Pokémon Go tweaks its Mega Evolution mechanic yet again
Super effective?
Pokémon Go's much-maligned Mega Evolution feature has been changed again - slightly - to make it less costly for fans.
Mega Evolving a Pokémon will now see it sit in its souped-up form for eight hours, developer Niantic has announced, double the previous length of time.
Additionally, the amount of Mega Energy you can now collect has been increased from 999 to 2000 for each Pokémon species.
The next Mega Pokémon due for release is Mega Gengar, just in time for Halloween. In another announcement last night, Niantic said it would begin letting players collect Mega Energy for that by completing tasks in a Ghost-themed event next weekend.
It's interesting to see Niantic confirm this method for collecting Mega Energy first before Mega Gengar is (presumably) introduced into raids. Not only has Gengar previously been the focus of several raid-focused events, but the pool of raidable Mega Pokémon has grown large enough it has become difficult to find the one you might need Mega Energy for (as well as a team of people interested to battle the raid with you).
But players on top Pokémon Go fan reddit Silph Road say these changes - the latest of several tweaks - still don't go far enough. Since the feature launched, there has been criticism that any Mega Energy requirement is needed to "rent" a Mega Evolution after it is initially unlocked.
As more Mega Pokémon enter the game, collecting their individual Mega Energies has become a tougher challenge. Fans have called for Mega Energy to be universal across species, or for the addition of a Rare Candy-like item for Mega Energy which lets you convert generic Mega Energy to the species you want. It remains to be seen how future Mega Evolution releases will be handled.
