Pokemon Go Update Hints at Dynamax and Gigantamax Forms Coming Soon

Pokemon Go has quietly added in-game symbols from Pokemon Sword and Shield.

By Marc Deschamps

Last month, Pokemon Go celebrated the game's eighth anniversary with a piece of art that hinted at plans for the game's future. In that anniversary art, there were several hints at content based on Pokemon Sword and Shield, including the three Galar starters, and an image of a Dynamax Wartortle. The ability to Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokemon has yet to be added to Pokemon Go, but there's a big hint that the ability is coming soon. A new update has now gone live in the game, and if players do a search for Special Pokemon, they'll find two categories with the description "?" and "???," which happen to have the symbols for Dynamax and Gigantamax! 

An image of the symbols in Pokemon Go can be found below. 

pokemon-go-dynamax-symbol.jpg
(Photo: Pokemon)

While we don't know when Dynamax and Gigantamax will actually be added to Pokemon Go, this would seem to suggest that it'll be happening soon! At this time, there has been no indication how the feature will work, or how the mechanic might be used in things like Raids and Trainer battles. It's possible that we could see Gigantamax forms handled like Mega Evolutions, but there's no way of knowing for sure. It's worth noting that in Pokemon Sword and Shield, Dynamax and Gigantamax could only be used in Power Spots, and it remains to be seen if that will also be the case in Pokemon Go. 

The current Pokemon Go season is set to conclude on September 3rd. At this time, we don't know what Niantic is planning after Shared Skies, but it now seems likely that the next theme will center around the Galar region. A handful of Galar Pokemon were added to the game several years ago, including Mr. Rime, Perrserker, and Skwovet. However, the vast majority were skipped in favor of Pokemon from Paldea, leaving favorites like Cinderace, Morpeko, and Yamper unfortunately missing. 

Pokemon Go has always skipped around between regions, adding Pokemon and content based on various mainline games. Even if we do get a season focused on Galar, it's likely we'll see the game do so again to add Pokemon missing from generations like Sun and Moon and Scarlet and Violet. Hopefully we'll have a lot more details about the game's future plans in the coming weeks! 

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Are you excited to see Sword and Shield content added to Pokemon Go? Do you think Galar will be the next season's theme? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Joe Merrick]

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