Pokemon Go Could Finally Be Adding Missing Pokemon to Game

Six non-Legendary Pokemon missing from Pokemon Go could finally make an appearance in the game in the near future.

Earlier today, a dataminer revealed that 3D assets for Smeargle, Nincada, and Clamperl were recently added to the network traffic along with evolutions Ninjask, Shedinja, and Huntail. None of these Pokemon are particularly powerful or important to Pokemon Go's metagame, but they're among the only non-Legendary or Mythical "Gen 2" and "Gen 3" Pokemon missing from Pokemon Go.

Interestingly, 3D assets for Spinda, Kecleon, and Gorebyss (another evolution of Clamperl) are still unavailable, indicating that Pokemon Go hasn't added their assets to its servers.

The dataminer also revealed that assets for the mythical Pokemon Jirachi and Deoxys were also added to the game, along with the Alolan forms of Raichu, Marowak, and the Diglett and Geodude families.

Their appearance in Pokemon Go's network traffic could mean that developers are finally ready to add the Pokemon to the game, which would give players a chance to finally complete their collections.

All six of the Pokemon have different quirks that complicate their appearance in Pokemon Go. Smeargle, for instance, only knows the move Sketch - a special move that can permanently copy a move learned by another Pokemon. Sketch gives Smeargle a utility role in the main Pokemon series, but it doesn't really translate to Pokemon Go.

Meanwhile, Nincada and Clamperl both have unusual divergent evolutions. Nincada evolves into Ninjask, but it also "evolves" into Shedinja when players leave a spot open in their team in main series Pokemon games. Since players don't have a traditional team in Pokemon Go, it'll be interesting to see how Pokemon Go adapts these games. Clamperl, meanwhile, evolves into either Huntail or Gorebyss depending on what evolutionary item you give it. The evolutionary items were programmed into Pokemon Go a while ago, so it's unclear why Pokemon Go waited so long and why Gorebyss isn't currently available.

It's possible that Pokemon Go will roll out these new Pokemon during this weekend's Pokemon Go Fest, or they could be added a special bonus for completing this weekend's Global Challenge. Or, it's possible that Pokemon Go added the 3D assets but have no immediate plans to introduce them to the game.

The addition of the new Pokemon could mean that Pokemon Go is gearing up for a big weekend. Stay tuned for more details!