Pokémon GO is Replaying Events. Good? Bad? Indifferent? Your answer might have everything to do with how frequent these repeats are.

Is Pokémon GO playing to in-game nostalgia leading up to its 10th anniversary? Making up for past blunders? Catching up lapsed players? Out of better ideas?

Yes.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Justice for Firestar L for Play! Pokémon.

I wrote about the controversial ending to the recent Orlando regional championship. If you'd like to voice your support for Firestar73, please visit the Play! Pokémon support ticket site: support.pokemon.com/hc/en-us/req...

pogojournal.substack.com/p/justice-fo...

#JusticeForFirestar #PokemonGO

It's Buneary! Happy Easter!

Not enough free time this weekend, so alas, no new post this week on The PoGO Journal. I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Easter, however, and I hope to see you next weekend with a new piece.

Bring Back Spotlight Hour Either that or give us a reason you took it away.

Earth to Pokémon GO: stop tinkering with features that aren't broken and fix the actual things that are.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

On Dumb Takes about the Niantic-Coco Partnership Hard to believe we're still caping for Niantic in 2026, but here we are.

“Niantic has been incredibly transparent about its use of our data in its terms of service.”

This and other dumb takes await you in the latest installment of The PoGO Journal. 🤦‍♂️

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Niantic’s Latest Partner: Delivery Robots More AI-powered solutions to problems that human labor is perfectly capable of solving? Thanks—I hate it!

Step 1: Order delivery.

Step 2: Rescue delivery robot which got hung up on a fence along the way.

That's what I call progress!

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

I saw this arrangement of letters in Spelling Bee today. The first thought I had was "CRADILY," and the next thought I had was that Pokémon has just completely ruined my brain for anything other than Pokémon.

Ugh. I go to YouTube specifically because it's *not* all shorts. Maybe I'm just the wrong audience, but I wish they'd stay in their lane.

Thank you, thank you. I made another reference to the "hellscape that is YouTube" in my last post as a nod to your challenges as a small creator. Nowadays, most of what I watch is YouTube video essays and smaller Twitch streamers. I really do enjoy long-form content and admire those who make it.

The Road to Pokémon GO Hell Is Paved with Helioptiles "L'infer, c'est Galvaran." — Jean-Paul Dartrix

Hell is other people? No, Trainers, Hell is an unending herd of Helioptiles.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Can Epic Universe SAVE the Theme Park Experience? YouTube video by Kev Kage Needs a Life

Fresh off celebrating my own two-year anniversary, I want to give loyal reader and content creator @kevkage.bsky.social another plug on the heels of his reaching two years of his YT channel.

Please check out this excellent video essay and support another small creator. youtu.be/6rKXJqe8YPY?...

Memories in Motion: What’s in a Name? No, seriously—why is it called that?

Will Memories in Motion be a memorable season? Probably not, but let's keep our fingers crossed just in case.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp #GOBattleLeague

100 Posts and 10 Years in, Reflections on the State of Pokémon GO Improvements on the competitive side breed optimism, but monetization practices that punish rural players blunt that enthusiasm.

Two years later, we've accumulated 100 posts about Pokémon GO on the The PoGO Journal. Thanks to everyone who has supported my work, and kudos to all the Trainers who are still grinding out those kms.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Hit you with the "yikes." 💀

Well, I Wasn't Enamored with Therian Forme Enamorus Raid Day It's hard to enjoy an event when the featured Pokémon is almost nowhere to be found.

Seems elementary that the featured Pokémon for a given Raid Day should appear in at least a majority of Gyms, but here we are.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Championship Points for GO Battle League? But the Game is Broken! CP in GBL incentivizes leaderboard pushing but doesn't address performance issues, cheating, and an overall lack of incentives.

Championship Points for a mode of play that's clearly not ready for primetime? What could go wrong? 🫠

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp #GOBattleLeague

Don't Go to Pokémon GO Tour: Kalos—Los Angeles Whoops—America is doing a bit of a fascism right now!

I haven't been promoting my work the way I should the past few weeks. It's honestly been a depressing start to 2026. Here's hoping for a more encouraging month of February. Remember to take care of yourselves, Trainers.

#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

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Should You Play Pokémon GO PvP? It really depends on your level of commitment and your tolerance for pain.

ICYMI (highly probable because I apparently couldn't be bothered to share this until now):

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp #GOBattleLeague

Outlook for Pokémon GO in 2026? Probably More of the Same Despite Scopely now being at the helm, not much has changed when the game could use a shake-up.

Happy New Year to my readers and fellow Pokémon GO players! I'm not expecting big things for the game in 2026, but there's a non-zero chance I'm wrong (and I hope I am)!

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Communication has definitely improved in the Scopely era, but you make a valid point about the lack of in-game explainers. Your observation about play style is well taken, too. The biggest content creators are appealing to the casual playerbase. Certainly not to the PvP crowd.

Pokémon GO Media is High on Hype, Low on Critical Commentary Incentive structures for largely flattering coverage while catering to algorithmic preferences yields a lack of engagement with the game's larger issues.

I wrote about how financial incentives and the need for journalistic access help make for a Pokémon GO media landscape short on insightful commentary.

Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Thank you, thank you. I feel like December has been one big coughing fit for me in this hemisphere. The positivity unfortunately is mostly in the "nowhere to go but up" vein, but there will be better events, and certainly, remote trading was a welcome and needed addition. Ya gotta believe!

Well Armed, Poorly Executed No new Shiny? An unnecessary Global Challenge? Even more Machops? Sign me up!

Your boy is sick, so this (late) short post about how the Well Armed event sucks will have to do. Apologies in advance.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Pokémon GO’s Cardinal Sin: Playing Alone "Meet you out there" is not a request, Trainer.

Weekly Challenges are live in Pokémon GO. Depending on how you play, it's an improvement over Party play, though not without its own potential drawbacks.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Would be great to have an updated loading screen for the new season. I guess, like Christmas, though, it's still on its way. 🙈

#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Time to Not Get Excited about Precious Paths This season is three months of marking time. The only hope is that the next one will be more engaging.

Hope everyone has a great Pikipek Community Day (for real this time). When you're done, please consider liking and subscribing. Thanks.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Pokémon GO Won a Golden Joystick Award You're welcome, Scopely.

I've been sick all weekend, but I wanted to get something short and sweet out, especially after taking off last week. Hope you enjoy, and good luck for Pikipek Community Day if you do take part (I will be staying home).

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

On Real-World Discovery in Pokémon GO In the absence of a strong sense of identity for this game, the team behind it could and probably should play up its capacity for engaging with the world around us.

If you haven't already read the previous week's offering at The PoGO Journal, the link to check it out is below. Thanks as always for your support.

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp

Andrew Cuomo Is a Clown The millionaire backed by Michael Bloomberg and super PAC money is a disgrace to his father's legacy and, in the end, to himself.

I wrote a piece about how Andrew Cuomo sucks.

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Define "Casual Pokémon GO Player" Good luck with that, by the way.

"To the folks who would continue to advocate for gatekeeping content, I'd ask whether they'd rather see the game fail than stray from their idea of what it should be. If yes, perhaps some self-reflection is in order."

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#PokemonGO #PokemonGOApp