll be available in “large quantities,” and Pikachu will be wearing a festive little hat to celebrate the holidays. This special limited edition Pikachu will be available from today, December 12th, all the way up until near the end of the month on December 29th. The update seems to be rolling out to players in batches, so if you play Pokémon GO you can check to see if the new version of the game is available that adds these new Pokémon in, and if not the update shouldn’t take long to reach all players.