Caught 'em all? Not so fast: Pokemon Go adds more monsters
7 new creatures originally appeared in 1999's Pokemon Gold and Silver
You didn't think Pokemon Go was finished, did you?
Months after the mobile game took the world by storm, Niantic and The Pokemon Company have announced that new iterations of the pocket monsters are finally making their way to the wildly popular app.
The seven new creatures are all diminutive, "baby" versions of series staples — like Pichu, a miniature Pikachu.
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Each new Pokemon — Cleffa, Igglybuff, Pichu, Togepi, Smoochum, Elekid and Magby — can only be found by hatching eggs, which are found at Pokestops scattered around the world.
The new additions, which originally appeared in Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Nintendo Game Boy in 1999, mark the first appearance of a "second generation" of monsters for Pokemon Go.
However, Gold and Silver introduced 100 new species to join the 151 that appeared in the original games, Pokemon Red and Blue.
"As we race toward 2017, we can't help but feel grateful for the support and reaction the Pokemon Go community has given us, and we're delighted to start rolling out select Pokemon for them to hatch," Kei Kawai, director of product at Niantic, Inc, said in a release.
As part of a holiday season celebration, players might also be able to catch a Pikachu wearing a festive Santa hat.
Active players decline, but Pokemon still popular
This new update might help entice lapsed Pokemon trainers back, as the number of regular players dropped sharply since Pokemon Go dominated mobile game markets by every conceivable metric this past summer.
In July, more people worldwide were playing Pokemon Go than using apps like Snapchat, Tinder or Twitter.
In the months that followed, however, the number of players dropped by the millions. Still, the smaller amount of devotees who spend far more money than the average player — known as "whales" in the app world — have kept it afloat.
According to a report by Android Authority, Pokemon Go generated six times more revenue than Candy Crush Saga in September, despite losing nearly 80 per cent of its original player base.
Meanwhile, Nintendo's traditional Pokemon video games continue to benefit from Pokemon Go launching the franchise back into the public consciousness.
Pokemon Sun and Moon, the company's latest instalments for its 3DS handheld system, sold 3.7 million copies between Nov. 18 and 30, making it the fastest-selling game in the series' 20-year history.
