Leaked Pokemon GO Footage Shows Off Evolution

More leaked Pokemon GO footage has hit the web, this time showing off the mechanics of evolution. The highly anticipated "augmented reality" mobile app will let trainers catch and battle Pokemon in the real world and has been in beta testing for about a month in Japan and Australia. However, testers have noted several big differences between Pokemon GO and the original Pokemon games, including how players evolve Pokemon.

In the new leaked footage, which lasts about a minute, the tester uses Evolution shards to evolve an Abra into Kadabra. Players collect evolution shards by catching Pokemon of the same type, meaning that trainers will need to do a bit of grinding in order to evolve their favorite Pokemon. Of course, this is a big deviation from the normal Pokemon games, which use leveling up, evolutionary stones, and a few other techniques for evolution.

In other Pokemon GO news, beta testers also noticed some new variations to the biomes that determine what Pokemon appear where. Some testers have speculated about the existence of "rare spots", which spawn rare and unusual Pokemon. Similar to Pokemon GO's gyms and Poke-Stops, these rare spots seem to be tied to known landmarks and destinations. Other testers also recently noticed that weather seemed to impact the spawn rate of Pokemon. During a recent rain storm, testers noticed that water Pokemon began to spawn in areas where "urban" Pokemon like Rattata and Magnemite usually appear. The "Silph Road" subreddit has yet to definitively confirm either of these findings, but it's likely that Niantic is still fiddling around the nuances of the game.

Pokemon GO doesn't have a release date yet, but it's anticipated the app will be released sometime this summer.