'Pokemon Go' Halloween 2017 event: What to expect from Niantic this month

A teaser poster for the upcoming" Pokemon Go" Halloween 2017 event. Pokemon Website

If there is anything players can count on every October apart from big game releases, it is that game developers are launching Halloween-themed events and updates. For "Pokemon Go," Niantic has not revealed what kind of event is in store for the trainers, but it did promise that "plenty of good stuff" will be arriving at the Halloween event later this month.

Last year, the Halloween event included double Candy rewards for catching, transferring, and hatching eggs. Buddy Pokémon also awarded Candy four times faster than they usually do. As with most "Pokemon Go" events, there were increased spawn rates for certain creatures too, including Drowzee, Gastly, Gengar, and more.

Those were all Generation I Pokemon, so if this happens again this year, players can expect some spooky Gen II Pokemon to be much more common leading up to Halloween. The Telegraph predicted that among those that might appear are Houndour, Houndoom, Misdreavus, Murkrow, Sneasel, and Umbreon.

Meanwhile, a new Pokemon will also be introduced in the game, as teased by Niantic. It is unclear what Niantic means by "new," however. That said, intrepid data miners found out that the newest update included preliminary support for Gen 3 Pokemon, suggesting the next load of Pokemon characters could arrive with the Halloween update.

If this is the case, Digital Trends said it might include Shuppet, Banette, Mega Banette, Duskull, and Dusclops — all Ghost Pokemon that match the Halloween event. Just like last October, there will likely be some Candy multipliers as well, but it should last for several days this time.

Again, those above are merely speculations for now. Niantic has yet to release the details for the "Pokemon Go" Halloween 2017 event. The 2016 promo ran from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. If Niantic chooses to follow this timeline, the official announcement for this year's event might not arrive until after several days.

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