Pokemon Go has been hit with big news this week. If you’re into C-list British celebrities, you’ll be very interested to learn that former X Factor contestant Stacey Solomon attended Pokemon Go Fest in Paris this weekend. My wife tells me that Solomon’s son wanted to go, hence her attendance, but I can imagine her throwing a few Poke Balls and catching a few shinies herself to join in the fun.
If you’re not interested in social media influencers, then the biggest piece ofPokemon Gogossip doing the rounds at the moment is the fact that Bottle Caps are being implemented into the game.Announced in a short YouTube videoyesterday, the items are already causing controversy in the Pokemon Go community.
For those of you who haven’t played the main series games – which seems to be a surprising number of Go players, judging by social media – Bottle Caps increase your Pokemon’s stats. More accurately, you give them to a bloke who then trains your Pokemon’s stats. Nobody knows why he wants Bottle Caps, nobody knows how he makes your Pokemon stronger, but we don’t ask questions.
Maybe he’s a founding father of the Brotherhood of Steel and he’s justpreparing for the Poke-pocalypse.
How To Get A Bottle Cap In Pokemon Go?
The Gold Bottle Cap will be available duringGo Fest’s global event, where ticket-holders across the world can take part in the action without having to travel to Paris, Osaka, or Jersey City. Many suspect that it will be a reward for completing a paid reward track, similar to the Lucky Trinkets at level 100 of the seasonal battle passes. This makes a lot of sense, as Bottle Caps are powerful items that will likely be locked behind multiple paywalls.
These will be rare items. Maybe not quite as rare as a Master Ball, but on a similar level to the Lucky Trinket at a minimum. If you can afford to shell out on a Go Fest ticket and a battle pass on top of that, you’ll be rewarded handsomely. Those of us less willing to spend $25 or more on a declining game will miss out, likely forever.
Like many free-to-play mobile titles, Pokemon Go often uses FOMO to its advantage. It locks new shinies behind paid events or money-guzzling Raids, despite the fact that this exact same shiny will be abundant in a Community Day 18 months down the line. If you have patience, you can play this game for free. However, items like Bottle Caps are not the kind of thing that will be available for nothing. This is for hardcore players who are willing to open their wallets.
What Do Bottle Caps Do In Pokemon Go?
A Bottle Cap in Pokemon Go will raise a Pokemon’s IVs. While only the Gold Bottle Cap has been announced, it seems likely we’ll see regular Bottle Caps come to the game as well – perhaps a more affordable option for free-to-play trainers? Gold Bottle Caps will allow you to boost all of your Pokemon’s IVs. That shiny with 3 Defence? you’re able to boost that all the way up to 15, as well as maxing its Attack and HP.
However, there will be a drawback. Datamines suggest that you will have to complete tasks in order to max out your Pokemon’s stats. We don’t know how difficult these tasks will be – make 1,000 excellent throws or walk 1,000km with the Pokemon as your buddy are very different beasts – but it won’t be easy. Will your Pokemon have to be level 50 in order to utilise a Bottle Cap? Despite the challenges, Pokemon fans are divided about the addition.
“I’m gonna waste it on a shiny Bidoof,” one playerjoked on social media. Others, however, think itdevalues the shinies and shundosin their existing collections. I’ve played Pokemon Go since its release, and I’ve only caught one shundo – a shiny Pokemon with max IVs. Soon, however, anybody who pays enough money will be able to max out the IVs on any shiny they want.
I suspect that Pokemon hyper trained in this manner will have some identifying mark on their IV page. That way, the hardcore grinders will still shell out hundreds of dollars on raid passes in the pursuit of ‘natural’ shundos, while those with less (but still some) disposable income can take the Bottle Cap shortcut.
Personally, I think the Bottle Caps will be great for boosting the stats of one-time only catches. You only get one chance to encounter most mythical Pokemon, and the stats are always middling. Sure, Mew and Jirachi aren’t meta Pokemon, but they’d be cool to have as hundos, right? Even better, monsters like Zarude are both one-time encounters and meta-relevant ‘mons, so that would be a great option.
Datamines suggest that Shadow Pokemon will be exempt from Bottle Caps, otherwise my Shadow Dialga would be an obvious choice.
What do you make of the Bottle Cap situation? We’re sure to find out more information soon, but with fans split on whether this is a positive quality of life change or a filthy money grab from a company desperate to part its players from their cash, the debate is hot. Where do you stand? For what it’s worth, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.
