Alolan Pokémon Coming to Pokémon Go! What Are They?

Trainers, say aloha to Alola! 

Niantic has announced that within the next few weeks, Alolan forms of some of the classic original 151 Pokémon (known as Generation I or the Kanto Pokémon, after the region in which the first games in the series are set) will be appearing in Pokémon Go. So what exactly are Alolan forms and how do they differ?

In Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon (Generation VII games, for those counting), players explore Alola, a region of the Pokémon universe loosely based on Hawaii. In addition to creatures both familiar and brand new, trainers can encounter, battle, and capture variations on 18 of the original Pocket Monsters due to Alola’s unique environment.

Niantic seems to be introducing these forms into the game to mark the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, given their tropical theme. Because these are introduced in Generation VII, but Generation II and III are not even completely released yet, this is an unexpected move that has surprised most of the player community.

It’s still uncertain if they’ll be spawning in the wild like normal Pokémon, as some of them (looking at you, Grimer and Muk) are already exceedingly rare in their normal Kanto form. Other possible methods are including them as Raid bosses or offering them as rewards for quests under the new Field Research system.

We’ve included a gallery below to compare the 18 Alolan forms to their classic Kanto counterparts. “Catching ‘em all” is about to get a bit more colorful!

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Ryan Miorelli