Pokémon GOremains one of the most popular mobile games, and for its ninth anniversary, developer Niantic has released new artwork that could hint at what’s to come in the game’s future. 2025 is a big year for Pokémon:Pokémon Legends: Z-Ais releasing in October for Switch and Switch 2, thePokémon Trading Card Gameis seemingly as strong as it ever has been with a big focus on Mega Evolutions in upcoming sets, and now, it seems likePokémon GOmay be getting a lot of attention, too.
Niantichas released new art for the ninth anniversary ofPokémon GO(viaComicbook), and the new piece could beteasing several new major updates, including new Pokémon, like the Paradox Pokémon and additional Mega Evolutions, as well as a new feature involving a watch and text bubbles that the player’s trainer can wear. The artwork does not confirm any of this speculated content, but given that it is official art from Niantic,it seems plausible that a shake-up could be in store forPokémon GOsoon.
Dissecting The Pokémon GO Teaser Art
Paradox Pokémon, Mega Evolutions, And A Suspicious Watch
The vibrant artwork features quite a few Pokémon, but the most notable addition is the likelyintroduction of Paradox Pokémon.The Paradox variationwas introduced fairly recently in the broad world of Pokémon, debuting inPokémon Scarlet & Violet. This new-ish form of pocket monsters closely resembles the Pokémon’s base design, but usually features different type combinations, like Scream Tail being the psychic/fairy version of Jigglypuff, which is a fairy/normal type.
In the image, it appears that the two Paradox versions (one futuristic, the other from the past) of Donphan can be seen, known as Great Tusk and Iron Treads. Metagross’s Mega Evolution also appears to be present, which is one of the last current Mega Evolutions that isn’t currently in the game, and with2025 bringing back Mega Evolutionsin a big way, itseems like almost all the Mega Evolutionswill be added toPokémon GOas well.
Pokémon GO Still Has Lots To Explore
Could The Watch Be A New Feature?
In the center-left portion of the artwork, there is a background trainer with a watch and a blue bubble coming from the watch with a thumbs-up sign. It’s impossible to say for sure what this tease could be at the moment, but there’s a lot of speculation that it could be a way to socially interact with other trainers. That could be anything from general messaging and friends lists to game mechanics like trading Pokémon. Or it could be nothing at all and just part of the artwork, but given that everything else seems to align with the 2025 goals of Pokémon,its placement is suspicious.
Pokémon continues to be one of the biggest franchises in the world, andPokémon GOstill dominates mobile game offerings in 2025, so it’s an exciting time for fans to possibly get Paradox Pokémon as well as some potential new communication features. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the future ofPokémon GOand what exactly is coming to the game this year and in the future sometime soon.
