Pokemon Go Swaps Regional-Exclusive Pokemon for the Summer Solstice

Pokemon Go have swapped where the regional-exclusive Pokemon Solrock and Lunatone spawn in honor of today's summer solstice.

The game confirmed that Solrock and Lunatone have swapped regions in honor of the summer solstice, which serves as the official start of the season and is the longest day of the year. Solrock will now appear in Europe, Australia, and Asia, which Lunatone will now appear in North America, South America, and Africa.

In honor of the summer solstice, the Rock- and Psychic-type Pokémon Solrock and Lunatone have started to appear in different regions! Celebrate the longest day of the year by adding one to your Pokédex today!

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) June 21, 2018

It's unclear whether this is a permanent swap, or if the two Pokemon will only appear in different regions for a limited amount of time.

Pokemon Go bulked up the number of regional-exclusive Pokemon when they added "Gen 3" Pokemon last year, but many of the new regional-exclusive Pokemon could be found in different regions instead of just one country. Seviper and Illumise can both be found in the same North America, South America, and Africa region, while Zangoose and Volbeat can only be found in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

This also isn't the first time that Pokemon Go has swapped regional-exclusive Pokemon. The game also swapped Zangoose and Seviper (albeit with no explanation or reason) and turned Plusle and Minun from regional-exclusive Pokemon to Pokemon that can be found anywhere in the world.

Today is a busy day for Pokemon Go. The game also officially launched its trading feature, albeit only with Level 40 players, and leaked their next Legendary Raid boss. The game also added several Alolan forms of existing Pokemon to the game as part of its new friendship mechanic.

Other big changes could still be on the horizon, so stay tuned Pokemon Go players!