Is Pokemon Go Getting a Thanksgiving Event?

Pokemon Go is getting a new update this week, spurring speculation that a new event is on the way.

Last weekend, Pokemon Go announced that they'd be rolling out a new update at some point this week. Fans initially assumed the new update would simply be a tweaked version of the update that Pokemon Go aborted earlier in November due to some unexpected performance issues, but the timing of the update got some fans thinking that this could be a lead-in for Pokemon Go's next event.

Thanksgiving is just a week away, which could mean a new Pokemon Go event. After all, Pokemon Go has a tendency of running events with major US holidays and there's already a precedent for an event for Thanksgiving. Last Thanksgiving, Pokemon Go ran an event for Double Stardust and Double XP...along with the release of Ditto, a non-Legendary Pokemon that hadn't been added to the game because of its unusual abilities.

"Gen 2" still has two missing Pokemon from the game - Smeargle and Delibird. Delibird is an Ice/Flying-type Pokemon that basically acts as the franchise's Christmas mascot, so we doubt that we'll see that Pokemon until the end of the year. However, we could see Smeargle make a surprise appearance next week.

Smeargle is a Normal-Type Pokemon with a very unusual moveset. Smeargle can permanently copy any move it sees with its Sketch ability, giving it access to an unlimited set of moves. Obviously, that could be hard to translate into Pokemon Go, which is probably why we haven't seen it appear in the game.

There's two potential ways Pokemon Go could modify Sketch for use in the game. Smeargle could either copy the moves of whatever Pokemon it first encounters in gyms/raids, or it could simply have a massive pool of potential moves, giving it access to any attack (and thus incentivizing players to capture as many Smeargle as they can.)

This is all speculation, of course, but don't be surprised if this week's update brings some major clues for a Thanksgiving event later this month.