Pokemon Go Wants to Make You Into an In-Game NPC

01/04/2021 01:29 pm EST

Pokemon Go is giving players the chance to become NPCs in its upcoming Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event. Niantic announced a new competition to choose player-created characters that will appear as battleable NPCs during the Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event, which will take place in February. Entering the contest is simple - players post a screenshot of their trainer profile on Twitter with a list of three non-Legendary Kanto Pokemon (excluding Ditto) and the hashtag #PokemonGOTourContest. Niantic said that they would judge entries based on the creativity of avatar outfit, the general theme, and the Pokemon team composition. No purchase is necessary, and a full list of rules can be found here. Players must complete their entry by January 11th at 11:59 PM PST.

The Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event is Pokemon Go's first major ticketed event of 2021, and is designed as a celebration of the Pokemon franchise's 25th anniversary, along with Pokemon Go's fifth anniversary. The event will challenge players to capture all 150 Pokemon from the original Pokemon games, and will offer players the chance to grab Pokemon with exclusive moves and more. Another interesting wrinkle in the event is that players will have opportunities to potentially catch Shiny versions of all 150 original Pokemon. Those who purchase a ticket for the event will also have the opportunity to complete a Special Research encounter that ends with the chance to capture a Shiny Mew, the first time that Pokemon has ever appeared outside of Japan. The Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event will also have several perks available to all players, including the chance to battle against the NPC trainers chosen by Niantic.

Pokemon Go is building up to the Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event with a series of spotlight events focusing on different Pokemon regions. An event focusing on the Unova region starts tomorrow and will feature the first ever Collection Challenge.

Players can purchase a ticket for Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto for $11.99 via Pokemon Go's in-game store. The event takes place on February 20th.

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