Pokemon Go Teases Gen 4 Pokemon

Niantic's popular mobile game Pokemon Go turned two this month, and the developer is celebrating the milestone in a few notable ways. On top of the ongoing summer style Pikachu event, the studio shared a new piece of art to commemorate Pokemon Go's second anniversary, and it contains the first hints that a new generation of Pokemon is on the way.

The artwork, which you can see below, features the trainers and other human characters from Pokemon Go surrounded by many Pokemon that have appeared in the game to date, including several Gen 3 Pokemon and Alolan forms. Intriguingly, among the Pokemon are Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup, the starting trio from the series' fourth generation titles, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

This marks the first time that Pokemon Go has publicly acknowledged any Gen 4 Pokemon, which seems to hint that the Sinnoh monsters are coming to the game in the near future. This certainly wouldn't be the first time Niantic has teased the arrival of new Pokemon in this manner. Last year, the developer commemorated Pokemon Go's first anniversary with a piece of art that featured Gen 2 Pokemon, which had yet to be added to the game at the time.

In addition to the Gen 4 starters, the Mythical Pokemon Celebi can also be seen in the new artwork. Players who attended the recent Pokemon Go Fest event in Chicago were the first to have a chance to capture Celebi, but everyone else will have an opportunity via a new Special Research quest line, which Niantic says will be available "in the near future."

The aforementioned summer style Pikachu can also still be found in Pokemon Go for a limited time. Unlike a regular Pikachu, this variant sports sunglasses and a straw hat, and it'll appear in the wild through the rest of the month. Meanwhile, the latest Legendary Pokemon, Regice, will only appear in Raid Battles until July 19. The remaining two Legendary Titans, Regirock and Registeel, will follow later this summer.