Community Days in Pokémon GO offer paid Special Research stories, but the content for each event is repetitive and short and could benefit from the addition of narratives featuring the game's team leaders. Pokémon GO events have a tendency to fall back on Special Research tasks that rehash similar objectives from previous events. Players will often find themselves catching a certain number of Pokémon or walking specific distances. While these short-term objectives are great for low-impact gameplay, they can leave Pokémon GO Community Days feeling empty.
When Pokémon GO was released in the summer of 2016, it lacked a majority of the content players can now expect from the mobile game. With just Kanto Pokémon available, and a limited selection of items to improve gameplay, much of Pokémon GO's draw came from the three teams and their leaders. Team Mystic is led by Blanche, Team Valor is led by Candela, and Team Instinct is led by Spark. Much like Harry Potter's Hogwarts houses, the teams quickly became a point of identity for many Pokémon fans, and their leaders were exceptionally popular despite lacking appearances in any other games or Pokémon media.
However, in recent years, the focus on team-driven gameplay and content featuring Pokémon GO's team leaders have faded, replaced by rotating events and Special Research stories focused on Professor Willow and his various projects. While Blanche, Candela, and Spark have made appearances in blog entries on Pokémon GO's website, and can still be seen when players evaluate their Pokémon stats, they no longer seem important to Pokémon GO's main mechanics. However, pulling their stories back into Special Research during Community Day events could be an interesting way to revitalize the characters, and spice up frustratingly dull paid content.
Pokémon GO Team Leaders Could Lead Special Research Tasks
Introducing Pokémon Go's team leaders to Community Day Special Research stories would be simple, as they could replace Professor Willow as the guide. Pokémon GO Community Days focused on Water, Ice, or Fairy-type Pokémon could be led by Blanche, with players able to earn items themed for Team Mystic. Options like Fire, Ground, and Dragon-type Pokémon could be led by Candela, and Electric, Normal, and Grass-type Pokémon could be covered by Spark. The team leaders could be working on their own research projects, giving fresh personality to the tasks and the short cutscenes that start each new research page.
Additionally, when a team leader features in a Pokémon GO Community Day event, it could unlock a Special Research side story focused on a narrative aspect of the leader after the paid Special Research story for the event has finished. This Pokémon GO Special Research wouldn't be specific to the event Pokémon of the Community Day and could give players more information on the team leaders, their backstories, and why they joined Professor Willow in his studies. Adding this narrative-driven research could also incentivize players to purchase the Special Research Story for the Community Day, as it would add value to the investment.
Players could also have a chance to face their team leader in battle during a Pokémon GO Community Day after they have completed the Special Research story for the event, with the potential introduction of an item like a Team Leader Radar. This item could cause a team leader to appear at a Pokémon GO Pokéstop, offering players a chance to challenge the leader for large rewards like expensive items or an exclusive Pokémon encounter. Having the opportunity to see team leaders in battle would be fun not just from a gameplay perspective, but also as a way to celebrate the characters that were fundamentally important to the game's original success.
Pokémon GO Team Building Tasks Could Improve Community Day
Another way Pokémon GO could utilize teams in Community Days is by creating new objectives found in paid Special Research stories. Players could need to send a number of gifts to players on the same teams, spin team-friendly Gyms, take over Gyms for their teams or join raids with players that are a part of the same teams. The gameplay would create a sense of friendly competition while encouraging players from the same teams to come together and play as a community. The community-based concepts could also bolster the goals Niantic shared in the 2022 Pokémon GO roadmap that outlined a desire to get players back out and participating together in person.
Additionally, Pokémon GO Community Day events could add hourly rotating bonuses for teams, encouraging players to participate at the same time. These bonuses could include increased spawn rates of certain Pokémon alongside the featured event Pokémon, a boost to Candy and Stardust earned, or XP boosts for Raid and Gym battle challenges. Raid battles could also be made free for the hour each team is featured, giving players a chance to jump in on raids without burning through Raid Passes. Each option could make participation more fun, and offer players a reward for joining the event.
The addition of featured team leaders in Pokémon GO Community Days could also be an opportunity to add new team-themed cosmetic items. A Community Day featuring Blanche could include prizes like Team Mystic hoodies, hats, or bags, while a Team Instinct pose themed after Spark could give players a fun new appearance for their avatar. A Team Valor event could include similar items, or give players a powerful aura decoration to capture Valor's power. Because players are always looking for ways to customize and personalize their playable avatar, having new cosmetics could help players share their team pride while looking stylish and up-to-date.
While the addition of featured team leaders in Pokémon GO Community Days may seem like a hassle for Niantic, narrative-heavy content in other Pokémon titles like Pokémon Masters EX has proven to be very popular with fans and acts as a way to flesh out a game's content. Because the Pokémon universe is rich with interesting backstory and lore, including some of those features in Pokémon GO would likely do well with fans of the main series, and make the mobile app more interesting for those wanting more than simple research tasks. Hopefully, team-driven narrative content will be added to the game in the future, providing more depth to current event activities.